Kearney, Neb. – In a rare occurrence, the Nebraska-Kearney women's basketball teams is home for a second straight week as they welcome in Washburn on Thursday night and Emporia State on Saturday afternoon.

The doubleheader vs. the Ichabods starts at 5:30 p.m. with the double dip vs. the Hornets beginning at 2:00 p.m. That is the only remaining Saturday MIAA home game for the Lopers (7-10, 3-7) this season.

The doubleheaders can be heard on KGFW AM 1340 and available (for purchase) on America One. Live stat links are available on the UNK schedule page.

Hit very hard by graduation, Washburn (12-5, 7-3) is rounding into form having won five straight and six of seven.
 
Posting an 8-1 home record and a 2-4 mark away from Topeka, Washburn has a + 9.0 rebounding margin thanks to Elkhorn grad Brittney Lynch (9.0 per game) and 5-9 junior guard Casyn Buchman (6.7).

A balanced scoring attack features Buchman (16.9), 5-8 junior guard Taylor Ignoto (15.9) and 6-4 senior post Kara Lee (11.0), a transfer from Division I Missouri-Kansas City.
 
Buchman leads the MIAA in free throw shooting (90.7%) and is tied for fourth in assists (3.9) with Ignoto having 22 made 3's in just nine games played.
 
Last winter, Washburn beat UNK 69-51 (Topeka) and 74-45 (Kearney).
 
Ranked third in the latest Division II Top 25 poll, Emporia (18-1, 9-1) rebounded from a 59-44 loss at Northeastern State by routing Central Oklahoma, 73-50, at home on Sunday.
 
Beating foes by an average of 18.6 points per game, Emporia ranks second in the MIAA in scoring defense (57.7) and field goal percentage defense (35.5). Offensively, they tally 76.4 points per night, third best in the league.
 
Seven players average between 7.5-14.8 points per game, led by 5-10 senior guard Laura Patrick (14.8) and 6-3 junior post Merissa Quick (10.9). Patrick leads the MIAA in 3's made (2.7 pg) and shoots 86% at the line with Quick the second best shot blocker (2.5) in the league.
 
Emporia also features 6-2 junior post Amber Vandiver (8.1 points & 7.8 rebounds pg), a Boise State transfer and the daughter of ESU head men's coach, and NBA draftee, Shaun Vandiver.
 
UNK fell to the Hornets, 88-53, last year in Kearney as three ESU reserves scored in double figures.
 
Currently 5-0 at home, the Lopers have a backcourt trio – seniors Nicole Arp and Sarah Hix and sophomore Laramey Lewis – that has more assists than turnovers.
 
Both Arp (4.2) and Lewis (3.9) rank in the MIAA Top 10 in dimes with this trio handing out 161 (9.4) so far this year.
 
Up front, Beatrice senior Shelby Zimmerman recorded her third double double (21 points & 11 rebounds) of the year in last Friday's 76-76 win over South Dakota Mines.
 
Scoring 15 the previous game at Pitt State, Zimmerman again leads the Lopers in scoring on the season at 11.7 per game. She also is first in board work (7.8) and is tied with Arp and Lewis for the team lead in free throws made (37).
 
Next week, Fort Hays State comes to town and then the Lopers head to Topeka for a rematch with the Ichabods.