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

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 11, 2014)-- With the end of the regular season just over the horizon, the University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team embarks on its final two-game road swing of the Great Lakes Valley Conference slate, heading to Missouri to face West Division foes Drury University and Missouri University S&T.

The Rangers begin the road trip on Thursday night in Springfield, Mo., tipping off against the host Drury Panthers at 5:30 p.m. before finishing the trip in Rolla on Saturday in a 1 p.m. start against Missouri S&T. Live stats, video and audio will be provided for both games. Mark Albanese will be providing the play-by-play on the audio feed available online and on local airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (7-14, 3-10 GLVC) hits the road after splitting a pair of games last week inside DeSimone Gymnasium. The Rangers were clipped 66-63 on Thursday against William Jewell College before downing Rockhurst University 70-66 in front of a spirited crowd on Alumni Day.

Against Jewell, the homestanding Rangers led by as many as 16 points before ultimately falling as the Cardinals surged back into the contest, securing their first lead of the night with under three minutes to go. WJC's Maddie Nelson sunk a three with 2:11 left to break a 61-61 deadlock and give the Cardinals their first lead of the night. UW-Parkside pulled within a point as Jennifer Blunt hit a basket the ensuing possession but the Rangers were unable to score the final 1:46 of play, suffering a three-point heartbreaking loss.

Gaby Bronson led the team with 19 points and nine rebounds while Maddie Johnston added 10 points in the losing effort.

Two days later against Rockhurst, UW-Parkside sunk a season-high 11 three-pointers to down the Hawks 70-66 in a wild nip-and-tuck affair featuring nine ties and nine lead changes.

Donning pink uniforms for the first time in program history, the Rangers surged to an early 8-2 advantage. Rockhurst stole the lead with a 14-0 run over the next five minutes. The two sides traded jabs the rest of the half, heading into the locker room at intermission deadlocked at 31.

A Bronson three with 10:38 left gave the Rangers a 45-44 edge and Parkside never trailed the rest of the way en route to the four-point victory.

Bronson finished with 20 points and eight assists while Sarah Mlachnik posted a career-high 17 points, finishing five-for-five from beyond the arc.

On the season, Bronson leads the Rangers in scoring (14.2 points per game), rebounding (6.2 per game), assists (4.1 per game).Tara Knapstein adds 11.8 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game while Danielle Slivka chips in 10.0 ppg and 4.4 rpg. Johnston tallied 8.6 ppg with Mlachnik contributing 6.6 per contest.

UW-Parkside boasts one of the best defenses in the GLVC, ranking second in the conference in scoring defense, yielding just 63.7 points per game.

Feb. 13 vs. Drury University at O'Reilly Family Event Center (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Panthers have met 10 times on the hardwood with Drury enjoying a 6-4 edge in the all-time series. The two squads met twice last season with UW-Parkside prevailing on both occasions. The first meeting was on Jan. 5 in Springfield, Mo., with the visiting Rangers erasing a 19-point deficit to win 70-66 before steamrolling Drury 65-39 on Mar. 3 inside DeSimone Gymnasium in the opening round of the 2013 Deaconess GLVC Tournament.

About the Panthers: Ninth-ranked Drury (19-2, 11-2) sits in second place in the GLVC West, trailing Quincy University by a game. The Panthers enter Thursday having won three-straight games, having last tasted defeat on Jan. 30, stumbling 82-79 to host Quincy.

Since then the Panthers have rolled to wins over Truman State University (93-86) on Feb. 1, McKendree University (99-73) on Feb. 6 and University of Illinois Springfield (78-59) on Feb. 8.

Drury has been tough to beat inside the O'Reilly Family Event Center in 2013-2014, owning a 10-1 mark in Springfield. The squad's lone home setback was an 85-68 loss to the University of Indianapolis on Jan. 5.

Amber Dvorak has been a spark off the bench all season, leading the team in scoring, averaging 16.2 points per game and blocks (41) while also securing 5.1 rebounds per game. Kylie Williamson adds 14.2 ppg and 5.3 rpg while Bethanie Funderburk chips in 13.2 ppg. 

