PARKSIDE 68, PURDUE NORTHWEST 54
A pair of late threes from junior Carolina Rahkonen proved to be the difference in Thursday night's game at Purdue Northwest. In the fourth quarter, Rahkonen's threes gave Parkside a ten-point lead that they would not relinquish. The Rangers got a huge contribution from their bench, as they scored 41 of the teams 68 total points. The win improves Parkside's conference record to 10-10 on the season. Freshmen Hannah Plockelman scored a career-high 15 points to lead the Rangers.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Rangers will start their postseason with a trip to No. 7 Ashland for the first round of the GLIAC tournament. Ashland finished the season as the No. 2 seed in the GLIAC while the Rangers finished No. 7. The two teams will square off next Tuesday, March 5 at 4:30 p.m. in Ashland; the Eagles won both matchups this season.
FIRST HALF
Both teams started the game slow on Thursday night, scoring five points total in the first 4:21 of the game. Plockelman was subbed in and provided a spark off the bench with five quick points and helped the Rangers get out to an early 9-3 lead. The Rangers would extend their lead to seven, and lead Purdue Northwest 15-8 at the end of the first quarter. However, the lead didn't last long as Purdue Northwest started the second quarter on a 9-3 run of their own to cut the Ranger lead to 18-17. With 7:30 remaining in the half, the Rangers defense clamped down. Parkside did not allow Purdue Northwest to score for the next seven minutes as they extended their lead to 28-21 at the half.
SECOND HALF
The Rangers struggled out of the halftime break, as Purdue Northwest started the half on a 14-2 run. Plockelman again helped the Rangers get out of their funk, as she scored a basket and a pair of free throws to put Parkside back out in front, 36-35. The two teams traded baskets and were knotted up at 43-43 when a 3-pointer from redshirt-junior Taylor Stephen sparked a 9-0 run for the Rangers. The Pride scored consecutive baskets to bring the lead back to four, when Parkside again answered with back-to-back three-pointers from Rahkonen to put the game out of reach.
STATWORTHY
Plockelman led the team with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting to go along with a perfect 4-for-4 from the line. Redshirt-senior Shelby Cheston was the only other Ranger to hit double-digits with 12 points and five rebounds.
