Late in Kansas’ matchup against a 15-5 TCU team, an all-too-familiar trend once again took shape, as S’Mya Nichols took over late in the game to propel the Jayhawks to an 81-74 win — their third win in four games.
After a quiet 12-point night through three quarters, Nichols reached a different level as she scored 10 points in the fourth quarter alone, engineering back-to-back tough plays to get Kansas the lead and extend it to four on a three-point play.
Nichols’ 22 points led the Jayhawks in scoring, while Taiyanna Jackson was not far behind with 20 of her own.
Holly Kersgieter returned to the starting lineup after sitting out Wednesday’s game due to an ankle injury and found some much-needed success, dropping 16 points and going 4-for-8 behind the arc while also securing eight rebounds.
Kansas also entered the game with a 1-7 record on the road while the Horned Frogs had dominated at home at a 13-1 pace.
Undeterred, the Jayhawks grabbed an early 5-0 lead to start the game off a 3-pointer from Wyvette Mayberry, which served as a positive sign as they had started 0-for-7 from behind the arc against BYU, ending the game with a shooting mark of under 8% in 3-point territory. Kersgieter followed with a triple of her own, marking her first points scored since a Jan. 20 matchup against Kansas State. After allowing a five-point Horned Frogs run to make it 10-9, Kansas settled for trading off points to end the first quarter up 16-14.
To begin the second period, TCU’s Sydney Harris drained back-to-back 3s to get the Frogs’ first lead of the game. This marked the beginning of her own takeover, as she would lead her team in points (22) coming off the bench, going 5-for-11 from beyond the arc. Harris and Kansas continued to trade 3-pointers, before Jackson and Nichols leveled the playing field with a few layups to tie it at 28. After a completed and-1 from TCU’s Agnes Emma-Nnopu, the Jayhawks embarked on a 9-0 run before Harris drained another triple leaving Kansas with a 37-34 lead heading into the half.
Zakiyah Franklin led the Jayhawks after two periods with 10 points while Jackson and Nichols added eight points each. The Horned Frogs were handily led by Harris with 12 points off the bench on 4-for-5 shooting behind the arc.
TCU’s hot hand from 3-point land continued in the new half, as it nearly immediately drilled another triple to tie the game. Kansas’ strategy, however, shifted, as it turned to rely on Jackson down low rather than the perimeter offense it had focused on in the first half. Jackson scored the Jayhawks’ first eight points of the quarter to give them a 45-43 lead on a completed three-point play. Kersgieter mirrored Jackson’s style with an identical and-1 opportunity in the next possession to increase Kansas’ lead to five.
An eight-point TCU run put the Jayhawks behind late in the quarter and they trailed 61-57 entering the last period of the game.
Kersgieter and Mayberry made it a one-possession game early on before a crafty layup from Ryan Cobbins resulted in yet another lead change. It was then that Nichols’ takeover began, as she went on a five-point run before a layup from Jackson gave the Jayhawks a critical 75-69 lead with just over three minutes remaining. After exchanging a couple of free throws, Nichols drove the final nail into TCU’s coffin with a daring and crafty layup to put Kansas ahead six with a minute left on the clock.
A steal by Kersgieter on the inbound led to a quick Horned Frogs foul growing the Kansas lead to 79-72, and while TCU was able to get off a successful play, three missed layups on its next possession ended any chances of a comeback and cemented an 81-74 Jayhawk victory.
Nichols remains Kansas’ go-to player in late, close situations, as head coach Brandon Schneider said himself last week, and it’s for good reason, as her energy and performance in the fourth quarter continue to correlate with positive Jayhawks’ outcomes in close games. She scored six in the final quarter of Kansas’ victory over Iowa State, 10 late in a win against Oklahoma State, and 10 in Saturday’s contest.
Nichols and Jackson have led a big turnaround for the Jayhawks, even with the absence of Kersgieter, as they’ve bounced back after a 0-3 start to conference play. Kansas will look to continue its winning streak in a Thursday night matchup against Houston at 6:30 p.m.