The Kansas women’s basketball team’s struggles to open conference play continued, as the Jayhawks dropped their fifth Big 12 contest of the season with a 85-76 loss to the Oklahoma State Cowgirls at Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday evening.
Freshman forward Jaliya Davis led Kansas with 30 points and six rebounds, her fifth consecutive 20-plus-point game since returning from injury on Jan. 1.
“Can’t give up 86 points and expect to win,” Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider said. “I mean we played well enough offensively even though only two players did much. We shot over 50% from 3, over 50% from the field and scored … 76 — you ought to win at home scoring 76.”
Davis and junior guard S’Mya Nichols accounted for 53 of the Jayhawks’ 76 points on Wednesday, the second time this season the duo had tallied a combined 50 points or above. Nichols also passed Lynette Woodard for the program’s all-time record for made free throws. With six on Wednesday, she has made 508 in her career, surpassing Woodard’s 505.
Senior guard Elle Evans, who averages almost 30 minutes per game this season for Kansas, only played 12 minutes and registered zero shot attempts.
“I just think it was hard, the physicality, it was a hard game for her to play in,” Schneider said. “(She) struggled to get open, struggled defensively, and I would say we but it’s me, I felt Libby (Fandel)’s strength would give us a better chance.”
It was also the return of sophomore forward Regan Williams for Kansas. Williams had been out with a knee injury that she suffered during a contest back on Dec. 7 against Missouri State on the road. Schneider said that her return to the rotation came sooner than he expected.
“I’m super excited for her,” Schneider said. “She just plays incredibly hard and was so excited to be back. We were right within the range of minutes that the medical staff recommended — 12 to 15. Hopefully that will double by Saturday because we desperately need her.”
Williams finished the game with two points on 1-for-3 shooting from the field, including 0-for-2 from 3-point range. She missed both of her opportunities from the charity stripe on Wednesday.
Davis got the scoring started for the Jayhawks with a quick drive to the rim assisted by senior forward Lilly Meister. A steal and layup on their own end by senior guard Sania Copeland gave the Jayhawks an early 4-0 advantage, but senior guard Micah Gray had the answer for the Cowgirls with a 3-pointer from the wing to notch the first points for Oklahoma State.
Scrappy defense defined the next few possessions, but the Cowgirls started to get rolling. Oklahoma State crowded the paint with defenders to deny Davis multiple opportunities under the basket and embarked on a 6-0 run over a two minute span to draw even with the Jayhawks at 9-9.
A 3 by Oklahoma State soon gave the Cowgirls their first lead of the game and they built on it with another make from downtown to extend their advantage to 15-11 with three minutes left in the first.
Williams tallied her first points of the new year in response before a travel gave the Jayhawks the ball and Fandel found nylon for her first bucket of the game to bring Kansas back within one. Davis reclaimed the lead for the Jayhawks, but the Cowgirls had an answer when Kansas left junior guard Stailee Heard wide open from beyond the arc.
The two teams exchanged a pair of buckets before the end of the quarter, which concluded with Kansas leading 21-20. Davis ended the quarter with 12 of the Jayhawks’ 21 points.
Oklahoma State opened the scoring in the second quarter with a 3-pointer that Copeland followed up with an off-balance heave to the basket that brought the score back to even. Two free throws and a drive to the bucket gave the Cowgirls the lead back.
Oklahoma State grabbed the lead back on its sixth 3-pointer with under five minutes to go and added onto that edge with an and-1 bucket at the under-five timeout. That was part of a 17-0 run, extended by another 3 from the corner, before Nichols collected her first points from downtown to respond and stop the streak.
Meister added her first 3 of the game to bring Kansas closer and then added on with another from beyond the arc with 24 seconds left in the first half. With the shot clock off and the Cowgirls holding the last shot, the Jayhawks committed a foul, awarding two shots at the charity stripe to Oklahoma State.
Jadyn Wooten made both and Nichols responded with a layup as time expired to send the two teams into half with Kansas trailing 46-40.
Out of half, the Jayhawks came out slow. Junior forward Achol Akot got the scoring started with back-to-back makes at the rim and Heard followed it up with an and-1 to put the Cowgirls up 13. Two more disastrous possessions by Kansas led to a bucket for OSU and a flagrant foul being assessed to Nichols, extending the margin to 56-40.
Junior guard Laia Conesa connected from the top of the key for her first points of the matchup and Davis followed it up with an and-1 to bring the Jayhawks back within ten with four minutes to go in the third quarter.
Davis added on with another drive to the bucket on the next possession and Kansas looked to have the momentum, but an offensive foul on Meister and defensive breakdown hampered its progress. Nichols got two points back at the free-throw line and Kansas drew within eight.
Nichols brought Kansas even closer with another drive and foul drawn, but after the Jayhawks missed several free throws, Oklahoma State extended its lead with a pair of buckets to enter the final quarter of play with a 64-54 lead.
Nichols and Davis scored to respond to the Cowgirls and bring Kansas back within eight. From there, the whistle took over. Six fouls were called over the next two minutes that brought the pace to a crawl and sent both teams to the line multiple times. By the time the clock reached four minutes to go, both teams were in the bonus and the Cowgirls were holding a 74-63 lead.
Conesa got the Jayhawks back within striking distance with a corner 3 and with 2:24 left on the clock, Kansas desperately needed a stop and string of productive offense. Nichols and Davis scored in the paint to keep it close, but counters by the Cowgirls ruined any chance of a comeback for Kansas as the Jayhawks eventually fell 85-76.
Kansas (11-7, 1-5 Big 12) now hits the road to take on Arizona State on Saturday. That game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Central. Schneider said the team will stay in Arizona for the duration of its road trip, which also includes a game against the University of Arizona on Tuesday.
