WICHITA, Kan. — Looking to swing the momentum back in its direction after a tough early part of the Heartland Conference season, the Newman women's basketball team faces its toughest test so far this season in No. 2 Lubbock Christian at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Lubbock, Texas.

SCOUTING NEWMAN

The Jets (7-5, 1-3 Heartland) suffered a pair of tough losses at last weekend, falling to St. Mary's in overtime on Thursday before dropping a contest to Texas A&M International two days later. Junior Mali Wright was one rebound short of her third double-double of the season, going for 27 points and nine rebounds against the Rattlers. Junior Erica Olerich grabbed an impressive 17 rebounds in that game, and senior Shaunice Robinson netted 20 points against the Dustdevils.

Wright is averaging 17.5 points per game over the team's last four, which all came in conference play. She leads the team and is 11th in the Heartland at 12.4 points per game overall, and is ninth in the league with 6.7 rpg. Robinson is second on the team and 13th in the conference with 12.1 ppg, and leads the team at both 2.5 apg and 2.1 spg. Junior Brianna Caldwell is even at 10.0 ppg on the season and has hit a team-best 31 shots from beyond the arc, shooting at a 34.8-percent clip. Juniors Natalia Hausmann, Cierra Tjaden and Olerich also play significant roles, all three averaging between 4.8 and 5.6 ppg.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT

The Chaparrals (11-0, 3-0 Heartland) have all but breezed through their first 11 games of the season, winning those contests by an average of 27.4 points. Outside of an overtime victory over Fort Lewis in late November, LCU has bested its opposition by no fewer than 21 points. They topped their first three Heartland Conference opponents by an average of 30.3 points.

The Chaps are a balanced bunch on offense, with three players practically sharing the scoring lead on the team. Tess Bruffey (12.6 ppg), Nicole Hampton (12.5) and Kelsey Hoppel (12.3) are the top three scorers, with Hampton doing a bit of everything, leading the team with 7.5 rpg, 5.2 apg and 2.6 spg. Bruffey adds better than two blocks per game and pulls in 4.8 rpg while shooting 54.7 percent from the floor, while fellow starters Haley Fowler (9.1 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 2.7 apg) and Kellyn Schneider (6.2 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 2.4 bpg) add plenty of firepower as well.

HISTORY LESSON

The Jets and the Chaparrals have only met four times since becoming conference mates, with LCU winning three out of four. Newman won the first matchup of the season last year, taking a 52-46 decision at Fugate Gymnasium.

NOTES

-Robinson netted her seventh double-digit scoring effort of the season Saturday against TAMIU and her first against a conference opponent this season. It was her second 20-point game of the season.

-With Wright and Olerich each averaging better than six rebounds per game, it makes them one of just four sets of teammates to both hit that mark in the Heartland Conference.

-The Chaparrels are top 10 in the nation in nine different statistical categories, and lead the Heartland Conference in 17 different categories, including assists, blocks, field goal percentage, scoring defense and scoring offense.

COVERAGE

Live video, audio and statistics for the game will be available at www.newmanjets.com.