Feb. 15 vs. Missouri University S&T at Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Lady Miners have met nine times with S&T owning a 5-4 advantage in the all-time series. The two squads last met on Jan. 3, 2013 to open GLVC play with the host Miners prevailing 69-66 after closing the contest on an 18-6 run.

About the Miners: Missouri S&T (8-13, 4-9 GLVC) returns home to Rolla having won two in a row, claiming victories over University of Illinois Springfield and McKendree University last week, snapping a five-game funk.

The Miners snapped its five game slide on Feb. 6, pummeling host UIS 89-58 behind Toni Knar's record setting performance. Knar tallied 29 points in the blowout win while sinking a school record eight three-pointers while Karli Sample poured on 20.

Against McKendree, Sample uncorked a career-high 31 points as the visiting Miners upended the Bearcats 77-74. It was the second straight game S&T had two players tally 20 or more points as Kylie Cooper netted 20 points.

Mia Wesley leads S&T in scoring, averaging 14.7 points per game but has not seen action in each of the last two games. Toni Knar adds 12.5 ppg while Karli Sample, this week's GLVC Player of the Week, adds 12.1 ppg and 6.8 rebounds per game. Kylie Cooper leads the team on the glass, averaging 7.2 rpg while contributing 10.4 ppg on the offensive end.

GLVC Tournament: The top 12 teams qualify for the 2014 Deaconess GLVC Tournament with the top four squads all receiving first round byes. The first round will be conducted on Sunday, March 2, with the top-seeded teams not receiving byes hosting on-campus. The GLVC Quarterfinals and beyond begin on March 6 inside the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. To pre-order session passes, visiting the UW-Parkside athletic department office.

Pod-demonium: The GLVC has broken the two divisions into pods of four for the 2013-2014 season. Pod mates will play each other in a home and home series and play all other opponents once. UW-Parkside's pod includes University of Illinois Springfield, McKendree University and Lewis University.

Preseason Prognostications: UW-Parkside is picked to finish fourth in the GLVC East in 2013-2014 according to the league's 16 head coaches. The Rangers accumulated 78 points and one first place nod to secure fourth. Defending Champion Lewis University was picked to win the division with 113 points and 11 first place votes. University of Indianapolis was picked second followed by the University of Southern Indiana. Bellarmine University was picked to place fifth followed by McKendree University, Saint Joseph's College and the University of Illinois Springfield. Out West, Quincy University was selected to win the division with Maryville University, Missouri University S&T and Truman State University rounding out the top four.

GLVC Shuffle: This offseason the 16-member GLVC saw a few tweaks to its membership. Charter member Kentucky Wesleyan College exited the league to join the nascent Great Midwest Athletic Conference with Truman State University from the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association filling the void. The addition of Truman moved the University of Illinois Springfield from the West Division to the East Division.

Home Sweet Home: The Rangers have been nearly unbeatable at home in recent years, winning 65 of their last 76 games inside DeSimone Gymnasium. UW-Parkside was 12-4 at home in 2007-08, 10-2 in 2008-09 while finishing 15-1 in 2009-10, 15-0 in 2010-11, 14-1 in 2011-12 and 11-3 in 2012-13.

The Yorg File: Head Coach Jacob Yorg became the program's sixth coach over the summer, replacing the program's winningest coach in Jenny Knight-Kenesie. Yorg is no stranger to the GLVC having served as the associate head coach at Maryville University from 2008-2013. Maryville posted a 76-64 record in that span, winning the GLVC West Division crown last season in the Saints' fourth year as a Division II program.

Also joining the program is top assistant Jordan Wilde. Wilde previously served in a similar capacity at NAIA Ashford University in Iowa.

Former UW-Parkside standouts Brittany Beyer and Jadee Rooney will both patrol the bench as well. Beyer served as a student assistant last season after concluding her career in 2012 while Rooney joins the Ranger staff after spending the summer dominating the Big V League in Australia as a member of the Ringwood Hawks.