Kenosha, Wis. - In Jen Conely's historic night, the Parkside Rangers handled business at home, defeating the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals on Thursday night. Parkside led for the entire night, having their most impressive shooting performance from the field. Jen Conely became the third coach in program history to reach the 100-win milestone, and she became the fastest to reach that mark.
Inside the box score:
- Chloe Van Zeeland dealt another De Simone Arena masterpiece, scoring 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Van Zeeland earned her first career double-double with 10 rebounds.
- Lillie Petersen also had a career night, netting four three-pointers for all 12 of her points, which was the most in a single game in her career. Petersen also hauled in seven rebounds, meshed with two assists.
- Both Cassidy Arni and Peighton Nelson dished out five assists.
- Parkside tied a season-high with eight three-pointers made.
Quote from Coach Conely:
"I was really proud of how our team bounced back after a tough weekend last weekend. Our squad brought a lot of energy to practice and I was glad to see it translate for forty minutes tonight. One hundred wins is pretty special - it means our program has won 100 games since we joined the GLIAC. It's a fun chapter in our program's history; I've had the best seat in the house watching incredible performances and games. It meant a lot having Blair on the bench and Alyssa, Maddy, and Courtney in the stands (first year squad/recruiting class). I'm grateful for all the coaches and student-athletes that have been a part of our program and the support of our fans and campus community!"
How it happened:
The Rangers came out with a bang, winning the tip and feeding Cassidy Arni, who scored the first basket within three seconds. After a quick basket from Saginaw Valley State, Chloe Van Zeeland began her night by answering back with a two-point make of her own. Peighton Nelson added to the early barrage with a triple, just her third of the entire season, to stretch the Parkside lead to 7-2. Parkside would never surrender the lead, and a big night was just getting started. Before being subbed out for the first time, Van Zeeland scored another four points and boosted Parkside up 14-6. And with three minutes to play in the opening quarter, the Lillie Petersen light show ignited, as she struck her first triple and pushed Parkside ahead by 11. Parkside would go into the second quarter with a 19-12 lead.
In the second, Parkside began the quarter how they started the game, with an Arni basket. Van Zeeland followed with a 5-0 run by herself, which included her first made three. Van Zeeland finished with 13 in the first half. As a team, Parkside continued to turn the ball over, which held their offense back. However, their defensive intensity was too much to handle for the Cardinals. In fact, they held them to just 22 first-half points, allowing 10 in the second quarter. Peighton Nelson ended the first half with a layup to beat the first-half buzzer, and Parkside led 35-22 going into the break.
The offense continued to thrive in the second half, with guess who, Cassidy Arni once again making the first basket of the quarter. The Arni make was followed by a Sheridan Flauger triple, her first points of the night. As the Rangers continued to control the pace of the game, Van Zeeland and Petersen continued to roll. After Petersen's third triple of the night, Van Zeeland connected on an and-one to extend Parkside's lead to 19.
Petersen would make her fourth and final triple early in the fourth quarter. Parkside finished strong, scoring 20 points in the final quarter of play, proving to be their best scoring period of the contest. Van Zeeland capped the big night with four consecutive points and came just one point shy of tying her season-high. Parkside got almost the whole team involved, as Kaalyn Petersen finished strong twice in a row, lastly off a feed from Elyse Wendler, the first assist of her career. Parkside would win by a final score of 73-50, their largest margin of victory over a GLIAC opponent this season. They improved to 12-6 and 7-4 in conference play.
Next:
Parkside will look to complete the weekend sweep this Saturday against Wayne State. The GLIAC opponents are set to clash at 1:00 PM inside De Simone Arena. For coverage of the event, visit ParksideRangers.com/coverage.
