The Kansas women’s basketball team ended its road trip with a 71-67 win over the Missouri State Lady Bears in Springfield, Missouri.
The Jayhawks trailed for most of the game, including by as many as 13 points in the third quarter, but tied the score late in the fourth to send it to overtime.
“We are fortunate to come away with the win, especially with players getting into foul trouble,” KU coach Brandon Schneider said in a press release. “The defense has to get better, but we were able to make some plays to get us back into it. I thought we were tough enough in the second half to deserve to win, unlike in the first half. But we responded with better physical toughness in the second half to win.”
Kansas was led in scoring by junior guard S’Mya Nichols, who finished with 24 points, including a pair of game-tying free throws at the end of regulation.
There was a scary moment early in the fourth quarter as Nichols and sophomore forward Regan Williams collided and Williams went down. She was grabbing her knee on the court and had to be helped back to the Kansas locker room. She never returned to the game.
It took 90 seconds for either team to get the scoring started, but a drive through the paint paid off for Missouri State as the Lady Bears found nylon for a 2-0 lead. Senior forward Lilly Meister scored first for Kansas just 15 seconds later. The Jayhawks had a lead as large as five in the first, but Missouri State fought back and the two teams traded blows after the under-five timeout. Heading into the second quarter, both teams were tied 14-14.
That trend carried into the second, with both teams shooting the ball well. Highlighted by freshman guard Keeley Parks’ second 3-pointer of the game, Kansas was able to find the lead a couple times, but was unable to hold it.
Midway through the quarter, the Jayhawks embarked on a scoring drought lasting for over three minutes. Williams broke the skid to cut KU’s deficit to three. The Jayhawks briefly took the lead, but the Lady Bears fought right back and grabbed it with under a minute left in the half.
With the shot clock off, the Jayhawks had possession and were looking to retake the lead heading into half, but a turnover by Conesa ended that chance.
The Lady Bears made Kansas pay by draining a 3 as time expired in the second and entered halftime ahead 33-29.
At the start of the third quarter, Nichols was taking the ball up for the Jayhawks and caught a rogue hand to the face, sending her to the bench just over ten seconds into the second half. Without its best player to start the quarter, Kansas struggled.
Back-to-back makes by sophomore forward Lainie Douglas for Missouri State followed by a midrange jumper from senior forward Faith Lee were enough for Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider, as he called a timeout with the Jayhawks trailing by nine.
Out of the timeout, Missouri State added four more points before Nichols returned and cashed in from beyond the arc for her first 3-pointer of the game. That got the Jayhawks going. Kansas pushed the pace on the defensive end and Williams added two fast break layups to draw the Jayhawks within six.
The Lady Bears halted the momentum for a time, but after the injury to Williams early in the fourth quarter, Kansas found itself on another run.
Evans made her second 3-point basket of the afternoon to bring the Jayhawks within four of Missouri State. Nichols got Kansas within two after she made two from the charity stripe and the Jayhawk run was 7-0. The Lady Bears ended the run with a free throw, and their physical play all game had multiple Jayhawks in foul trouble. After Evans incurred her fourth foul, Kansas picked up the pace once more.
Evans fouled out of the game with 3:17 left in the fourth. She finished with eight points on 2-for-8 shooting from the field, with both makes coming from 3-point range.
With Evans out of the game, Kansas attacked the paint and buckets from Meister and Nichols cut the Missouri State advantage to 63-61.
With under a minute left, Nichols took the ball to the basket for a layup but missed and went down hard. She was down on the court for over a minute before walking to the Kansas bench under her own power. She promptly returned on the next offensive possession for the Jayhawks.
Missouri State had the ball with just over 30 seconds left and senior guard Sania Copeland did what she’s done best for the Jayhawks all season: She got them a call when they needed it. Copeland drew a charge and Kansas took possession with 29 seconds left in the game.
The Jayhawks took the ball down the court quickly and freshman guard Libby Fandel tried to give Kansas the lead with a corner 3, but it missed and the Jayhawks had to foul. On the other end, Douglas was at the line with a chance to extend the Lady Bears lead to four, but she missed both free-throw attempts and left Missouri State clinging to a two-point lead.
On the next Kansas possession, Nichols was able to draw a foul and make both free throws to tie the game at 63-63. Missouri State tried to throw up a prayer as time expired, but it was no good and the teams headed to overtime.
Both teams turned the ball over on their first plays of overtime and a gritty period began. The teams traded buckets before a foul against Missouri State gave the Jayhawks an opportunity to take the lead.
Copeland went to the line and made both free throws to give Kansas its first lead since the second quarter, 69-67.
After a series of missed opportunities for both teams, a tie-up gave Kansas possession and the Lady Bears fouled Nichols, sending the Jayhawks’ best free-throw shooter to the line, where she extended the lead to 71-67. Missouri State tried but failed to find anything in the final minute of overtime, and the Jayhawks completed the comeback and escaped Springfield with a victory.
Kansas (8-2) now returns home for its final two non-conference matchups. The Jayhawks will host Denver on Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse, with the game scheduled for 2 p.m.
