KU women hoping WNIT run leads to new interest in program and bigger, better days ahead

By Matt Tait     Mar 28, 2023

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Kansas coach Brandon Schneider is jubilant during the game against Missouri during the second round of the WNIT on Monday, March 20, 2023. Kansas advances with a 75-45 win over Missouri.

Long before the first game of the WNIT tipped off a couple of weeks ago, Kansas women’s basketball coach Brandon Schneider believed his team was ready for a run.

Although the Jayhawks only had a couple of days to get over their disappointment of being left out of the NCAA Tournament, Schneider saw his team regroup quickly and move forward with a new face.

The reason was simple, and so was his message to his team. From that point on, the focus of this Kansas team, which spent part of the season ranked in the AP Top 25 and had aspirations of competing for a Big 12 title, was going to be about taking advantage of opportunities.

Opportunities to continue playing together before heading into another offseason. Opportunities to face good competition and a few other teams who, like Kansas, also believed they belong in the NCAA Tournament. Opportunities to play the game they love and compete every day. Opportunities to drum up even more interest in the program.

That approach played a huge role in leading the Jayhawks to the semifinals of the WNIT, where they will host Washington at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be televised on Big 12 Now via ESPN+.

“There’s eight women’s teams still playing,” Schneider told the Journal-World on Tuesday morning. “We were disappointed (about being left out of the NCAA Tournament), obviously, but all I can ask is that we have the kind of players who want to take advantage of the chance to go compete.”

The Jayhawks have been that — and done that — in convincing fashion during the past two weeks.

After a slow and sluggish first half in Round 1 on March 17, KU knocked off Western Kentucky by 14 points, starting a stretch of three double-digit wins at Allen Fieldhouse in a four-game span.

KU (23-11) then routed Missouri, 75-47, pushed past Nebraska, 64-55, and upended Arkansas 78-64 last Sunday.

That’s four wins by an average margin of victory of 16.3 points per victory since their disappointing loss to TCU in the opening round of the Big 12 tournament.

article imageChance Parker/Journal-World

Kansas junior Wyvette Mayberry drives to the basket against Arkansas during the Great 8 round of the WNIT on Sunday, March 26, 2023. Kansas defeats Arkansas 78-64.

Washington, meanwhile, is in the postseason for the first time since 2017. The Huskies enter Wednesday’s game at Kansas with a 19-14 overall record. Like Schneider’s club, they won their first two games of the tournament by double digits, but defeated Kansas State 55-48 in Round 3 and slipped past Oregon, 63-59, in the Great 8.

The Huskies, who are led by second-year coach Tina Langley, finished the regular season tied for eighth in the Pac-12 Conference.

Wednesday’s game will be KU’s fifth in a row at home. A win would set up the Jayhawks with a chance to host the WNIT title game on Saturday and a chance to finish the season with nine wins in their final 10 games.

While that might not have delivered the NCAA Tournament bid they wanted, that’s not nothing. And Schneider and his players believe that the foundation for success during the 2023-24 season, which is expected to include all five starters and several returning players, along with impact freshman S’Mya Nichols, is being established right now.

“I think it definitely resonates with them,” Schneider said. “I think they know that the majority of this team’s going to be back next year. You just hope that there’s some rollover into next season and that maybe we’ve won over some new fans of Kansas women’s basketball.”

In a lot of ways, that’s already happened.

A few days ago, Schneider received a text message from the starting shooting guard on his national championship team at Emporia State. It read: “My daughter is addicted to Kansas women’s basketball. Please tell the players the impact they have on youth.”

That’s been easier and easier to see the deeper the Jayhawks have played this month. More young kids are asking for autographs and lighting up when they see the Jayhawks hit the court. Some even wear Holly Kersgieter or Zakiyah Franklin or Wyvette Mayberry jerseys.

“I think those are the things that mean the most,” Schneider said. “That’s the stuff that I think continues to inspire our kids.”

Columbia (27-5) and Bowling Green (31-6) will face off in Wednesday’s first semifinal (5 p.m. on ESPN3) and the winner of that one will face the winner of KU-Washington at 4:30 p.m. Saturday for the WNIT title.

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.