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

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 19, 2014)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team gears up for its final homestand of the season this week, hosting Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division foes McKendree University and University of Illinois Springfield.

The Rangers open the week on Thursday against the Bearcats before closing the home slate on Saturday afternoon against the Prairie Stars for Senior Day. Thursday's game is slated for 5:30 p.m. with action getting underway at 1 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats, video and audio will be provided for both games. Steve Kratochvil will be providing the play-by-play and Jim Kramer will add color commentary on the audio feed available online and on local airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin.

About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (7-16, 3-12 GLVC) came up empty handed in its final tour of the GLVC West last week, suffering a pair of setbacks at the hands of ninth-ranked Drury University (77-56) and Missouri University S&T (72-69 OT).

Against the nationally-ranked Panthers on Feb. 13, the two sides battled back and forth in the first half with six lead changes and four ties before host Drury secured a 38-28 lead at the half. The Panthers led by at least nine-points the entire second half, foiling the Rangers bid for back-to-back conference wins. Drury dominated the paint owning a 46-26 rebounding edge while out-muscling the Rangers 36-18 in points in the paint.

Tara Knapstein matched a season-high, pouring on 20 points along with five steals in 25 minutes of action while Danielle Slivka had nine points and six assists.

Against Missouri S&T, UW-Parkside erased a nine-point deficit to force overtime but was unable to match the Lady Miners in the extra session as S&T started overtime on an 8-3 run and never looked back.

Neither team led by more than four points in the opening 15 minutes before the Lady Miners made a surge, enjoying a 31-24 lead at the half. S&T extended the advantage to nine early in the second stanza but the Rangers utilized a 9-0 run to knot the game at 33 with 15:13 left. The two sides traded jabs the rest of the way with a Toni Knar layup with seven seconds left tying the game for S&T and forcing OT.

Slivka and Gaby Bronson both finished with a double-double. Slivka netted a team-high 22 points and 10 rebounds with Bronson adding 16 points and 10 boards.

On the year, Bronson leads the Rangers in several statistical categories, including points per game (14.0), rebounds per game (6.3), field goal percentage (49.2 percent), assists per game (4.0) and blocks (18). Knapstein logs 12.3 ppg and 5.1 rpg while Slivka contributes 1-.5 ppg and 4.6 rpg. Maddie Johnson averages 8.2 ppg while Sarah Mlachnik nets 6.2 ppg.

Nine of the 12 spots to the GLVC Tournament have been secured with the remaining seven squads battling it out for just three spots. UW-Parkside sits tied with Saint Joseph's College and UIS for 12th overall with a 3-12 conference mark.

Feb. 20 vs. McKendree University at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Bearcats have met on four occasions with UW-Parkside enjoying a 3-1 edge in the all-time series. McKendree won the first ever meeting 66-65 way back during the 1992-1993 but the Rangers have rattled off three in a row since the Bearcats have joined the GLVC, including a 64-54 win earlier this season on Jan. 18 in Lebanon, Ill.

About the Bearcats: McKendree (7-16, 2-13 GLVC) looks to snap an eight-game skid and snag one of the final GLVC Tournament spots available. The Bearcats' woes began after a 70-65 victory over Saint Joseph's on Jan. 23. Since then, McKendree has dropped eight in a row, while yielding 90 or more points in three of those defeats.

The Bearcats hit the road last week, falling 71-64 to William Jewell College on Feb. 13 before stumbling 79-61 to Rockhurst University on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo. McKendree returned to the court on Monday night, falling 77-67 at home to Maryville University in a make-up game.

Two Bearcats average in double figures with Caty Ponce pacing the squad with 16.3 points per game and a team-high 73 assists. Brittany Willis adds 12.4 ppg and 4.4 rebounds per game while Liz Gilman registers 8.7 ppg.

Feb. 22 vs. University of Illinois Springfield at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)

Series History: The Rangers and Prairie Stars have met seven times with UW-Parkside owning a 6-1 advantage in the all-time series. Illinois Springfield won the first meeting this season 60-57 on Jan. 18 in Springfield. The Rangers led by seven with just under nine minutes to go but the hosts charged back to steal the three-point win.

About the Prairie Stars: Illinois Springfield (7-16, 3-12 GLVC) heads into Thursday's clash with Lewis University riding a two-game win streak and looking to make a move to secure one of the final available spots in the GLVC Tournament.

UIS downed UW-Parkside on Jan. 18 before dropping seven in a row. The Prairie Stars busted out of the funk with a 63-60 win over Rockhurst on Feb. 13 before closing the Missouri road tour with an 83-65 win over William Jewell on Saturday.

Megan Bergerud leads the Prairie Stars in scoring, averaging 15.8 points per game. Alyssa Palmer adds 12.0 ppg and 4.0 assists per game while Cassie Wolfe tallies 8.3 ppg. Elizabeth Kelly averages 7.2 ppg while leading UIS on the glass with 8.3 rebounds per game.

iPad Mini: UW-Parkside students in attendance at Thursday's game have a chance to win an iPad mini. Students will earn tickets by attending both the men's and women's games. Four lucky winners will get drawn during the men's game with the four squaring off during a halftime shooting contest. Two will survive and square off in a scooter race with the winner claiming the iPad.

RangerNation: In addition to Senior Day, Saturday the athletic department will be giving away free t-shirts to students while Jacob Yorg and the women's basketball team will be giving away free textbooks. The more students that attend, the more money will be given away.

Senior Salute: On Saturday, UW-Parkside will honor its lone senior Danielle Slivka. The forward enters the week having played in 106 career games, starting every game in each of the two seasons. The Johnsburg, Ill., native has scored 644 career points, grabbed 500 career rebounds along with 133 assists, 110 steals and five blocks. Slivka has a career record of 78-37 at Parkside and has made three trips to the NCAA Division II Tournament, including two trips to the Sweet 16.

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.