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

Box Score

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (Jan. 30, 2016)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team led wire-to-wire on Saturday afternoon, cruising past Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division rival University of Illinois Springfield 70-53 inside The Recreation and Athletic Center.
 
The visiting Rangers (11-7, 6-5 GLVC) came out of the gate swinging, scoring nine of the first 11 points and establishing a 15-5 lead with 3:40 left in the opening period. UW-Parkside led 20-11 after one quarter of play and continued to pile on the points in the second period, ripping off 10 consecutive points over a five-minute stretch and led by as many as 22 before enjoying a 40-21 lead at the intermission with Kristin Conniff uncorking 17 points in the opening half of play while the team shot an impressive 58.6 percent (17-for-29) from the floor.
 
UW-Parkside's lead ballooned to a game-high 24 points off a Stephanie Furr three-point play with 7:49 left in the third period but the pesky Prairie Stars (6-12, 1-10 GLVC) weren't quite ready to fade away, starting the fourth on a 7-2 spurt to close the gap to just single digits. Furr answered with a layup to build the lead back up to double digits and the visitors kept UIS at arm's length the rest of the way in the 17-point win.
 
12 different Rangers tallied points, including Conniff who led all scorers with 19, shooting eight-for-12 from the field. Furr added nine points while dishing out six assists and securing four rebounds while Tara Knapstein piled on nine. Jessica Prince had eight points along with securing a team-high six rebounds.
 
Ashley McHenry led Illinois Springfield with 14 points with Syerra Cunningham adding 11 with eight rebounds.
 
UW-Parkside enjoyed a 30-15 edge in bench points and closed the contest shooting at a 53.1 percent clip (26-for-49) while holding UIS to shooting just 36.4 percent (20-for-55) from the floor.
 
The Rangers return to the court on Thursday evening, hosting William Jewell College at 5:30 p.m. inside DeSimone Gymnasium.