FHSU Athletics
#6 Fort Hays State Women's Basketball (12-1, 3-1 MIAA)
at Nebraska-Kearney (9-6, 2-2 MIAA)
Tuesday, January 6, 2026 • 5:30 p.m.
Kearney, Neb. • Health & Sports Center
Radio: KJLS (103.3) CLICK HERE TO LISTEN
Video: MIAA Network: CLICK HERE TO WATCH ($)
No. 6 women's basketball hits the road for the first time in a month on Tuesday when the Tigers travel north to take on rival Nebraska-Kearney. First tip is set for 5:30 p.m. inside the Health & Sports Center in Kearney, Neb.
Quick Hits
- Talexa Weeter earned her fourth MIAA Player of the Week honor last week after averaging 37 points and 12 rebounds. Her four honors this year are the most since UCM's Brooke Littrell in the 2023-24 season. Weeter scored 45 points in Thursday's win over Northwest Missouri State, one shy of the program record. It was the first 40-point game for a Tiger since 1993, is the fourth 40-point game in team history and is tied for the most points scored by a DII athlete this season.
- Brooke Loewe tied her own school record with 14 assists against Missouri Western, reaching that total for the third time this season. It is the most assists in a game by a DII athlete this season. Loewe is the DII active career leader with 523 assists, ranking ninth across all NCAA divisions.
- Fort Hays State has hit 50 percent or better from the floor in more than half of its games this season (7 of 13).
- This is the 20th season the Tigers are playing in the MIAA since joining the league in 2006. FHSU has 423 wins over that span, just one behind Emporia State for the most in the conference.
- Fort Hays State leads Division II with an average of 21.0 assists per game while ranking second in assist/turnover ratio (1.33) and third in field goal percentage (48.7 percent).
- This is the 107th meeting all-time between the Tigers and Lopers in women's basketball. FHSU has both played and defeated (63 wins) UNK more than any other program.
MIAA Athlete of the Week x 4
- Talexa Weeter has been named MIAA Athlete of the Week in four of the seven weeks so far this season.
- The junior averaged 32.5 points and 10.5 rebounds while shooting 60.5 percent from the floor in the first two games of the season.
- The Goodland, Kan. native then averaged 33.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in the two wins in Denver before Thanksgiving.
- Weeter totaled 32 points and 13 rebounds in a blowout win over No. 6 Pittsburg State.
- She erupted for an average of 37 points and 12 rebounds with a pair of double-doubles against Northwest Missouri State and Missouri Western, including a career-high 45 points against the Bearcats that is one off the program record and is tied for the most points scored by a DII athlete this season.
20 Wins Now the Norm
- Fort Hays State has now reached the 20-win plateau in each of the last 14 seasons, extending the longest active streak of 20-win seasons in Division II. FHSU's streak is tied for the sixth-longest active streak of 20-win seasons across all NCAA Divisions.
- FHSU reached the 20-win plateau just eight times over the first 42 years of the program before the current streak began in 2011-12, including no more than two consecutive 20-win campaigns during that time.
- The next-best active streak of 20-win seasons in the MIAA is four (MWSU), while the next-best streak in DII is Drury with 12.
- Only five DI programs have longer active stretches of 20-win seasons, including UConn (32), Baylor (25), Stanford (23), Florida Gulf Coast (21) and Louisville (15). Fort Hays State's run of 14-straight 20-win seasons is tied with South Carolina and South Dakota State for sixth-best in all NCAA women's basketball.
National Rankings
- FHSU leads in the country with 21.0 assists per game while ranking second in assist/turnover ratio (1.33), third in field goal percentage (48.7 percent), eighth in winning percentage (92.3 percent), 11th in 3-point percentage (36.2 percent) and 11th in scoring offense (80.1 ppg).
- Brooke Loewe's 10.4 assists per game are the most across all NCAA divisions. The DI lead is 9.3 assists per game, while the second-best average in DII is 7.1 (Jillian Aschoff - Nebraska-Kearney).
- Talexa Weeter leads Division II and ranks third across all NCAA divisions with an average of 28.9 points per game.
