The Kansas women’s basketball team couldn’t complete a late comeback, as the Jayhawks dropped their third conference game of the season in a 62-59 loss to the Utah Utes on Wednesday evening at Allen Fieldhouse.
Kansas was led in scoring by freshman forward and reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Week Jaliya Davis, who tallied 20 points in the contest. Junior guard S’Mya Nichols also finished the game with 19 points.
“We’re definitely disappointed,” Nichols said after the game. “I think that we struggled with making one mistake and then just adding onto them consistently, so we definitely need to work on that.”
One of the biggest keys in the Utes’ win over Kansas was their control of the boards. Utah outrebounded the Jayhawks 42 to 30, including 11 to 4 on the offensive glass.
“I’m not saying this is who we are, but it was who we are tonight, when we were soft and uncoachable,” Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider said. “You can’t get outrebounded by 12, that’s soft, and then you can’t give up eight 3s in a half because you don’t communicate on switches or things that weren’t even screens.”
After taking a lead into halftime, the Jayhawks fell apart and found themselves trailing Utah 62-50 with 4:30 left in the final quarter. However, the Utes did not score for the remainder of the game, and KU stormed back, cutting the deficit to three in the final minute and forcing the Utes to turn the ball over after running the game clock down to seven seconds.
After Nichols missed a tightly contested 3-pointer, Davis fouled sophomore forward Reece Ross of Utah with 1.2 seconds left and sent her to the charity stripe for two shots. But Ross missed both and Kansas got the ball back with 0.8 seconds on the clock.
With possession and in need of a 3, KU freshman guard Libby Fandel inbounded the ball to senior forward Lilly Meister, who was unable to get a good attempt in tight coverage by the Utes, ultimately airballing the final shot of the game.
The Jayhawks had led by 10 points in the first half. They took their first lead of the evening when Nichols cashed in from 3-point range early.
Ahead of the under-five media timeout, the shots continued to fall for the Jayhawks. After starting the game 0-for-3 from the field, Kansas made four of its next five attempts and headed into the break leading 9-6.
Then the defense ramped up again. The two teams exchanged makes, including an acrobatic pick-and-roll by Davis to keep the Jayhawks in front. Nichols added to the lead with an and-1 layup with 40 seconds left in the period and after a stop on the defensive end, junior guard Brittany Harshaw sank a mid-range jumper at the buzzer to send Kansas into the second quarter with an 18-10 advantage.
Defense was the name of the game again to start the second before junior guard Laia Conesa got a steal and the layup to notch the first points of the quarter. After Utah responded with a basket of its own, the Jayhawks were unable to score on two straight possessions before the Utes knocked down their first 3 of the night.
Utah senior guard Lani White extended her team’s run and tied the game just over halfway through the period. Davis made two free throws to retake the lead for the Jayhawks before the Utes responded once more. Davis and Nichols each tallied layups in the final minutes of the half, as did Utah, and at halftime Kansas held a two-point edge, 28-26.
Out of the halftime break, Davis got the scoring started for Kansas but a 3-pointer from sophomore forward Reece Ross gave the Utes a 31-30 lead early in the third. Davis fired back with a drive and finish to reclaim the lead for the Jayhawks. Elle Evans collected her first points of the game with a wing 3 to give Kansas a four-point cushion.
Utah responded to cut its deficit to one, regained possession on a blocking foul by senior forward Nadira Eltayeb and then reclaimed the lead. Heading into the halfway timeout in the third, Kansas was trailing 36-35.
The Utes added to their lead after the break, and key misses by the Jayhawks allowed Utah to claim its biggest lead of the evening at that point, 44-39. After three early fouls, Meister returned and scored on a drive to the rim, but Utah guard LA Sneed drained one from deep to give the Utes a six-point lead.
Kansas cut it to three with free throws by Davis and Utah turned it over, but after a missed 3 by Kansas, the Utes had the last shot and the ball found Sneed again on the wing, where she cashed in to send Utah into the final quarter with a 50-44 advantage.
Meister started the scoring in the final frame with a layup, but the Utes were still on fire from deep, making their sixth and seventh 3-pointers of the night and extending their lead to a game high of nine.
Another 3-pointer by Utah pushed its lead to 11 before Nichols scored the Jayhawks’ first field goal in over three minutes to cut the deficit down to nine. Schneider then used Kansas’ first timeout with 5:12 left in regulation.
The ninth made 3 of the night gave Utah a 12-point lead out of the under-five timeout, but Kansas didn’t go away easily. Meister and Nichols collected a pair of buckets to cut the deficit to eight before Davis collected two free throws to cut the Utah lead to six.
Evans connected from downtown to cut KU’s deficit to three, but the Jayhawks didn’t get the last 3-pointer they would have needed.
Kansas (11-5, 1-3) now heads to Waco, Texas, to take on the No. 16 Baylor Bears. That game is set for Sunday and is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m.
Kansas fifth-year senior Nadira Eltayeb shoots the ball against Utah on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Lawrence.
Kansas junior S’Mya Nichols shoots the ball against Utah on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Lawrene.
Kansas junior Laia Conesa shoots a layup against Utah on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Lawrence.
Kansas juniors Brittany Harshaw and Laia Conesa are jubilant against Utah on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Lawrence.
Kansas junior S’Mya Nichols shoots the ball against Utah on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Lawrence.
Kansas freshman Jaliya Davis during the game against Utah on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Lawrence.
Kansas freshman Libby Fandel shoots the ball against Utah on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Lawrence.
Kansas junior S’Mya Nichols shoots the ball against Utah on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Lawrence.
Kansas freshman Jaliya Davis during the game against Utah on Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Lawrence.
Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World
Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World