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

Box Score

LEBANON, Ill. (Feb. 19, 2015)-- Tenacious rebounding and a balanced scoring attack proved to be a winning formula on Thursday night as the University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team netted its 20th win of the season at the expense of McKendree University, disposing of the Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division rivals 69-57 inside the Statham Center.

The Rangers (20-5, 13-3 GLVC) secured its fifth 20-win campaign in the last six seasons after owning a 43-25 rebounding edge, including a 14-8 advantage in offensive boards.

The first six points of the game came from the Rangers, getting layups from Jennifer Blunt, Gaby Bronson and Kristin Conniff. UW-Parkside's lead was extended to double digits off a Conniff three with 10:10 left in the opening stanza before enjoying a 26-19 lead at the break.

The Rangers continued to attack full throttle to begin the second half, utilizing a 9-0 scoring binge to secure a 16-point lead with 17:56 remaining. The host Bearcats (2-22, 1-15 GLVC) whittled the gap to just nine on two occasions but was unable to come any closer as the Green and White netted its 13th win over the last 14 games.

Blunt led the Rangers with 13 points and eight boards while Conniff dropped 12 points along with six boards. Stephanie Furr and Jessica Prince added 11 points apiece while Bronson scored 10 points while adding seven rebounds and five assists.

Ellie Pusheck came off the bench and led the Bearcats, chipping in 17 points while Amber Alexander and Kelsee Ennis added 13 and 12 points, respectively. McKendree's leading scorer, Caty Ponce, was neutralized by the Ranger defense as she finished with 0 points despite playing all but two minutes of the game.

UW-Parkside hit 47.4 percent (27-for-57) of its shots from the floor, including a blazing 57.1 percent (16-for-28) of attempts in the second half while holding the hosts to just 32.0 percent (16-for-50) for the game. The Rangers additionally enjoyed a 40-16 edge in points in the paint.

Parkside closes out the road swing on Saturday afternoon, squaring off against the University of Illinois Springfield at 1 p.m.