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

SOMERS, Wis. (Jan. 6, 2016)-- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball team continues its homestand this week, hosting a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference foes from the Show Me State. The Rangers battle Missouri University S&T on Thursday evening before closing the home slate on Saturday with a nationally-televised clash against sixth-ranked Drury University inside DeSimone Gymnasium.
 
The Rangers and Miners will tipoff at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday with Saturday's contest against the nationally-ranked Panthers slated to get underway at 5:05 p.m. Live stats, video, and audio will be available for both games with Saturday's game broadcast nationwide on the American Sports Network.
 
About the Rangers: UW-Parkside (7-4, 1-2 GLVC) had a two-game win streak halted last Saturday, falling 67-63 to seventh-ranked Lewis University. Prior to Lewis, the Rangers collected a pair of victories at the Sodexo Tip-Off Classic, smothering Concordia University Oregon 65-43 on Dec. 18 before downing host Seattle Pacific University 60-53 the following day.
 
Against Lewis, the Ranger and Flyers battled back and forth with the lead exchanging hands seven times. The two squads went into the halftime break tied at 31 after Lewis hit a half-court buzzer-beater. Parkside seized a 38-37 lead with 5:07 left in the third period on a Shelby Cheston layup but the visitors scored 11 of the final 13 points of the period, heading to the fourth with a 48-40 advantage. The Flyers increased their buffer to 13 with just under six minutes to go before the Green and White attempted one final charge, closing within a possession at 66-63 with 20 ticks left off a Tara Knapstein three but was unable to come any closer as LU hit a late free throw and the Rangers misfired on a three with six seconds left.
 
Brittney Fair made her first start of her career in style, piling on 16 points and dishing out seven rebounds while Rani Singh was dialed in from the perimeter, hitting five of her six three-point attempts to finish with a career-high 15 points in just 19 minutes of work.
 
Kristin Conniff leads the Rangers' scoring efforts, averaging 13.7 points per game while hitting a team-best 24 threes on the year. Stephanie Furr tallies 11.0 ppg and 5.6 rebounds per game while Knapstein is the third Ranger averaging in double figures, collecting 10.7 ppg along with 5.2 rpg. Fair adds 9.7 ppg while Jessica Prince leads the squad on the glass with 6.1 rebounds per game.
 
As a team, UW-Parkside sits third in the GLVC in both free throw percentage and three-pointers made, hitting 75.9 percent of its chances at the charity stripe while making 7.55 three-pointers per outing.
 
Jan. 7 vs. Missouri University S&T at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Live Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Miners have met 11 times on the hardwood with S&T enjoying a slim 6-5 edge in the all-time series. The two squads last met on Feb. 12, 2015 inside DeSimone Gymnasium with host Parkside winning 73-53 for the program's record-setting 12th consecutive conference win.
 
About the Miners: Missouri S&T (5-5, 1-2 GLVC) heads to Wisconsin having dropped two of its last three games. The Miners fell 69-58 to GLVC travel partner Drury on Dec. 12 before downing Harris-Stowe State University 67-64 on Dec. 20 in the squad's final game of the calendar year. S&T opened 2016 on New Year's Eve, getting steamrolled 79-43 by host Southwest Baptist University.
 
Against Harris-Stowe, the Miners trailed by as many as 12 points but utilized a big fourth period to slip past the Hornets. S&T outscored HSSU 21-10 in the final 10 minutes and held the visitors scoreless over the final 70 seconds to secure the win despite turning the ball over 29 times. Against Southwest Baptist, the visiting Miners shot a season low 25 percent from the floor as the Bearcats led wire-to-wire.
 
Bria Pierce is the Miners' top offensive weapon, averaging 10.8 points per game while grabbing 5.6 rebounds per game. Jamy Douvier is second on the squad in scoring, chipping in 9.3 ppg while securing a team-high 7.3 rpg. Raetchel Gray adds 9.2 ppg while dishing out a team-best 3.6 assists per game.
 
Missouri S&T leads the GLVC in rebounding defense, allowing opponents to grab just 30.2 rebounds per game but sit last in the league in three-point field goal percentage, hitting just 25.8 percent of its attempts.
 
Jan. 9 vs. Drury University at DeSimone Gymnasium (Live Stats)(Video)(Audio)
 
Series History: The Rangers and Panthers have tangled 13 times on the hardwood with Drury enjoying a 9-4 lead in the all-time series. DU won both encounters last season by razor thin margins, slipping past the Rangers 69-67 on Feb. 14 inside DeSimone Gymnasium before earning a 70-66 win on Mar. 7 in the GLVC Tournament Semifinals in Saint Charles, Missouri.
 
About the Panthers: Nationally-ranked Drury (10-1, 3-0 GLVC) opened the season with nine consecutive wins before splitting a pair of games at the Florida Tech Holiday Classic in Melbourne, Florida. Three of DU's opening nine wins came at the expense of GLVC West Division foes, defeating University of Missouri-Saint Louis 74-65 on Dec. 3 before ripping Maryville University 80-47 two days later. Drury downed Missouri S&T 69-58 on Dec. 12 before claiming a 71-64 non-league win over Arkansas Tech University.
 
The Panthers were tripped up 72-61 against the University of Tampa to open the Holiday Classic before taking down host Florida Institute of Technology 81-73. Against Tampa, the Spartans were red-hot in the first half, hitting 72 percent of shots while staking a 40-24 lead at the intermission. DU whittled the deficit down to just seven in the third period but was unable to come any closer as UT held on for the upset victory.
 
Annie Armstrong and Alice Heinzler provide a one-two punch for the Panthers, averaging 14.9 and 14.4 points per game, respectively. Heinzler additionally is a pest on the defensive end of the floor, leading the team with 35 steals. Hannah Dressler chips in 9.1 ppg and a team-best 5.3 rebounds per game while Briana Jones adds 7.6 ppg.
 
Drury leads the GLVC in scoring offense (78.8 points per game) while sitting second in the 16-team circuit in field goal percentage (49.2 percent), three-point field goal percentage (42.9 percent), three-point field goal percentage defense (25.2 percent), and three-pointers made (8.27 per game).
 
National TV Exposure: The Rangers' doubleheader against GLVC rival Drury University on Saturday, Jan. 9 will be broadcast live nationwide on the American Sports Network and online through NCAA.com. To accommodate the national telecast, tipoff is getting pushed back to 5:05 p.m. Spectators in attendance will receive "White Out" T-shirts provided from Midwest Orthopedic Specialty Services at Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare - All Saints, the official sports medicine provider of the UW-Parkside athletic department. Additionally, the first 100 fans will get a RangerBear bobblehead doll.

Road Warriors: Heavy travel during the non-conference slate, a staple of Head Coach Jacob Yorg, continues this season with 11 of the first 12 games being played at neutral sites or on the road. The season-opening barnstorming tour will feature 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 play 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 106 threes, sitting 14 shy of Jamie Nebel (1999-2003) in seventh place while Kristin Conniff sits just outside the top 10 in 11th with 87 career threes, just two shy of tying Ashley Ferguson (2003-2007) for 10th on the all-time list.

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 74 of their last 88 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.
 
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 37-30.
 
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.