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

SOMERS, Wis. (Jan. 20, 2016)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball squad, winners of three of the last four, resume Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division play this week, returning to the friendly confines of DeSimone Gymnasium and hosting Bellarmine University and the University of Southern Indiana.
 
The Rangers and Knights hit the hardwood at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday with the UW-Parkside and Southern Indiana clash set for 1 p.m. on Saturday. Live stats, video, and audio for both games will be available.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (10-5, 4-3 GLVC) returns home after earning a split last week in Saint Louis against a pair of GLVC West Division squads. The Rangers were victimized by a 17-2 run midway through the contest in a 67-61 setback to the University of Missouri-Saint Louis on Jan. 14 before rebounding with a 72-59 victory over Maryville University on Saturday behind a 27-point, 14-rebound performance from Stephanie Furr.
 
Against UMSL, it was a see-saw battle with seven lead changes and six ties before the homestanding Tritons pulled away with their big run, closing the first half on an 11-2 run while netting the opening six points of the third period to build a lead they would retain the rest of the game. Shelby Cheston scored 11 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for her first career double-double while Furr tallied a team-best 13 points.
 
Against Maryville, the short-staffed Rangers dominated the glass, owning a 50-31 rebounding edge while enjoying a 17-8 advantage in second chance points. Visiting Parkside led by two at the halftime break and briefly surrendered the lead early in the third before scoring seven straight. The Rangers never trailed the rest of the way, slowing earning separation in the final period for the 13-point win.
 
Furr again paced the Rangers with a career-high 27 points while Tara Knapstein added 12 points off the bench and Jessica Prince grabbed 10 rebounds.
 
Kristin Conniff leads the Rangers scoring attack, averaging 13.3 points per game while sinking a team-high 28 threes on the season. The senior has additionally finished in double figures in 10 of the 14 games she has played in 2015-2016. Furr adds 12.3 ppg and a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game while Knapstein chips in 10.6 ppg, 4.9 rpg, and leads the team with 22 steals and 3.0 assists per game. Cheston has 17 blocks for the Green and White while averaging 4.9 rebounds per game while Jessica Prince secures 5.9 rpg.
 
As a team, UW-Parkside ranks third in the GLVC in free throw percentage (75.5 percent), rebounding margin (+6.3), offensive rebounds (14.0), and three-point field goals made (7.13).
 
Jan. 21 vs. Bellarmine University at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Knights have met 33 times on the hardwood with Bellarmine enjoying a 20-13 edge in the all-time series. The two teams met just once last season with visiting Parkside earning the 63-58 victory on Jan. 24 in Louisville, Kentucky. The victory was the Rangers' seventh straight, part of the squad's program record 12-game GLVC winning streak.
 
About the Knights: Bellarmine (12-1, 6-1 GLVC) opened the season with 11 consecutive victories before faltering 83-75 to 19th-ranked Quincy University on Saturday. The Knights rebounded on Monday night, edging travel partner Southern Indiana 65-61.
 
Against Quincy, the host Knights held a slim 70-69 advantage with 3:13 left in the contest but the nationally-ranked Hawks connected on 11 free throws over the final 2:50 to escape Knights Hall with the win. Sarah Galvin paced BU in the losing effort with 13 points while hauling in 15 boards.
 
On Monday night, the Knights staked a 37-18 edge at the halftime break and was able to fend off a late Screaming Eagle charge in the fourth quarter, holding on for the four-point win. Whitney Hartlage was one of four Knights in double figures, posting a team-high 16 points.
 
Galvin leads the Knights and ranks third in the GLVC in scoring, averaging 18.2 points per game while also securing a team-best 9.1 rebounds per game. Hartlage and Destony Curry both add 9.9 ppg while Makenzie Martinez is the team's leading distributer with 3.8 assists per game.
 
Bellarmine leads the GLVC in several statistical categories, including scoring offense (77.6), three-point field goal percent defense (25.3 percent), rebounding offense (41.1), assists (17.08), steals (11.38), turnover margin (+4.00), and offensive rebounds (15.54) while sitting second in scoring margin (+12.9).
 
Jan. 23 vs. University of Southern Indiana at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Screaming Eagles have clashed 32 times since the series began during the 1995-1996 season with Southern Indiana owning a 21-11 lead in the all-time series. Last season, UW-Parkside led wire-to-wire, crushing host USI 70-52 on Jan. 22 in Evansville, Indiana.
 
About the Screaming Eagles: Southern Indiana (10-5, 3-4 GLVC) opened the season by winning 10 of its first 11 but has since gone ice cold, heading into Thursday's tilt with Lewis University having dropped four straight.
 
USI downed Rockhurst University 68-54 on Jan. 7 for the squad's eighth consecutive win before suffering a 68-65 setback to William Jewell College two days later. The Eagles misfortunes continued the next week, stumbling 78-65 to nationally-ranked Quincy while getting held to a season low point total in a 60-42 defeat to Truman State University. USI was back on the court on Monday, falling by four to host Bellarmine.
 
Three Eagles average in double figures, led by Hannah Wascher who averages 15.5 points per game along with 8.5 rebounds per game and 22 blocks. Tanner Marcum chips in 13.1 ppg while Kaydie Grooms adding 10.5 ppg and 5.7 rpg. Randa Harshburger ranks second in the GLVC in assists, dishing out 6.0 per game.
 
Southern Indiana sits second in the conference in steals with 10.27 per game while checking in third in scoring defense (57.7), field goal percentage (45.6 percent), and blocks (3.87).
 
