GAME DAY LINKS --
McKENDREE at WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE -- Thursday, Jan. 4, 2018, 5:30 p.m.
DeSimone Gymnaisum -- Somers, Wis.
WATCH LIVE (UW-Parkside Broadcast)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
UW-PARKSIDE SEASON STATISTICS
McKENDREE vs. ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD -- Saturday, Jan. 6, 2018, 1 p.m.
Harry M. Statham Sports Center -- Lebanon, Ill.
WATCH LIVE (Bearcat Sports Network)
LIVE STATS
McKENDREE SEASON STATISTICS
ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD SEASON STATISTICS
(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 3)--The McKendree University women's basketball team will take its three-game win streak back into Great Lakes Valley Conference play this week against a pair of league foes. The Bearcats will make the trip north to Somers, Wis., for a Thursday night meeting against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside before returning home to host the University of Illinois Springfield Saturday afternoon.
McKendree ended the 2017 calendar year on a high note by rallying for a 73-53 win on Saturday at Davenport University. The Bearcats trailed by as many as nine points in the first half before erupting for 51 points in the second half to cruise to the 20-point win. As a team, McKendree shot 66.7 percent over the final 20 minutes to register its second-highest scoring output of the season. Madison Hart led three Bearcats in double figures with 18 points, while Jordan Heberg added 13 points and Shayli Florine came off the bench to post 12 points and six rebounds. The win was the third straight triumph for McKendree, which improved to 4-5 overall.
Thursday's game at Wisconsin-Parkside will mark the first of 16 straight games against GLVC opponents for McKendree. The Bearcats are in search of their first league victory this season as they bring an 0-2 GLVC record into this week's action. McKendree was defeated at Drury University and at home versus Truman State University last month.
Heberg continues to lead McKendree in scoring at 10.9 PPG. She is the lone Bearcat scoring in double figures as Hart is next at 9.4 PPG. Jordan Morton leads the way in rebounding at 6.3 RPG, while
Shauniera Wilson (Springfield, Ill./Southeast) is next at 5.8 RPG. Wilson also has a team-best 18 blocked shots, and ranks second in the GLVC in blocks per game at 2.0.
Florine sits eighth in the conference in field goal percentage, hitting 51.9 percent of her attempts from the floor. Callie Pohlman is the only McKendree player to rank in the top 10 of the GLVC in three different statistical categories. Pohlman is sixth in the league in assists (3.4 APG), steals (2.2 SPG) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.5).
Saturday's game with Illinois Springfield will mark Alumni Day for the McKendree women's basketball program. Former players will participate in an alumni game Saturday morning at the Statham Center before returnees will be honored during a halftime ceremony. Those who have not registered for Saturday's event are asked to do so by clicking
HERE. Saturday's contest will also mark the first for the Bearcats in the newly-formed GLVC Central Division. This is the first year that the league has gone to a three-division format. McKendree is grouped in the GLVC Central with Illinois Springfield, Maryville University, the University of Missouri-St. Louis and Quincy University.
ABOUT WISCONSIN-PARKSIDE
The Rangers begin the new year with a 5-9 overall record and a 1-1 mark in GLVC play. UW-Parkside has dropped three of four contests, including an 83-75 setback on New Year's Eve against Northwood University. Ali Bettencourt heads a list of three Rangers averaging in double figures at 15.2 PPG. Bettencourt, who is eighth in the GLVC in scoring, has connected on 38 three-pointers in the team's first 13 games and is also shooting 87.5 percent from the foul line. Hayley Maystead is next on the list at 11.6 PPG, while Carolina Rahkonen rounds out the trio at 10.4 PPG. Rahkonen is second on the squad in rebounding at 6.1 RPG, which is second only to Georgie Eishold who is pulling down 6.5 RPG.
In the 2016-17 meeting between the two teams, UW-Parkside edged McKendree 53-51 on Jan. 28, 2017 in Somers, Wis. The Rangers rallied in the fourth quarter to grab the lead and had to survive a potential game-winning three-point shot from
Amber Alexander (St. Louis, Mo./Parkway North) at the buzzer to hold on for the win.
Ellie Pusheck (South Milwaukee, Wis./South Milwaukee) led the Bearcats with 12 points, while Shannone McGinnis hauled in a game-high 13 rebounds in the effort.
ABOUT ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD
The Prairie Stars will take an 8-2 overall record and a 2-0 GLVC ledger into its Thursday contest at Lewis University. UIS had won five straight games before an 89-52 loss to Angelo State University in the final game of the Daytona Beach Shootout on Dec. 19, which was the last time that the Prairie Stars took the court.
Head coach Mark Kost has two players averaging in double figures for the GLVC's top scoring offense at 77.2 PPG. Shelbi Patterson tops the list at 13.6 PPG, while Destiny Ramsey is right behind 13.5 PPG. Ramsey also shows the way on the glass at 7.9 RPG, which places her fourth in the conference. Katelyn Rosner, who is just behind Ramsey at 7.8 RPG, is fifth in the league in rebounding. Rosner is also the GLVC's top shot blocker with 2.6 BPG.
In addition to leading the GLVC in scoring offense, the Prairie Stars also sit first in the league in rebounding (44.0 RPG), blocked shots (7.6 BPG), turnover margin (+7.7) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.3).
The Prairie Stars swept the 2016-17 season series from McKendree. UIS took the first meeting 59-53 on Jan. 16, 2017 at the Statham Center before rolling to a 62-45 decision in the regular-season finale on Feb. 23, 2017.
