KU women’s basketball releases full nonconference schedule

By Henry Greenstein Jul 29, 2024

Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider calls out a play against Houston Thursday, Feb. 8, 2024, in Allen Fieldhouse.

The Kansas women’s basketball team released on Monday afternoon its full nonconference schedule for the 2024-25 season.

The Jayhawks will open their campaign with five contests, four of them official, at Allen Fieldhouse, beginning with an exhibition against Washburn (Nov. 1) and the true season opener versus Lindenwood (Nov. 6).

Then come Sam Houston (Nov. 11), Omaha (Nov. 13) and North Alabama (Nov. 17) before a series of previously announced neutral-site games. KU plays vaunted Iowa at Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota (Nov. 20), and then Pittsburgh, Northern Iowa and Auburn at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands (Nov. 28-30).

Schneider had also mentioned hosting Penn State, which will take place on Dec. 5, and Wichita State, which is set for Dec. 15. In between those two is one more home game against Kansas City on Dec. 11.

The Jayhawks do not play a true road game as part of their nonleague slate, unlike last year when they had to go to Penn State, Texas A&M and Wichita State by mid-December.

KU has already learned its conference opponents, including Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma, TCU, Texas Tech and UCF at home and BYU, Cincinnati, Colorado, Houston, Iowa State, Kansas State, Oklahoma State, Utah and West Virginia on the road.

The Jayhawks went 20-13 during the 2023-24 season, opening the year 10-10 before moving then-freshman S’Mya Nichols into a primary ball-handling role and using a late-winter hot streak to cruise into the NCAA Tournament with room to spare. Memorable wins included upsets at Allen Fieldhouse over rival Kansas State and regular-season league champion Oklahoma; the Jayhawks then beat Michigan in the first round of the tournament in overtime thanks to a last-minute game-tying 3-pointer by Zakiyah Franklin before losing to JuJu Watkins and USC.

Franklin, Taiyanna Jackson and Holly Kersgieter exhausted their eligibility, leaving Schneider and his staff to build a new roster around guards Nichols and Wyvette Mayberry. KU was active in the transfer portal and picked up key off-ball players like Elle Evans (North Dakota State) and Jordan Webster (UC Riverside) to fill out its lineup for the 2024-25 campaign.

Schneider recently received a pay raise and a contract extension through the 2027-28 season, which will be automatically lengthened by a year if KU makes the Sweet 16 for the first time in his tenure.

Nonconference schedule

Friday, Nov. 1: vs. Washburn (exhibition)

Wednesday, Nov. 6: vs. Lindenwood

Monday, Nov. 11: vs. Sam Houston

Wednesday, Nov. 13: vs. Omaha

Sunday, Nov. 17: vs. North Alabama

Wednesday, Nov. 20: vs. Iowa in Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Thursday, Nov. 28: vs. Pittsburgh in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Friday, Nov. 29: vs. Northern Iowa in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Saturday, Nov. 30: vs. Auburn in Saint Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Thursday, Dec. 5: vs. Wichita State

Wednesday, Dec. 11: vs. Kansas City

Sunday, Dec. 15: vs. Penn State

Calipari: Arkansas, KU working on exhibition

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Written By Henry Greenstein

Henry is the sports editor at the Lawrence Journal-World and KUsports.com, and serves as the KU beat writer while managing day-to-day sports coverage. He previously worked as a sports reporter at The Bakersfield Californian and is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis (B.A., Linguistics) and Arizona State University (M.A., Sports Journalism). Though a native of Los Angeles, he has frequently been told he does not give off "California vibes," whatever that means.