UW-Parkside Falls to Michigan Tech in Women's Basketball Regional Final
UWP Sports Information
BOX SCORE
Houghton, Mich.- A historic season for the UW-Parkside Women's Basketball team came to an end Monday night as the Rangers fell to third-ranked and top-seeded Michigan Tech, 69-57 in the NCAA Division II Midwest Regional final. Parkside, which won the school's first-ever NCAA Tournament basketball games, and set a school-record for wins, finishes the season at 24-7.
"Our kids have put in a lot of hard work and the time that it takes to compete at this high level, said Head Coach Jenny Kenesie. "They should be proud. Obviously we're disappointed about the loss .. there's no doubt about that. But they work extremely hard, really fought, and really made some noise when people weren't thinking about UW-Parkside.
After a relatively even start Michigan Tech was able to stretch things out as the Rangers' offense went cold. Parkside scored just four points over a nine minute span, going 2-for-12 from the floor, as the Huskies build a double digit lead. After Jadee Rooney got the lead to down to eight, Tech went on another run, 9-2 this time, and opened up a 15-point lead at the break.
The lead hung around the 15 point mark for the first ten minutes of the second half before the Rangers charged back. Parkside went on a 14-3 run behind points from Rooney, Kaitlyn Bettiga, and Brittany Beyer to cut lead the down to six with 5:00 to go.
Michigan Tech responded though getting themselves to the free throw line on consecutive trips and Parkside was unable to get over the hump. The Huskies went 10-for-12 from the line down the stretch to secure the win.
Jadee Rooney was named to the All-Midwest Region Team and led the Rangers on Monday night with 20 points. She averaged 21.0 points per game in the regional. Brittany Beyer and Kaitlyn Bettiga also wrapped up fine regional performances. Beyer had 14 points on the night while Bettiga added 13 points and six assists.
Despite the loss Kenesie hopes the Rangers build off of what happened in Houghton this week.
"I think this will be a big motivating factor for our kids," said Kenesie. "We got a taste of success at a really high level and I know they won't forget the feeling they have right now ... the moment we lost, the tears, the disappointment. And I know that will push them to work even harder to try to get back to this point."
"I'm so proud of our young ladies and what they accomplished this year. They did things no other Parkside Women's Basketball player has ever done. Things just didn't go our way tonight but they did some special things and I'm really proud of them."