(Courtesy of Mark Albanese, Wisconsin-Parkside Assistant Athletic Director for Sports Media Relations)

FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- The University of Wisconsin-Parkside women's basketball squad returned to the win column on Saturday afternoon, closing out the Mt. McKinley North Star Invitational with a 73-63 victory over Sonoma State University at Alaska Airlines Court.
 
The Rangers (4-2) claimed the opening eight points of the contest with a Bailey North jumper sandwiched around a pair of Kristin Conniff threes and enjoyed a 16-10 lead after one quarter of action.
 
A North three just under two minutes into the second period gave UW-Parkside a double digit advantage but the pesky Seawolves (4-3) battled back, scoring 21 of the next 30 points to seize a 33-31 lead with 2:10 left before halftime. Sonoma State's lead was short-lived with Tara Knapstein hitting six free throws over the next minute to give the Green and White a four-point buffer before taking a 39-36 lead into the locker room at the half.
 
The Parkside lead ballooned to 11 just under four minutes into the second half off a Jessica Prince jumper but nearly vanished in the fourth quarter with the Seawolves pulling with a point at 56-55 with 7:24 remaining. Knapstein extended the lead back to four courtesy of a three the old fashioned way, hitting a layup and a free throw but a Jerrica Crosby jumper pulled SSU back to within a possession with 4:35 left.
 
Lauren Boerger nailed a three before Shelby Cheston hit a jumper, pushing the Ranger lead back up to seven and the Rangers led by at least four the rest of the way en route to the 10-point win.
 
Knapstein came off the bench and led the Rangers with 17 points and seven boards, closing the game a perfect 11-for-11 at the charity stripe. Conniff hit three treys and piled on 13 points while Rani Singh added 10 points.
 
Madison Burroughs paced Sonoma with 17 points while Tanner Adams added 12.
 
UW-Parkside shot an impressive 54.2 percent (13-for-24) from the floor in the second half, finishing the game shooting at a 46.2 percent clip (24-for-52) while the Seawolves ended the afternoon shooting 41.0 percent (25-for-61) from the floor.

Sonoma State returns home to open CCAA play Wednesday, hosting UC San Diego in The Wolves' Den at 5:30 pm.