Mix-and-Match: 12 different Rangers have earned starts the season as the squad has utilized nine unique starting lineups over the course of the 15 games this season. Kristin Conniff and Jessica Prince have been the most consistent faces in the starting five, both making 12 starts this season while freshman point guard Taylor Stephen has made 10 starts.
 
Meet Me in Saint Louis: After recording 43 wins inside Maloney Arena as a member of the Maryville University coaching staff from 2008-2013, Head Coach Jacob Yorg nabbed his first victory inside the venue sitting on the visitor's bench on Saturday as the Rangers came away with the 13-point victory.

Furr-ocious: Stephanie Furr has made a big impact for the Rangers the last three games, coming off the bench and tallying double figures in all three contests. The senior scored 12 points with nine rebounds in the Rangers' upset of sixth-ranked Drury University on Jan. 9 before dropping 13 points in last Thursday's setback to UMSL. Furr had a career game against Maryville on Saturday, posting 27 points and 14 rebounds in short-staffed Parkside's 13-point win.

Road Warriors: Heavy travel during the non-conference slate, a staple of Head Coach Jacob Yorg, continued this season with 11 of the first 12 games being played at neutral sites or on the road. The season-opening barnstorming tour featured games in four different time zones, including for the second consecutive season, a string of games outside the continental United States. This season the Rangers played three games in Alaska while last season the squad played a trio of games in Puerto Rico. All told, the Rangers will cover over 11,895 miles between the home opener and the GLVC home opener on Jan. 2.
 
Time Zone Travelers: The barnstorming Rangers had a stretch of four games in four different time zones during the epic non-conference road swing. The streak began in Alaska, downing Sonoma State University 73-63 on Nov. 28 in the Alaskan Time Zone. The Rangers rolled the University of Indianapolis 68-61 on Dec. 3 in the Eastern Time Zone to open GLVC action before falling 67-63 to Saint Joseph's in UW-Parkside's native Central Time Zone on Dec. 5. The streak continued on Dec. 18 with the Rangers routing Concordia University Oregon 65-43 in the Pacific Time Zone at the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic in Seattle, Washington.

20-Win Club: UW-Parkside defeated McKendree University on Feb. 19, 2015 to secure the program's fifth 20-win campaign over the past six seasons. The Rangers have six total 20 win seasons in program history with all of them coming since 2004, including five under the direction of former Head Coach Jenny Knight-Kenesie (2002-2013).
 
Aerial Assault: Seniors Tara Knapstein and Kristin Conniff have both etched their names in the record book for their ability to shoot the three. Knapstein ranks eighth on the all-time list with 108 threes, sitting 12 shy of Jamie Nebel (1999-2003) in seventh place while Kristin Conniff sits ninth with 94 career threes, 14 shy of Knapstein and 26 short of Nebel.

Pod-demonium: The GLVC continues its pod system for the 2015-2016 season, 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 the University of Indianapolis, Saint Joseph's College, and travel partner Lewis University. Pod mates rotate every two years with the Rangers previously paired with Lewis, University of Illinois Springfield and McKendree University from 2013-2015.
 
Preseason Prognostications: UW-Parkside is picked to finish second in the GLVC East in 2015-2016 according to the league's 16 head coaches.
 
The Rangers accumulated 97 points and two first place nods to secure the No. 2 position in the East Division. Lewis University collected the remaining 14 first place votes, snagging the top spot in the East with 119 points. The University of Southern Indiana (25-7, 15-3 GLVC) is third with 92 points with Bellarmine University (14-13, 9-9 GLVC) rounding out the upper half of the division, slotting fourth with 75 points.
 
The University of Indianapolis (12-16, 8-10 GLVC) is fifth with 73 points, followed by Saint Joseph's College (11-18, 7-11 GLVC) in sixth (54 points), University of Illinois Springfield (6-20, 2-16 GLVC) in seventh (32 points), and McKendree University (2-24, 1-17 GLVC) in eighth (26 points).
 
In the West Division, defending GLVC Tournament Champion Drury University (26-4, 17-1 GLVC) sits atop the poll, raking in 120 points and 15 of the 16 first place votes. Quincy University (16-12, 10-8 GLVC) is second with 105 points and the lone remaining No. 1 vote followed by Truman State University (16-11, 10-8 GLVC) in third (85 points) and University of Missouri-Saint Louis (14-14, 9-9 GLVC) in fourth (72 points).
 
Maryville University (15-14, 8-10 GLVC) is slotted to place fifth with 67 points followed by William Jewell College (15-12, 10-8 GLVC) in sixth (50 points), Rockhurst University (11-15, 5-13 GLVC) in seventh (44 points), and Missouri University S&T (6-20, 2-16 GLVC) in eighth (25 points).
 
Home Sweet Home: The Rangers have been nearly unbeatable at home in recent years, winning 76 of their last 90 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, 7-7 in 2013-14, and finished last season with a 7-2 mark inside DeSimone Gym. In addition, the Rangers have knocked off four nationally-ranked teams inside DeSimone Gymnasium since the 2012-2013 season, including Saturday's victory over #6 Drury University.
 
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 guided the Rangers to the biggest single season turnaround in program history in 2014-2015, guiding the team back to the NCAA Division II Tournament while netting a program-record 12 game win streak during GLVC play. Yorg's record at Parkside currently stands at 40-31.
 
Joining Yorg on the bench this season will be assistants Courtney Boyd, Dean Mlachnik, and Dave Mentkowski. This will be Boyd's first season with the Green and White, previously serving as the head coach at AIB College of Business in Iowa while Mlachnik returns for his second season with UW-Parkside. Mentkowski is also in his first tour of duty with the Parkside women's program.