The Jayhawks ended their trip to Florida on a low note, with Kansas falling 59-58 to the Dayton Flyers in a game that was defined by defense and rebounding. After a high-scoring first quarter, both teams settled in and dueled on defense.
Junior guard Elle Evans led the way for the Jayhawks with 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting from three-point range. Senior forward Lilly Meister and sophomore forward Regan Williams both finished the game with 11 points.
Just one day after setting her career high with 40 points, junior guard S’Mya Nichols set her career low with just four points against the Flyers. Her previous low was five, which she had twice during her freshman season with the Jayhawks.
Kansas (6-2) was outrebounded 46-23 by Dayton during the game. On the defensive end, Kansas was able to force 24 turnovers, a season high for the Jayhawks. They scored 27 points off those turnovers on Saturday evening. In addition, Kansas had 11 steals and eight blocks against the Flyers.
Kansas started the game ice cold, shooting 0-for-4 from the field to start the game. But a 3-pointer and layup in 18 seconds from freshman guard Keeley Parks finally got the Jayhawks on the board. At the under-five media timeout in the first, Kansas trailed 18-9, and coach Brandon Schneider made a substitution for all five players on the court.
The Jayhawks got buckets from freshman Libby Fandel, fifth year forward Nadira Eltayeb and junior guard Laia Conesa to cut the deficit to six, but two made free throws from Dayton (4-3) sent the two teams into the second quarter with the Flyers leading 24-16.
The second quarter saw both teams turn it up.
Evans got the scoring started for Kansas in the second by draining the 200th 3-pointer of her career. She followed it up just minutes later with her 201st career 3-point bucket to cut the Flyers lead to three, but Dayton answered right back with a three of their own.
After the under-five timeout, both teams went over three minutes without scoring, before Williams finally got the Jayhawks back on the board with a layup. Fandel then intercepted a pass and took the ball to the rim herself for two and got Kansas within one of Dayton.
The Flyers held for the final shot of the half and got a two point bucket with under a second left to send the game to halftime with Dayton leading the Jayhawks 33-31. Kansas was outrebounded 23-9 by the Flyers in the first half.
Evans carried her hot start into the third. After Nichols got her first two points of the game, it was Evans who drained a 3 from the corner to give the Jayhawks their first lead. Both teams settled in defensively, and headed into the under-five timeout knotted at 39-39.
After the timeout, Kansas only scored two more times in the quarter. Williams drove to the rim for an and-one bucket to give the Jayhawks a three point lead out of the break, and after Dayton retook the lead, Meister put one in to tie it again. The Jayhawks finished the quarter on a 2:06-long scoring drought and the Flyers held a 46-44 lead.
That drought came to an end early in the final period of play, as Meister drained her first 3-pointer of the evening to put Kansas back in front. But the Jayhawks’ offense fell flat again and Kansas found itself on another scoring drought that lasted over four minutes.
Fortunately for the Jayhawks, Dayton was also struggling to find the net, but not for long. Out of the under-five timeout, the Flyers drained a 3 to extend their lead to four. But Meister was able to score a bucket and knock down two free throws to tie the game once again.
In the final minute of play, Kansas was trailing Dayton by two. Williams had a shot blocked but got her own rebound and passed it out to Evans, who missed the three and gave Dayton the possession back. With fouls to give, the Jayhawks fouled Dayton and sent sophomore forward Molly O’Riordan to the line, where she made both and put the Flyers back up four.
With the ball back in Nichols’ hands, she drove to the rim and was fouled, sending her to the line to shoot two. Nichols made both and Kansas fouled Dayton, sending the Flyers back to the charity stripe where they made both to lead by four again. With 10.9 seconds on the clock, Kansas was back in the same place it was earlier.
On the inbound, the Jayhawks got the ball to the red-hot Evans in the corner, and she delivered, sinking the 3 and bringing Kansas within one. After the Jayhawks fouled, senior guard Nayo Lear missed both of her free attempts and Kansas got the ball back with 4.6 seconds left and still trailing by one.
The Jayhawks put the ball in Nichols’ hands and she slipped as she was driving to the rim, falling to the ground as time expired, and allowing Dayton to escape with a 59-58 win. Nichols had to be helped off the court following her fall.
Kansas now heads north to Chicago for a midweek matchup with the Northwestern Wildcats on Wednesday. That game is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. Central.
