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

SOMERS, Wis. (Jan. 14, 2015)-- Riding a three-game win streak the University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team resumes divisional play this week, welcoming Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division rivals University of Illinois Springfield and McKendree University to DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
UW-Parkside and Illinois Springfield face off on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. before capping off the homestand on Saturday with a 1 p.m. tipoff against the Bearcats. Live stats, video and audio will be provided for both games. Steve Kratochvil will provide the play-by-play while Jim Kramer will add color commentary on the audio feed available online and over the airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM throughout southeastern Wisconsin.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (10-4, 3-2 GLVC) extended its win streak to three last week, opening up its home slate with a pair of wins over GLVC West Division squads. The Rangers unleashed 19 unanswered points in the first half of the home opener on Jan. 8 against Maryville University, cruising to the 92-62 victory before completing the weekend sweep with a 76-68 win over the University of Missouri-Saint Louis two days later.
 
Against Maryville, the visiting Saints enjoyed an early 7-3 lead before the Rangers piled on the next 19 points over a five minute stretch to secure a 15-point buffer. The Rangers led 48-37 at the half and owned a double-digit cushion the entire second stanza en route to the blowout win.
 
Gaby Bronson highlighted the night, scoring a career-high 27 points with six rebounds, four assists and four steals while Sarah Mlachnik scored a season-high 14 points.
 
Two days later against UMSL, four Rangers ended the afternoon in double figures in the eight-point win. Parkside hit eight threes in the first 20 minutes of action, owning a 35-24 lead at the halftime intermission. The Tritons used a late run to pull within three with 1:17 left but the Rangers hit seven of their eight free throw attempts while limiting Missouri-Saint Louis to just one field goal during that stretch to ice the win.
 
Bronson again paced the Green and White with 22 points while Brittney Fair and Tara Knapstein came off the bench and added 15 and 13 points, respectively. Kristin Conniff was the fourth Parkside player in double figures, dropping 11 points on the day.
 
On the season, Bronson leads the GLVC in assists, averaging 5.4 per game while leading the team in scoring (14.6 points per game) and rebounding (5.9 per game). Conniff averages just a shade under 10 points per game (9.9 ppg) while Knapstein adds 8.6 ppg while leading the team in blocks with eight. Stephanie Furr contributes 6.5 ppg while Sarah Mlachnik is second on the squad in rebounding, pulling down 4.9 rpg.
 
As a team, the Rangers rank second in the GLVC in scoring defense, yielding 58.7 points per game, rank third in rebounding margin (+6.9) while sitting sixth in the league in scoring margin at +8.6.
 
Jan. 15 vs. University of Illinois Springfield at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers have dominated the all-time series, winning eight of the nine games contested. UW-Parkside and UIS split the season series last season with each team prevailing on its home court. UIS rallied past the Rangers 60-56 on Jan. 16 in Springfield while Parkside returned the favor on Feb. 22, netting a 68-52 victory on Senior Day.
 
About the Prairie Stars: Illinois Springfield (5-7, 1-3 GLVC) snapped a four game slide on Saturday, closing a two-game homestand with a 72-57 victory over Truman State University. In that game, the host Prairie Stars trailed with six minutes left before ending the game on an 18-2 run to secure the win. Jameeshia Armstrong powered UIS with a 16-point effort against the visiting Bulldogs.
 
The Prairie Stars obliterated Robert Morris University-Peoria 104-17 on Dec. 10, forcing the Eagles to shooting a paltry 4.4 percent from the floor before dropping its next four contests. The Prairie Stars fell to Lincoln University 72-47 on Dec. 13, UMSL on Jan. 2 (54-34), Maryville on Jan. 4 (84-70) and Quincy University on Jan. 8 (57-48).
 
UIS owns a 4-2 mark inside The Recreation & Athletic Center (TRAC) but owns just a 1-5 mark in road and neutral site contests. The Prairie Stars lone win away from Springfield was a 71-65 decision over Division III Concordia University Chicago on Nov. 19 in River Forest, Illinois.
 
Courtney Knuckles leads the Prairie Stars in scoring, averaging 9.6 points per game while Shelbi Patterson adds 9.5 ppg and a team-leading 3.8 assists per game. Syerre Cunningham chips in 9.3 ppg and a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game while Jameeshia Armstrong has 9.0 ppg in limited action.   
 
Jan. 17 vs. McKendree University at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Bearcats have met five times on the hardwood since the series began in 1992-1993 with UW-Parkside owning a slim 3-2 edge in the all-time series, including three of the four games played as GLVC members. Parkside downed Mckendree 64-54 last season on Jan. 18 in Lebanon, Illinois but the Bearcats earned revenge a month later, downing the Rangers 59-54 on Feb. 20 inside DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
About the Bearcats: McKendree (1-11, 0-4 GLVC) heads into the weekend looking to snap a six-game skid and claim its first win of the conference slate. The Bearcats lone victory of the season came on Dec. 6 at the expense of Central Christian College, rolling the Missouri institution 77-39 inside the Statham Center in Lebanon.
 
