FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mark Albanese, Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations

Box Score

ROMEOVILLE, Ill. (Dec. 4, 2014)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball squad held an early lead but was unable to keep pace with third-ranked Lewis University on Thursday night, suffering a 76-61 setback in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener inside Neil Carey Arena.

The host Flyers (6-0, 1-0 GLVC) tallied the opening bucket but the Rangers (5-2, 0-1 GLVC) responded with an 11-2 run, staking an 11-4 advantage with 16:19 left in the opening stanza. Stephanie Furr initiated the rally with a layup while netting five of UW-Parkside's 11 points during the spurt. The Rangers owned a seven-point buffer with 15:08 left in the half off a Gaby Bronson layup before misfiring on the next eight shots, allowing Lewis to mount an 18-0 run to nab a 24-13 advantage with 8:42 left in the first half. The Rangers cut the deficit to six off a Kristin Conniff bucket with 6:04 left but faced a 32-22 hole at the halftime intermission.

Conniff cut the deficit to single digits with the first bucket of the second half but the Flyers tallied the next 10 points to regain a double-digit barrier. Undefeated Lewis owned a double digit buffer the rest of the way in the 15-point contest.

Lauren Boerger came off the bench and led the Rangers, dropping a season-high 12 points in just 12 minutes of action while Blunt had eight points and six rebounds. Brittney Fair chipped in seven points off the bench with Furr contributing six rebounds. The Ranger bench outscored the Lewis bench by a 36-11 margin and accounted for over half of the team's offense for the third time this season.

Mariyah Brawner-Henley tallied a double-double of 28 points and 12 rebounds to power the Flyers while Jess Reinhart added 18. Jamie Johnson chipped in 14 while Nikki Nellen had a game-high five assists.

The Rangers finished the game shooting just 33.8 percent (23-for-68) while the hosts shot at a 48.4 percent (31-for-64) clip.

UW-Parkside returns to the hardwood on Dec. 16, taking on the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras in Bayamon, Puerto Rico.