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

SOMERS, Wis. (Feb. 11, 2015)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball squad finishes off Interdivisional play this week, putting its program record 11-game win streak on the line as Great Lakes Valley Conference West Division foes Missouri University S&T and Drury University descend upon DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
The Rangers and Lady Miners square off on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. for Civil Servant Day while the Rangers and the 17th-ranked Panthers hit the floor on Saturday at 1 p.m. for the squad's annual Pink Game. 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 (18-4, 11-2 GLVC) continues to be one of the hottest clubs in the Midwest, claiming a pair of wins in Kansas City last weekend to extend its win streak to a program-best 11 in a row.
 
Gaby Bronson stole the show last Thursday against Rockhurst University, pouring on 20 points while dishing out 12 assists and grabbing seven rebounds in the Rangers' 70-51 victory over the Hawks inside Mason-Halpin Field House. UW-Parkside spotted the hosts the opening five points off the game before storming back with the next eight points. The Rangers never trailed the rest of the way, owning a 33-24 lead at the halftime break and owning a double-digit buffer for almost the entire second half.
 
Two days later it was a big first half that powered the Rangers to their 11th straight victory, downing William Jewell College 67-54. The host Cardinals owned an early four point lead but Parkside ripped off the next 12 points and continued to pull away, owning a 41-22 lead after 20 minutes of play. Tara Knapstein highlighted the day, collecting her first double-double of the season with 19 points and 11 rebounds.
 
Gaby Bronson leads the Rangers in scoring (12.7 points per game) and rebounds (5.4 per game) while leading the team and ranking second in the GLVC in assists (5.1 per game). Kristin Conniff adds 10.0 ppg, hitting a team-best 30 three-pointers on the season while Knapstein adds 9.0 ppg and 3.8 rpg. Stephanie Furr chips in 7.6 ppg while Brittney Fair adds 5.7 ppg along with 30 steals. Bronson and Sarah Mlachnik are the only two Rangers to start all 22 games this season and both lead the team in minutes played.
 
UW-Parkside leads the GLVC in scoring defense (57.3 points per game) and three-point field goal defense (26.1 percent) while sitting second in the league in rebounding margin (+7.1) and third in field goal defense (36.6 percent). The Rangers additionally rank 16th in NCAA Division II (out of 289 teams) in three-point field goal defense and sit 18th nationally in scoring defense.
 
Feb. 12 vs. Missouri University S&T at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Lady Miners have met 10 times with S&T winning six of those encounters. Last season UW-Parkside erased a nine-point deficit to force overtime on Feb. 15 in Rolla, Missouri but was unable to hang with the hosts in the five minute overtime session, falling 72-69.
 
About the Lady Miners: Missouri S&T (6-15, 2-11 GLVC) hits the road after winning the final two games of its four game homestand inside the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building. The Miners busted out of a 10-game funk last Thursday with an 84-44 blowout of McKendree University, draining 12 threes in the contest before ripping the University of Illinois Springfield 82-70 on Saturday.
 
All six of S&T's wins this season have come inside the friendly confines of the Bullman Multi-Purpose Building, dropping all seven games played away from the complex this season.
 
Janie Arand is the Lady Miners' leading scorer, heading into Thursday averaging 9.4 points per game. Brittany Andersen contributes 7.8 ppg while Leigh-Ann Kesper averages 7.3 ppg and 4.6 rebounds per game. Jamy Douvier leads the team on the glass with 4.9 rpg while Linda Pagrode averages a team-best 2.5 assists per game.
 
Missouri S&T is the top three-point shooting squad in the GLVC, hitting 40.7 percent of its opportunities but ranks just 15 out of 16 teams in scoring margin at -6.6.
 
Feb. 14 vs. Drury University at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: Parkside and Drury have battled 11 times on the hardwood with Drury owning a 7-4 edge in the all-time series. The Rangers met the then No. 9 Panthers on Feb. 13 last season with host Drury prevailing 77-56 inside the O'Reilly Event Center despite a 20-point performance from Tara Knapstein.
 
About the Panthers: 17th-ranked Drury (18-3, 12-1 GLVC) heads into Thursday riding a six game win streak and owning a four-game lead atop the GLVC West Division standings. The Panthers last defeat was on Jan. 17, stumbling 80-64 on the road to William Jewell College, snapping a nine-game win streak. Since then, Drury has rattled off six straight wins, including an 82-46 win over Illinois Springfield on Feb. 5 and a 74-65 win over McKendree on Saturday.
 
Against McKendree, Angie Armstrong piled on 21 points while Addy Roller added 15 in the nine-point win.
 
Armstrong leads the Panthers offensively on the season, averaging 14.9 points per game while Sanayika Shields chips in 11.3 ppg and a team-best 8.8 rebounds per game. Addy Roller averages 10.6 ppg while Alice Heinzler is the leading scorer off the bench, averaging 8.4 ppg. The Panthers have utilized the same starting lineup all 21 games this season, utilizing a starting five featuring Armstrong, Shields, Roller, Paige Wilson, and Shelby White.
 
Drury leads the GLVC in turnover margin (+4.48) and free throw percentage (80.8 percent) while sitting second in the conference in scoring margin (+14.2) and scoring offense (77.4 points per game).

Streaks: The Rangers current 11 game win streak is the team's longest stretch of wins in program history, eclipsing a 10 game run during the 2008-2009 campaign from Dec. 4 through Jan. 10.
 
Bench Buckets: UW-Parkside has generated points off the bench all season with the reserves outscoring the starters six 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. Parkside's non-starters tallied 36 points in a 71-48 rout of the University of Illinois Springfield on Jan. 15 while pouring on 37 in a 70-52 drubbing of the University of Southern Indiana on Jan. 22.
 
WBCA Poll: The Rangers' 11-game win streak has not gone unnoticed with the team collecting five points in the most recent WBCA Top 25 Poll released on Feb. 10. Two GLVC squads appear in the Top 25 with undefeated Lewis University remaining No. 1 in the nation while Drury moved up one spot to No. 17 this week.

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 72 of their last 83 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.
 
Civil Servant Day: The Rangers will host Civil Servant Day on Thursday, Feb. 12 against Missouri University S&T to honor all emergency service, government, and military personal. All civil servants will receive free admission to the game with valid ID with the Rangers donning camouflage uniforms for the occasion.
 
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. Yorg's two-year record at Parkside currently stands at 26-22.
 
Joining Yorg on the bench this season will be former Ranger student-athlete Danielle Slivka along with Oliver Wiseman and Dean Mlachnik.