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

Box Score

LEBANON, Ill. (Jan. 28, 2016)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team was 2.6 seconds away from the victory before falling victim to a last second shot, getting edged 44-43 by Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division rival McKendree University in a defensive slugfest inside the Statham Center.
 
Stephanie Furr nailed a jumper with 2.6 seconds left in the game, giving the visiting Rangers (11-7, 5-5 GLVC) the one-point lead. The Bearcats (10-10, 5-5 GLVC) answered as Jordan Morton hit the game winning jumper as the horn sounded. The officials reviewed the play and put 0.2 seconds back on the clock but a long Ranger inbounds pass was intercepted by McKendree as the hosts held on for the win in a game featuring eight lead changes and six ties with neither team owning a lead greater than seven.
 
McKendree tallied seven of the game's first nine points and led 9-5 with 7:39 left in the opening period before going ice cold the rest of the quarter. Unfortunately the Rangers were unable to pounce, scoring just one point during the Bearcat dry spell as the opening 10 minutes ended with McKendree leading 9-7.
 
Furr gave the Rangers their first lead of the game with a three to open the second quarter and led by three after Jessica Prince hit a bucket with 7:08 left but the two squads went into the locker room deadlocked at 22 after 20 minutes of action.
 
The two teams remained tied after three periods of play, heading to the fourth with the scoreboard reading 32-32. UW-Parkside opened the fourth with seven consecutive points, building the game's largest lead at seven with 4:08 left in the contest. Furr scored the first five points of the run, converting a three the old fashioned way to begin the quarter before hitting another layup the next offensive possession.
 
McKendree hit two threes over a two-minute stretch to close within a point before taking a one-point lead on a pair of Kelsee Ennis free throws with 11 ticks left. UW-Parkside called timeout to advance the ball to the frontcourt before Furr hit the jumper with 2.6 left.
 
Furr led the Rangers with 14 points with Rani Singh adding 11. Prince and Taylor Stephen led the Green and White on the glass, each securing eight rebounds.
 
Morton paced McKendree with 11 points with Shannon McGinnis securing a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
UW-Parkside racked up 17 offensive boards on the evening shooting just 32.1 percent (17-for-53) from the floor, including just 28.6 percent (eight-for-28) in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Bearcats had similar struggles from the floor, shooting 31.9 percent (15-for-47) for the game.
 
Parkside's five GLVC losses have all been by six points or less, including the past two by a combined three points.
 
The Rangers return to the court on Saturday afternoon, visiting the University of Illinois Springfield with tipoff slated for 1 p.m.