Box Score #9 Tampa 78, Parkside 66
KENOSHA, Wis. – The Parkside women's basketball team traveled to Las Vegas, Nev. To compete in the Las Vegas Holiday Hoops Classic.  They opened up the weekend with a game against the #9 Tampa Spartans.  The Rangers ran with the Spartans through the first half, but a high number of turnovers allowed the Spartans to pull away for a convincing win.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Parkside got out to an early lead, but the Spartans got hot and led 18-14 at the end of the first quarter.  The Rangers came alive in the second quarter, going on a 10-4 run at the end of the half to lead 38-32. 
The wheels began to fall off in the third quarter, as the Rangers turned the ball over six times and allowed the Spartans to go on a 14-0 run in the middle of the quarter.  The Spartans would out score the Rangers 29-12 in the third and went into the fourth quarter up 11.  Staying even with the Spartans is all the Rangers could do in the fourth, as the Spartans went on to win by 12.

HEAR FROM COACH CONELY
"Disappointing loss today against a good Tampa team.  It was a tale of two halves today- I thought we had a solid first half on both ends and did a good job on the boards.  Second half was a different story.  They scored almost as many points in the third quarter as they did in the entire first half.  Credit to them- they were scoring in the paint so we went zone and they hit some timely threes and got offensive rebounds.  We are playing against great teams every night, we need to be solid for 40 minutes."

A LOOK AT THE BOX SCORE
Senior Alyssa Nelson carried the Rangers with 26 points, shooting 10-18 on the day.  Hannah Plockelman scored 14 points on 4-11 shooting.  Freshman Sheridan Flauger and senior Maddy Harrison both returned to action today, seeing limited minutes after coming off injuries that have kept them out since Nov. 20.  Lashayla Wright-Ponder led the way for the Spartans with 25 points.

WHAT'S NEXT
The Rangers will finish off their games at the Holiday Hoops Classic tomorrow, as they take on MSU Billings at 12 p.m. CST.  The Rangers will return to De Simone Arena on Jan. 1 to welcome both the new year, and the Purdue Northwest Pride.  For information on tickets for the Rangers next home game, as well as the rest of the season, visit parksiderangers.com/tickets.