- Loewe's 14 assists in a game, a feat she accomplished three times this season, are the most in a game by a DII athlete this season.
- Loewe has six games with 11-plus assists, the most of any DII athlete. Only two other DII student-athletes have had multiple 10-plus assist games this season (CSP's Lydia Haack - 2, UNK's Jillian Aschoff - 3).
- Weeter's 45 points against Northwest Missouri State are tied for the most by a DII athlete this season.
- Ellie Stearns ranks fourth in the conference with 2.15 3-pointers made per game.
- Olivia Mortensen ranks fourth in the MIAA with a field goal percentage of 52.6 percent.
- Weeter ranks second in the MIAA in rebounds (9.2 per game) and third in the MIAA in field goal percentage (53.0 percent).
- Loewe ranks second in the conference with an average of 2.1 steals per game.
Fresh Start
- Olivia Mortensen is the 14th true freshman to start a season opener for the Tigers during the DII era (since 1991-92) and the first since Ellie Stearns in 2022.
Last Time Out
- The No. 6 Tigers used a big second half to defeat Missouri Western by 31 points on Saturday (Jan. 3), 87-56.
- It was FHSU's largest margin of victory in series history against the Griffons.
- Brooke Loewe dished out 14 assists in the win, matching her own school record set earlier this season.
- The Tigers led by just five at halftime but outscored the Griffons 51-25 in the second half.
- Talexa Weeter led all scorers with 29 points alongside 14 rebounds, three assists, three steals and three blocks.
Scouting the Lopers
- The Lopers are 9-6 overall and 2-2 in conference play after winning each of its last five games, tied with FHSU, Pittsburg State and Central Oklahoma for the longest active winning streak in the MIAA.
- UNK leads the MIAA by forcing more than 20 turnovers per night (20.1), including a league-high 10.8 steals per game.
- Jillian Aschoff ranks second in the country behind only Brooke Loewe with an average of 7.1 assists per game.
- Saniya Simmons leads the conference with an average of 2.4 steals per contest.
- Malgorzata Byczkowska has hit an MIAA-best 36 3-pointers this season, 12th-most across all Division II.
Series History with Nebraska-Kearney
- The Tigers have both played and defeated UNK more often than any other program in team history.
- Fort Hays State is 63-43 all-time against Nebraska-Kearney.
- The Tigers are 25-26 on the road against the Lopers.
- UNK holds a one game winning streak in the series overall and a one game streak in games played in Kearney.
- FHSU is 3-1 against the Lopers under head coach Talia Kahrs, including a 1-1 mark on the road.
- The Tigers are 19-7 against Nebraska-Kearney in regular season MIAA matchups.
- FHSU is 17-14 against the Griffons in MIAA regular season contests.
- The Tigers are 5-3 against UNK in overtime matchups, including wins in each of the last five games that went to overtime.
Last Meeting with the Lopers
- Nebraska-Kearney wrapped up last regular season with a 75-65 home win over the sixth-ranked Tigers (3/1/25).
- The Tigers trailed by as many as 15 before closing within two with four minutes to play, but the Lopers hit 8-of-8 from the line down the stretch to seal the win.
- The loss snapped a 12-game winning streak for the Tigers and came just four days after FHSU defeated the Lopers by 36 points just three days prior in Hays.
- FHSU had four score in double figures, led by 16 each from Katie DeGarmo and Olivia Hollenbeck. Talexa Weeter recorded 12 points, while Brooke Loewe chipped in 11.
Career Stats vs. UNK
- Talexa Weeter - 18.5 ppg, 7.0 rpg, 1.0 apg in 2 games - one game with 20+ points, two games with 10+ points
- Brooke Loewe - 5.0 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 4.8 apg in 6 games - one game with nine assists
- Ellie Stearns - 1.5 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.5 apg in 6 games
Looking Ahead
FHSU's stretch of four games in eight days wraps up Thursday, January 8 when the Tigers take on Emporia State inside White Auditorium in Emporia, Kan. beginning at 5:30 p.m.