The Bearcats closed the calendar year by trekking up to the land of the midnight sun, dropping two games to then ninth-ranked University of Alaska-Anchorage. McKendree fell 96-68 to the Seawolves on Dec. 13 before suffering an 80-66 setback the next day.
 
McKendree opened GLVC action with a 79-68 loss to Maryville on Jan. 2 before falling 66-57 to UMSL on Jan. 4. The Bearcats were downed 65-53 in the GLVC home opener on Jan. 8 and dropped a 63-47 decision to Quincy last Saturday.
 
Three McKendree players average in double figures, led by Jameeka Bouie who contributes 11.6 points per game along with 5.3 rebounds per game. Caty Ponce adds 11.4 ppg with Gabrielle Williams netting 10.6 ppg and a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game.
 
The Bearcats rank last in the league in scoring margin at -7.9 and rank 15th in the GLVC in rebounding margin at -2.1.
 
Bench Buckets: UW-Parkside has generated points off the bench all season with the reserves outscoring the starters four times this season. The Ranger reserves netted 39 of the team's 69 points on Nov. 20 in a 10-point win over Ohio Dominican University while the backups poured on 41 points in a 60-42 win over Tiffin University on Nov. 22. Parkside's bench collected 36 of the team's 61 points on Dec. 4 against Lewis University and 35 points in a 60-41 win over the University of Puerto Rico-Rio Piedras on Dec. 16.
 
GLVC Accolades: Gabby Bronson was named the GLVC Player of the Week on Nov. 17 for her performance at the Highway 76 Classic where the senior earned Co-MVP honors after notching a triple-double and averaging 19.5 points per game, 8.0 assists per game and 7.5 rebounds per game.
 
Bronson became the first Ranger to win the award since Jenna Endisch did so on Dec. 20, 2012.

Pod-demonium: The GLVC continues its pod system for the 2014-2015, retaining the setup of two divisions with two pods of four. 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 fifth in the GLVC East in 2014-2015 according to the league's 16 head coaches.
 
The Rangers accumulated 60 points and one first place nod to secure fifth. Lewis University collected 13 of the 16 first place votes, snagging the top spot in the East with 118 points. The University of Indianapolis and the University of Southern Indiana each grabbed a first place vote, placing second and third in the poll, respectively. Bellarmine University rounds out the upper half of the division, slotting fourth with 74 points. Saint Joseph's College was picked sixth (53 points) followed by the University of Illinois Springfield in seventh (38 points) and McKendree University in eighth (30 points).
 
In the West Division, Drury University scooped up 12 of the 16 first place endorsements, claiming the top spot with 115 points. Quincy University is second with 94 points and one first place vote followed by Maryville University with 93 points and one first place vote. Truman State University grabbed two first place votes and 89 points to secure fourth while the University of Missouri-Saint Louis is fifth with 64 points. William Jewell College is sixth (47 points) followed by Missouri University S&T in seventh (40 points) and Rockhurst University in eighth (26 points).
 
Home Sweet Home: The Rangers have been nearly unbeatable at home in recent years, winning 68 of their last 79 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, 11-3 in 2012-13 and 7-7 last season.
 
Return to DeSimone: After going 320 days without a home game and opening the season with a 15-game, 7,261-mile road swing, the Rangers are in the midst of a 10-day stretch with four home games.

This season's opening 15-game wing covered 7,261 miles and toured seven different states along with the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The two-month long road odyssey saw the Rangers play games in Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, Iowa, Michigan, Illinois (again), Puerto Rico, Ohio (again) and Missouri.
 
Island Adventures: On top of playing three games in three days the UW-Parkside women's basketball squad was also able to soak in a few sights in Puerto Rico during their nearly week long stay from Dec. 15-21. The Rangers toured Castillo San Cristobal, the largest fortification built by the Spanish in the Americas while walking the cobblestone streets of Old San Juan. The team additionally traveled to rural Fajardo where they kayaked a lagoon featuring rare bioluminescent life forms and soaked in some sun on the beaches of San Juan.
 
Alumni Day: The UW-Parkside Alumni Association's annual Alumni Day at the Games will be held on Saturday, Jan. 31. Alumni, friends and family are invited to attend with giveaways and complimentary food for alumni throughout the day. The cost is $10 per alumni with guests attending free of charge. To register visit: https://donate.uwp.edu/alumniday or contact University Advancement at 262-595-2039.
 
The Yorg File: Head Coach Jacob Yorg became the program's sixth coach prior to the 2013-2014 season, 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 a GLVC Tournament Championship and a GLVC West Division crown.
 
Joining Yorg on the bench this season will be former Ranger student-athlete Danielle Slivka along with Oliver Wiseman and Dean Mlachnik.