Kearney, Neb. – The now No. 30/24 Nebraska-Kearney women's basketball team faces the Newman Jets and Central Oklahoma Bronchos this weekend to conclude the 2019-20 regular season.
 
 Not only are the Lopers (25-3, 14-3) in second place in the MIAA standings but also fifth in the NCAA Central Region rankings. The 10-team MIAA Tournament bracket will be released once all games have been completed on Saturday. Games begin next Wednesday in Kansas City. The 64-team NCAA Tournament field is announced on Sunday, March 8, with UNK poised to make its first appearance in that event in 11 years.
 
A solid 8-2 away from the Health & Sports Center this winter, UNK beat both NU and UCO a couple of weeks ago. The Jets (10-16, 5-12) and Bronchos (17-8, 11-6) are either in the MIAA tourney or still have a chance to make it.
 
Newman is 7-6 at home after upsetting Emporia State, 68-67, last Thursday night. Holding the opposition to 62 points and 39% field goal shooting thanks to its zone defense, NU is led by 5-8 senior guard Kaitlyn Potter. She is the MIAA's fourth leading scorer (16.8) due to a league-best 84 threes. UNK limited her to 12 points on 3 of 17 shooting (0 of 9 threes) in a 59-46 win back on February 8. Junior reserve post Haley Albers (eight points & eight rebounds) did get close to a double double in that game. 
 
Ranked 10th in the initial Central Region rankings, UCO fell to Emporia State on Saturday, 74-66. They are now 8-4 in Edmond and in a three-way for fifth in the MIAA standings. UNK slipped past UCO, 75-69, back on February 6th thanks to a 38-point second half. Three Lopers were in double figures with the 'Chos having four. That group included junior reserve forward Kaci Richardson with 11 points and five boards in just 18 minutes.
 
Six-three junior forward Kelsey Johnson (13.4 points & 6.7 rebounds per game) and 5-5 senior guard Micayla Haynes (11.6 points, 2.4 assists & 2.3 rebounds per game) lead the way. The pair combined for 15 points, seven boards and four assists in Kearney. UCO has a plus 5.1 turnover and 3.5 rebounding margins. They were plus 11 on the glass vs. the Lopers but minus eight in turnovers.
 
Leading the MIAA in 10 categories including scoring offense (77.0), scoring defense (56.4), field goal percentage (46.6) and rebounding offense (40.6 per game), UNK has a rare league "Player of the Week" in Elkhorn sophomore post Brooke Carlson. She has reached double digits in 10 straight games, the best streak by a Loper this years. Averaging 15.8 points per game during this stretch she now leads the team in scoring for the season (12.3).
 
Also in the paint is South Dakota sophomore Klaire Kirsch who has managed to have a double digit rebounding total in three of the last five games. Averaging 8.03 caroms a night, Kirsch's total of 225 puts her just outside the UNK all-time top 10 list. She'll be first Loper to crack this top 10 since fellow wing Jonni Mildenberger 11 years ago.
 
Finally, two wins this weekend would allow this squad to join the 1996-97 (28-3), 2000-01 (27-3) and 2007-08 (27-7) Lopers as the only ones with 27 victories. Each of those teams made the NCAA's with the '97 group reaching the "Sweet 16."