Wayne State 81, Parkside 62
Parkside wasn't able to finish out their road-trip like they had hoped, dropping three of the four games. Sophomore Alyssa Nelson led the Rangers with 19 points and six rebounds. The Green & White move to 13-11 on the year and 10-7 in the conference play.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rangers found themselves down 10-2 at the start of the game, and spent the rest of the first quarter battling to get back into it. They were able to cut the lead to four when Sophomore Maddy Harrison drained a three-pointer as the first quarter buzzer went off. Harrison's three was the start of a 13-3 Ranger run that saw the team grab a 24-21 lead with just over six minutes left in the half.  Wayne State came back and responded to take a 34-33 lead into the half.
 
The Warriors were able to slightly extend their lead thanks to 8-of-12 shooting in the third quarter. Parkside shot just 6-of-19, and found themselves down 56-49 going into the fourth. Wayne State continued their hot shooting in the final quarter, going 10-for-14 from the field, including 2-of-2 from three. This hot shooting aided them in outscoring the Rangers 25-13 in the quarter, and grabbing the 19-point win.
 
HEAR FROM COACH CONELY
"Really disappointing loss for us today," said head coach Jen Conely. "Credit to Wayne State, they came out aggressive in the second half. We didn't do a great job executing our game plan and they took advantage of that."
 
"We want to make sure that we are playing our best basketball at the end of the year and unfortunately, we took a step backwards today," Conely continued. "We will watch film and make that we continue to get better and finish the regular season strong."
 
STATWORTHY
Only five Parkside players got on the board, with four of them reaching double-digits. As mentioned earlier, Nelson led the way with 19. Harrison had 16 points and six rebounds, senior Taylor Stephen had 14 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists, and junior Alisha Murphy finished with 12 points and five rebounds. The games leading scorer was the Warriors' Sadia Johnson, who had 21 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
 
The Green & White had a tough day from the floor, going 20-for-62 (32.3-percent), and 9-of-33 (27.2-percent) from three. The Warriors shot 28-for-57 (49.1-percent) from the field, including 18-of-26 (69.2-percent) in the second half, and 6-of-13 (46.2-percent) from beyond the arc.
 
WHAT'S NEXT
The Rangers will return home for their final home weekend, starting with Lake Superior State on Thursday, Feb. 20 at 5:30 p.m. Thursday night marks Parkside Basketball's Faculty/Staff Appreciation Night, as well as Academic Achievement Night. Following Thursday's festivities, Parkside will play Ferris State in a potentially high-stakes GLIAC showdown on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m. for Senior Day.