RENSSELAER, Ind. -- Kauri Jensen scored 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds, but Ohio Valley overcame a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat Wisconsin-Parkside 77-70 in the opening round of the Puma Thanksgiving Basketball Classic on Friday at Scharf Fieldhouse on the campus of Saint Joseph's.

The Rangers appeared well on the way to their first victory of the season when a jumper from Lauren Boerger gave Wisconsin-Parkside a 62-53 lead with 4:51 to play in the fourth quarter.

Ohio Valley, which improved to 3-3 on the season, began its comeback with a layup by Jayln Gilbert that cut the lead to 62-55 with 4:36 to play in the game. Two free throws by Imani McDowell and a three-point play by Gilbert brought the Fighting Scots to within 62-60 at the 3:45 mark of the second period.

A three-point play by Shicole Watts put the Fighting Scots ahead 63-62 with 3:25 left to play in the game.

Wisconsin-Parkside, which dropped to 0-4 on the season, rallied behind senior Brittney Fair. Fair put the Rangers back in front at 64-63 with a jumper at the 3:14 mark before Watts answered with a jumper that regained the lead for Ohio Valley at 65-64 with 2:47 remaining in regulation.

Fair hit a pair of free throws that put Wisconsin-Parkside ahead 66-65 with 2:40 left in the game, but the Fighting Scots would close the game on a 12-4 run to secure the victory. McDowell began the run with a three-pointer that put Ohio Valley ahead to stay at 68-66 with 2:23 left in the game.

Fair led the Rangers with 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the floor, while Jensen finished with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting from the field. Taylor Stephen, Boerger and Carolina Rahkonen each finished with 10 points for the Rangers.

Ohio Valley was led by Watts who scored a game-high 23 points, while Cydney Franklin added 19 points for the Fighting Scots.

Wisconsin-Parkside shot only 14.3 percent in the first quarter and fell behind 11-5. The Rangers got back into the game by shooting a blistering 62.5 percent from the floor in the second quarter on its way to outscoring Ohio Valley 21-19 in the period.

The Rangers shot 50.0 percent from the floor in the third quarter on their way to outscoring the Fighting Scots 27-18.

Wisconsin-Parkside opened the third quarter with a jumper from Jensen and back-to-back layups by Stephen and Fair to take a 32-30 lead with 8:31 remaining in the quarter.

The Fighting Scots responded with a 5-0 run to regain the lead at 35-32 with 7:21 remaining in the period.

A free throw from Hayley Maystead and a free throw and a jumper from Rahkonen to go along with a three-pointer by Fair gave the Rangers a 39-35 lead with 6:24 remaining in the third period.

Although the Fighting Scots would rally to tie the game in the third quarter the Rangers never surrendered the lead and used a a jumper by Boerger and a layup by Stephen to take a 53-48 lead after three quarters.

Wisconsin-Parkside opened the fourth quarter with a free throw from Rahkonen and a layup by Stephen to extend the lead to 56-48 with 9:02 to play in the contest.

Ohio Valley answered with a 5-0 run that cut the lead to 56-53 at the 6:51 mark of the quarter, but the Rangers used a jumper and a layup from Rahkonen and a jumper from Boerger to extend the lead to 62-53 with 4:51 left in the game.

Ohio Valley then ripped off its 24-8 run over the final 4:36 of the game to capture the victory.

Wisconsin-Parkside will face Northern Michigan at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 26) on the second day of play in the Puma Thanksgiving Basketball Classic.