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ST. PAUL, Minn. — Outnumbered and outsized didn’t pose that much of a problem for the University of Nebraska at Kearney women’s basketball team.

A lack of quickness did.

Driving to the basket often and with success, Concordia-St. Paul defeated the Lopers 86-63 Friday afternoon in the first round of the Wildwood Lodge Tip-Off Classic at the Gandelhoff Center on the campus of Concordia-St. Paul.

“The nice thing is, I know it’s going to get better,” UNK coach Carol Russell said. “Obviously, we’re disappointed with losing, but there’s some potential there.”

It was the season opener for both teams. UNK had played one exhibition game against the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The Golden Bears had played three exhibition games. And, because of defections and injures, UNK suited up just eight players Friday, and one of them, post player Megan Becker, didn’t play because of injury.

“We haven’t had enough to go five-on-five in practice,” Russell said.

Despite the shortcomings, a 3-pointer by Lea Ann Jameson brought the Lopers within three, 49-46, with 16 minutes left in the game. But Concordia-St. Paul guard Maurika Hickman, who led all scorers with 18 points, penetrated the defense and drove to the basket for three straight layups. The Golden Bears’ Jineen Williams cashed a follow shot on the next possession, giving Concordia-St. Paul a double-digit lead for the rest of the game.

Williams finished with 16 points.

“They did a good job the second half recognizing that we had some kids in foul trouble, and they did a good job of attacking the basket ... and they were getting lots of easy layups, which we didn’t want,” Russell said.

The layups helped Concordia-St. Paul shoot 44 percent from the floor to the Lopers’ 36 percent. But UNK’s shooting slump didn’t happen until the second half.

“I didn’t think we were playing the best basketball in the first half ... and to only be down four, I was pretty happy with that,” Russell said.

The Lopers ran the floor well and shot well in the first half, and they rebounded better in the second half.

Sophomore guard Debi Johnson led the Lopers with 16 points, while Jameson added 14 and Vanessa Leeper had 11.

All seven Lopers scored. Freshman Sarah Ludwick, found in a preseason tryout, was 7 of 7 from the free-throw line and grabbed three rebounds.

Freshman Kelsey Lane finished with eight points and nine rebounds. A 6-foot freshman from Omaha Burke, Lane played 35 minutes and spent most of the game bumping into the Golden Bears’ 6-foot-3 post player, Gillian Bjerke, who matched Lane’s totals.

Sophomore Kim Rickels, a 5-9 transfer guard from Missouri Western, led the Lopers in rebounds with 10.

But the negatives started with the turnovers. UNK had 26, Concordia-St. Paul had 11.

“We have to get better at that. We didn’t take care of the basketball like we should have at all,” Russell said.

CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL 86, UNK 63

NEBRASKA-KEARNEY (0-1)

Kim Thisen 1-5 1-2 3, Lea Ann Jameson 6-16 0-0 14, Vanessa Leeper 3-8 4-4 11, Kelse Lane 4-12 0-0 8, Debi Johnson 6-12 0-2 16, Sarah Ludwick 0-1 7-7 7, Kim Rickels 1-5 2-3 4. Total 21-59 14-18 63.

CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL (1-0)

Gillian Bjerke 4-8 0-2 9, Maurika Hickman 7-10 4-4 18, Kali Olstad 2-9 1-7 7, Kali Olstad 2-9 1-2 7, Jamie Jones 4-11 1-1 9, Jineen Williams 7-15 0-0 16, Maribel Arellano 0-0 0-0 0, Zoras Quoie 3-5 1-2 7, Anne Skriba 2-2 0-0 4, Gwen Young 0-1 0-0 0, Chanica Hall 3-011 2-2 9, Ashley Viehauser 3-6 2-7 8, Ari Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Michelle Hugelen 0-1 0-0 0. Total 35-80 11-20 86.

Halftime — Concordia-St. Paul 40, UNK 36.

3-point goals — UNK 7-20 (Johnson 40-8, Jameson 2-8, Leeper 1-2, Rickels 0-2), CSP 5-23 (Olstad 2-7, Williams 2-6, Hall 1-4, Jones 0-4, Hickman 0-1, Johnson 0-1). Rebounds — UNK 47 (Rickels 10), CSP 45 (Bjerke 9). Total fouls — UNK 21, CSP 18. Fouled out — D.Johnson. Assists — UNK 14 (Johnson 5), CSP 15 (Jones 4, Williams 4). Turnovers — UNK 26, CSP 11. Blocked shots — UNK 2 (Jameson 2), CSP 6 (Williams 3). Steals — UNK 5 (Leeper 3), CSP 17 (Jones 7). Att. — 219.