KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Northwest Missouri State (9-4, 4-0 MIAA) finds itself alone in first place at one-quarter mark of the MIAA women's basketball schedule with Missouri Southern (10-3, 1-3 MIAA) and Pittsburg State (8-5, 2-2 MIAA) up next.

The Bearcats will host the Lions on Wednesday (Jan. 16) before hitting the road to take on the Gorillas Saturday afternoon (Jan. 19).

Northwest has posted wins in a variety of ways on its way to first place -- starting the run with a 101-97 shootout with Southwest Baptist (11-2, 3-1 MIAA) and most recently posting a hard-fought 50-45 triumph over No. 8 Washburn (11-2, 3-1 MIAA) last Saturday (Jan. 12).

Southern snapped its three-game slide to open league play with a win over Central Missouri (5-8,0-4 MIAA) last time out.

Northwest's game with PSU will be available on a free webcast as part of the CSTV/NCAA Division II broadcast agreement. Fans can go to http://www.cstv.com/ncaa/divii to access the action.

The SBU Lady Bearcats have won three in a row since opening league play with the loss at Northwest, and sit a game back along with Washburn and Truman (11-2, 3-1 MIAA).

Southwest Baptist has the same two opponents as Northwest this week -- the Lady 'Cats are at PSU Wednesday and go to Southern Saturday night.

SBU has scored at least 75 points in four of their last five games, and not allowed more than 75 points in its last four wins.

Pitt State returns home after going 1-2 on a three-game road swing.

Washburn will try to bounce back from its loss to Northwest by going for a win at Fort Hays State (7-6, 1-3 MIAA) before hosting the Truman Bulldogs at Lee Arena Saturday.

The Lady Blues suffered just their second loss in 70 games when holding an opponent to 50 points or loss at Northwest, and has not allowed a foe more than 56 points in each of their last six games.

The WU matchup is the second of two big tests for the Bulldogs -- Truman plays at No. 19 Emporia State (9-4, 2-2 MIAA) Wednesday.

The Lady Hornets are at Central Missouri Saturday night. The Jennies are at Missouri Western (6-6, 1-3 MIAA) Wednesday.

Both UCM and Western are out to snap losing skids -- the Jennies have dropped five in a row and the Griffons will be out to avoid their third straight loss.

Western then travels to face the Fort Hays State Lady Tigers Saturday.

ESU'S STUEVE ECLIPSES 2,000 POINTS: Emporia State senior F Michelle Stueve became the eighth MIAA women's basketball student-athlete to reach 2,000 career points during the Lady Hornets' 92-62 win over Pittsburg State Saturday (Jan. 12).

The Olpe, Kan., native ended the game with 19 points to raise her career mark to 2,016 points.

Stueve can crack the MIAA's top five career scorers over the next week. She needs eight points to pass Missouri-St. Louis' Monica Steinhoff (1988-92 -- 2,023) for seventh, 19 to get by Southeast Missouri State's Pat Colon (1982-87 -- 2,034) for sixth and 31 to bypass Pitt State's Leslie Dudley (1996-2000 -- 2,046) for fifth.

Stueve enters the week with 890 career rebounds -- with 10 more she'll be the seventh in MIAA history to reach the 900 mark and will take over sixth place on the list with 16 -- passing Southwest Baptist's Gwyn Smith (905 -- 2001-05).

Stueve has a chance to become just the third member of the MIAA's 2000-1000 club -- needing 110 rebounds to be the first addition since Central Missouri's Tammy Wilson in 1989.

Team-by-Team Notes

Central Missouri: Senior C Jojuana Jones is averaging 15.0 points and 14.8 rebounds over her last four games... Senior G Lindsey Maple scored a team-high 25 points in the loss to Southern -- she's now in 14th place on the school's career scoring list with 1,287 points... UCM's first league win will allow head coach David Slifer to get sole possession of second place on the MIAA's career coaching wins list (he currently has 269).

Emporia State: Junior F Ida Edwards has scored in double-figures in each of her last five games (14.2 ppg)... After going 9-of-10 from the three-point line in game one at Cameron (Okla.), sophomore G Cassondra Boston is 9-of-29 (31.0 percent) since... Junior G Andrea Leiker is averaging 12.0 points in her last eight games... Senior F Michelle Stueve has failed to score 20 points in each of her last three games (she did in 9 of her first 10).

Fort Hays State: Senior F Brianna Willhite has scored at least 20 points in each of her last three games, and is averaging 18.5 points in MIAA play... Senior G Sheena Kuntzsch scored a season-best 25 points in FHSU's win over Truman last Wednesday (Jan. 9), logging a double-double with 10 rebounds -- she had just three points in the loss at SBU... FHSU allowed more than 80 points for the first time this season at SBU.

Missouri Southern: The Lions went 13-of-21 (61.9 percent) from three-point range in the win at UCM Saturday (Jan. 12) -- missing the school's single-game mark for treys made by one... Senior G India Wood scored a career-high 22 points, making 6-of-7 from three-point range, vs. the Jennies with six assists... MSSU was held to a season-low 44 points in the loss to PSU -- the Lions made just 16-of-60 (26.7 percent) from the field.

Missouri Western: Senior F Yanique Javois has averaged 19.2 points in MIAA play for the Griffons, and has played 40 minutes in each of her last three outings... Senior G Chemia Woods averaged 4.0 steals and 6.3 assists in her last three games... Freshman F Tierra Ford notched a career-high 20 points in the loss to Truman... Senior F Jill Johnson (16 pts., 10 rebs., 9 asts.) just missed a triple-double vs. Northwest.

Northwest Missouri State: Senior C Mandi Schumacher has made 65.1 percent of her shots from the field over her last four games... The Bearcats have held three of their last six foes to 50 points or less in a game... Northwest forced 17 turnovers by Washburn, and made 18-of-23 free throws in the seconds half to help overcome a 10-point halftime hole... The 'Cats are 4-0 to start MIAA play for the first time since 2003-04.

Pittsburg State: After breaking the 70-point barrier in seven of nine non-conference games -- the Gorillas have yet to reach that plateau in four MIAA outings... The win over Southern snapped a four-game skid in the series, while PSU lost at ESU at for the 25th time in 31 games... Freshman F Laura Glenn has averaged 11.0 points and 7.3 rebounds over her last three games -- she averaged 3.0 ppg and 2.3 rpg in the 10 games prior.

Southwest Baptist: Senior G Erika Souza is averaging 23.0 points and 7.0 assists in conference play... Freshman G Darla Gatschenberger logged her first collegiate double-double at Central Missouri with 15 points and 10 rebounds... Freshman F Courtney Heady scored a career-high 19 points in the win over FHSU... With the two wins last week, head coach Jim Middleton is sixth on the MIAA career wins list (229).

Truman: Junior F Georgia Mueller needs 27 points to move past Angie Griffin (1,128) for 12th on Truman's career scoring list... Mueller's 15 points in the loss to Fort Hays State was the fewest for her since she scored 13 in the season opener vs. Central Christian (Mo.)... Mueller logged her league-best seventh double-double (27 pts., 13 rebs.) vs. Western, while senior G Carmen McGee (15 points, 11 rebounds) notched her first.

Washburn: Head coach Ron McHenry needs one wins to become the ninth coach with 200 wins coaching in the MIAA... The loss to Northwest was WU's first in the last eight meetings against the Bearcats... Senior G Corkey Stiger (15.0 ppg) is the only WU player averaging double-figures in MIAA play... Junior G Jessica Mainz scored a career-high 16 points in the win over ESU -- she was 7-of-8 at the foul line in the last 1:59.

-- MIAA --