Looking to build off two straight conference wins, the Kansas women’s basketball team hit the road to Fort Worth, Texas, to take on No. 12 TCU, but ultimately couldn’t pull out the victory in a 79-77 loss.
Kansas was led in scoring by freshman forward Jaliya Davis’ 29 points and nine rebounds, her eighth 20-point performance in nine conference games this season. Junior guard S’Mya Nichols added 24 points of her own for the Jayhawks.
Kansas had multiple opportunities to tie or go ahead in the game, but none was successful as the Horned Frogs led from start to finish, including by as many as 13 points in the second quarter.
The biggest sequence of the night came in the final 10 seconds of play.
With 5.2 seconds left, KU played the ball in Nichols knocked down her second 3-pointer of the game, but a clock error sent the officials to the scorers’ table to see if there was any time left. After a long review, the officials determined that there should be 1.2 seconds left on the clock, which drew the ire of both Horned Frogs fans and the ESPN broadcasters, who thought nearly six seconds had run off during the Kansas possession.
On the TCU inbounds pass, the Jayhawks forced an offensive turnover and got the ball back with 0.6 seconds to go. Senior forward Lilly Meister threw a halfcourt heave to Davis under the net, and she made the shot, but the officials said that time had expired before the ball left her hands. However, one official called a foul, sending the group back to the monitor for a second time.
After a much shorter discussion, the officials waved it off and signaled that the game was over, consigning KU to its seventh loss in league play.
“To start the game, I don’t think we played with the confidence necessary to compete against a team of TCU’s caliber,” KU coach Brandon Schneider said in a press release. “For the last 30 minutes, I thought we regained our composure and played with the poise required to get back in the game. I’m proud of our group for their resilience and fight.”
The Jayhawks did not make a 3-pointer until Nichols hit two in the final minute and finished 2-for-12 from deep; meanwhile, TCU went 10-for-20 beyond the arc.
Kansas started the game with three consecutive turnovers while TCU drained 3s on each of its first three possessions to give the Frogs an early 9-0 lead. Sophomore forward Regan Williams tallied the first points of the game for the Jayhawks with a layup just under two minutes into play, but TCU kept finding nylon from deep.
TCU scored on seven of its first eight possessions before the under-five media timeout helped Kansas slow the momentum with the Horned Frogs leading 20-11.
The Jayhawks scored six more points after the break to keep themselves in the game, but TCU kept making shots and took a 30-17 lead into the second quarter. Both teams finished the first period of play with a field goal percentage of over 60%, with the Horned Frogs making 69% of their attempts and Kansas making 64%. TCU was also 6-for-8 from 3-point range, while the Jayhawks were 0-for-1.
Both teams cooled off during the opening minutes of the second quarter, but Kansas soon took advantage and drew closer to the Horned Frogs. Davis got the scoring started in the opening minute with a layup and wouldn’t let up, accounting for eight of the Jayhawks’ 10 points before the under-five timeout. Kansas held TCU to 2-for-9 from the field during the first five minutes of the second quarter and cut its deficit to 35-27 with 4:52 to go before halftime.
The Horned Frogs fired back after the break with a 3, but the Jayhawks kept up their scoring and kept the deficit stable. TCU senior forward Marta Suarez cashed in from downtown to extend the lead to double digits with 35 seconds left in the second, but senior guard Sania Copeland drew a foul and got free throws for Kansas on the other end to send the two teams to half with the Horned Frogs leading 45-37.
Nichols added the first points of the third quarter with a jumper to cut the Jayhawks’ deficit to six before TCU responded with another 3-pointer. The teams traded blows on the next three possessions and the Horned Frogs maintained a 56-48 lead with six minutes left in the third.
Meister ended a defense-filled 90 seconds with a fast-break layup that was followed by a layup from Nichols to bring Kansas within one score at 56-52 at the under-five timeout.
Copeland drew a foul and added two free throws to bring the Jayhawks within two before TCU added two free throws of its own. The Horned Frogs added four more points from a pair of turnovers by Kansas junior guard Laia Conesa, but the Jayhawks kept applying pressure in the final minute of the third.
After Nichols got called for an offensive foul following a battle for the ball, Schneider incurred a technical foul after leaving the bench to express his displeasure with the call. Suarez added two more free throws and a layup at the buzzer to send TCU into the final period with a 65-56 lead.
Copeland opened the fourth quarter with a layup and Davis added on with a free throw to bring Kansas back within six.
The Jayhawks forced two Horned Frogs to foul out with five minutes left in the half, with Suarez and sophomore center Clara Silva picking up their fifth fouls midway through the final quarter. TCU held a 67-61 lead with just under five minutes left in the game.
Davis added two free throws and a layup after the break to shrink the deficit to two and had the ball back with a chance to tie or take the lead, but a turnover by Williams turned into a three-point play for the Horned Frogs.
Nichols responded with a jumper with 2:42 left to make the score 70-67 TCU, but a 3-pointer from the wing by freshman guard Clara Bielefeld made that lead 73-67 with 2:04 left in the fourth.
After a timeout called by Schneider, Davis missed a layup, but Kansas forced a turnover on the defensive end and got the ball back, where Nichols drew a foul and made both at the line to make it a four-point lead for the Horned Frogs. TCU added a jumper, but Nichols responded from 3 to bring Kansas back to a 75-72 deficit with 43 seconds. Senior guard Olivia Miles pulled up from midrange with under 20 seconds left to force another Jayhawk timeout.
Nichols drew a foul against Miles, her fifth, with 13.6 seconds left and missed both free throws, but junior guard Brittany Harshaw got the rebound on the second miss and put it in to make it a 77-74 ballgame with 11.4 seconds left.
The Horned Frogs added another free throw and led by four when Kansas got the ball back, but the inbounds play was snuffed out by TCU and the Jayhawks had to foul, allowing the Horned Frogs to extend their advantage to five with 5.2 seconds left.
After much confusion and agonizing moments for both teams, TCU was able to walk away with its 38th consecutive home victory.
Kansas (13-9, 3-7) now heads back to Lawrence for a matchup with the Colorado Buffaloes on Sunday. That game is scheduled for 2 p.m.
