Kearney, Neb. - Another week brings two more tough teams for the Nebraska-Kearney women's basketball to face.

The Lopers (4-9, 1-5) host 11th-ranked Central Missouri Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. and then hit the road to tangle with the Missouri Southern State Lions on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Multimedia links can be found on the schedule page.

Including the UCM Jennies (12-1, 4-1) and the  MSSU Lions (10-3, 4-1), UNK's MIAA opponents are currently 77-30 (72 win percentage). After this weekend, the Lopers will have faced six of the top seven teams in a conference that has four nationally-ranked squad.

UNK is currently fifth in the MIAA in steals (9.4), seventh in 3-point percentage defense (30.5%) and eighth in rebounding offense (38.7)

Individually, sophomore post Melissa Norman (Elk Grove, Calif.) is fourth in the league in blocks (1.8) and eighth in rebounding (7.8). She is at an impressive 9.7 rebounds and 8.2 points per game in MIAA contests with 21 of her 58 rebounds coming on the offensive end.

Also, junior Shebly Zimmerman (Tri-County H.S.) continues to lead the Loper offense, shooting 55% from the floor to be at 11.2 points per game. That's an increase of nearly six points from last year.

UNK and UCM have never met in women's basketball. The Jennies have won seven in a row to re-enter the national rankings and are coming off a 70-67 win over then No. 20 Pitt State.

Former Missouri Western State head coach Dave Slifer has a 14-player roster that features two seniors and eight transfers.

Junior forward Keuna Flax, who began her career at Oklahoma Sate, has played in the last six games and is averaging 22.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game. She is shooting 55% from the floor (11 made 3's) and 84% at the line.

Nebraska volleyball  transfer Shelby Winkelmann, a 5-9 guard, appeared in the first eight games and was averaging 17.6 points and 5.4 rebounds. Having a 42 point effort vs. Emporia State, she suffered a season ending knee injury in mid-December.

Scoring an MIAA-best 76.7 points per game, UCM also features 5-7 junior guard BreAnna Lewis (16.6 points and 3.5 rebounds pg) and 5-11 senior post Nicole Caddell (12.2 points and a team-best 10.8 rebounds pg).

Hosting nationally-ranked Pitt State Wednesday, Missouri Southern has won four in a row and is a perfect 7-0 this season.

Maryann Mitts, the winningest coach in Southern history, has a 13-player roster that features one senior and seven juniors. Nine Lions are  transfers with three coming from Division I schools (Minnesota, Arkansas State & Grambling State).

Ranking fourth in the MIAA in rebounding margin (+ 7.2) and second in field goal percentage (46.1%), MSSU scores 68 points per night but does have a minus 2.6 turnover margin. At this point, both Southern and its opponent have made 210 free throws, which averages to about 16 per game.

No one is averaging double digits but 6-2 senior post Erin Rice (9.7 pg) is at 12.4 points per game in MIAA contests. She makes 81% of her free throws and shoots 46% from the field on the year.

The Lions lead the all-time series, 15-12, with the last meeting coming in 1990.

Kearney heads to Truman State (Thurs.) and SW Baptist (Sat.) next week