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

SOMERS, Wis. (Jan. 20, 2015)-- After four dominant victories at home the University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team is back on the road this week, sparring with Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division rivals University of Southern Indiana and Bellarmine University.
 
The Rangers and Screaming Eagles tipoff at 5:15 p.m. on Thursday in Evansville, Indiana before closing the trip on Saturday at 1 p.m. (Eastern Time) against Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. Live stats, video and audio will be provided for both contests with Mark Albanese on the audio feed available online and on local airwaves on WRJN 1400 AM in southeast Wisconsin.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (12-4, 5-2 GLVC) hits the road riding a five-game win streak, including four consecutive wins at home. The Rangers were simply dominant inside DeSimone Gymnasium over the past two weeks, disposing of four GLVC foes by an average 20.5-point margin.
 
The carnage began on Jan. 8, destroying Maryville University 92-62 before playing its closest game of the homestand two days later, netting an eight-point decision over the University of Missouri-Saint Louis (76-68). Parkside rolled past the University of Illinois Springfield 71-48 on Jan. 15 before cruising by McKendree University 77-56 on Saturday.
 
Against Illinois Springfield, the Rangers utilized a 19-0 run early in the opening half to establish a large lead and never looked back in the 23-point win. Stephanie Furr led Parkside with 14 points while the Ranger bench accumulated a majority of the game's points, finishing with 36 on the evening.
 
Two days later against McKendree, the Rangers led wire-to-wire, owning a double digit lead the entire second half to post the 21-point win. Gaby Bronson tallied 16 points while distributing eight assists while Maddie Johnson claimed 13 points in her first start of the season.
 
Through 16 games, Bronson is the team's leader in scoring (14.5 points per game), rebounds (5.8 per game), and assists (5.5 per game). Her 5.5 apg currently leads the GLVC and sits 17th nationally. Kristin Conniff adds 9.3 ppg with a team-high 22 three-pointers while Tara Knapstein comes in averaging 8.8 ppg and 3.0 rpg with a team-best nine blocks. Furr tallies 7.0 ppg and 3.6 rpg while Sarah Mlachnik and Jessica Prince average 4.6 and 4.1 rpg, respectively.
 
UW-Parkside leads the GLVC and ranks 23rd nationally in scoring defense, yielding just 57.9 points per game. The Rangers additionally rank fourth in the league in rebounding margin (+6.6) and sit fifth in the GLVC in scoring margin (+10.3).
 
Jan. 22 vs. University of Southern Indiana at Physical Activities Center (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: UW-Parkside and Southern Indiana have met 31 times with the Screaming Eagles enjoying a 21-10 advantage in the all-time series. USI prevailed 58-45 last season on Jan. 25 inside DeSimone Gymnasium, owning a 50-32 rebounding advantage and a 22-1 edge in second chance points.
 
About the Screaming Eagles: Southern Indiana (14-3, 6-1 GLVC) heads into Thursday riding a four-game win streak and winning six of its last seven ball games. The Eagles lone setback in GLVC play was a 64-54 setback to Drury University on Jan. 8 in Springfield, Missouri. Since then, USI has rolled off wins at the expense of Missouri University S&T (75-55) on Jan. 10, Saint Joseph's College (67-53) on Jan. 15, University of Indianapolis (67-57) on Saturday and Bellarmine (65-59) on Monday night.
 
The Screaming Eagles topped the Knights by six on Monday despite a rash of turnovers, surrendering the ball a season-high 23 times inside the Physical Activities Center. Host USI tied the game on a Libby Ogden layup with 8:36 remaining and never trailed the rest of the way in a back and forth struggle featuring six lead changes and seven ties.
 
The Screaming Eagles have been a tough squad to play inside their gym, owning a 34-6 record over the past three seasons, including a 9-1 mark this season inside the Physical Activities Center. USI's lone blemish was a 75-65 defeat to non-conference foe Malone University on Nov. 14.
 
Anna Hacket leads USI in scoring and rebounding, averaging a double-double with 15.4 points per game and 11.6 rebounds per game. Hacket additionally has 17 of the squad's 35 blocks this season. Mary O'Keefe tallies 10.8 ppg and 4.7 rpg while Tanner Marcum offers 10.5 ppg off the bench.
 
Jan. 24 vs. Bellarmine University at Knights Hall (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Knights have battled 32 times on the hardwood with Bellarmine winning 20 of those encounters, including an 82-77 victory on Jan. 13, 2014 inside DeSimone Gymnasium. Parkside trailed by as many as 16 points before pulling within a possession with 1:24 left off a Tara Knapstein layup. BU closed the door on the Rangers by converting seven of its eight free throws down the stretch for the five-point win. 
 
About the Knights: Bellarmine (8-7, 3-4 GLVC) began league play 3-0 but has since dropped four straight heading into Thursday's clash against Lewis University.
 
The Knights have played their previous five games on the road, opening the trip with a 65-61 win over Missouri S&T on Jan. 8 before dropping the remaining four, falling to Drury (83-71) on Jan. 10, UIndy (89-72) on Jan. 15, Saint Joe's (61-48) on Jan. 17 and to travel partner USI (65-59) on Monday.
 
Bellarmine owns a 4-1 record at home this season, dropping its season opener 80-78 to the University of North Alabama on Nov. 15 before winning its next four games inside Knights Hall. BU additionally owns a 25-9 mark inside its home venue over the previous three seasons.
 
Destony Curry leads the charge for the Knights, averaging 11.2 points per game while Whitney Hartlage tallies 10.3 ppg. Beth Bowers adds 9.5 ppg with Raven Merriweather chipping in 8.0 ppg and 5.0 rebounds per game. Morgan Clemons is the team leader on the glass, raking in 6.7 rpg with adding 7.7 ppg.
 
Bench Buckets: UW-Parkside has generated points off the bench all season with the reserves outscoring the starters five 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. Most recently the non-starters tallied 36 points in a 71-48 rout of the University of Illinois Springfield on Jan. 15.
 
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 70 of their last 81 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 played four home contests in a 10-game span from Jan. 8 through Jan. 17. UW-Parkside made the most of those games, steamrolling all four opponents with an average margin of victory at +20.5.

This season's opening 15-game swing 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.