photo by: Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas forward Raena Knust celebrates with her teammates after scoring a goal against Texas Tech during the Big 12 tournament at CPKC Stadium on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.

Kansas City, Mo. — The corner flag was Kansas’ friend on Wednesday night.

The Jayhawks scored two goals, one on either side of halftime, off corner kicks, and held on after conceding once midway through the second half to upset second-seeded Texas Tech 2-1 at CPKC Stadium.

Raena Knust and Olivia Page netted once apiece for the Jayhawks, who both put themselves in an excellent position for an at-large bid in the NCAA Tournament and moved one victory away from an automatic bid.

It was a bumpy ride on the way to the final whistle for KU as an already testy match, which at one point featured a yellow card on the Red Raiders’ trainer, got increasingly physical. And Texas Tech controlled the pace of play extremely thoroughly in the later stages of the match, outshot the Jayhawks 17-11 and had a corner of its own with one minute remaining that almost produced an equalizer.

KU will face top-seeded TCU in the tournament final on Saturday at 7 p.m.

In the opening minutes of Wednesday’s match the Red Raiders looked better prepared for KU’s press than the Jayhawks’ prior two Big 12 tournament opponents, as their defenders made spontaneous and well-judged decisions in their own end.

Tech took advantage of its early edge and pushed the Jayhawks back, nearly scoring in the 14th minute on a give-and-go by Peyton Parsons and Taylor Zdrojewski that required a quick-twitch save by Sophie Dawe.

KU finally got a bit of forward momentum on a long counter-attack by Saige Wimes that eventually led to Lexi Watts drawing a foul just outside the box, for which Tech’s Molly Skurcenski was booked. However, the ensuing free kick resulted in a volley by Lauren Wood that sailed over the bar.

Later in the half a long through ball found its way through to Zdrojewski, who earned some space from a pair of KU defenders but got her shot blocked. One of the Jayhawks slammed into Zdrojewski as she tried to retrieve the ball, setting up a free kick from straight on, but Peyton Parsons send it low and it hit the KU wall.

The Jayhawks found themselves on the front foot more and more as the half drew on, resulting in a couple strong opportunities — most notably, the ball slides past one KU attacker and over to an open Emika Kawagishi in the 38th minute, but a Red Raider ran in front of her to block her shot at the last possible moment.

The offensive surge paid off on a corner kick three minutes later, when a goal-mouth scrum drew out Tech keeper Faith Nguyen to block a shot by Jocelyn Herrema. Knust, who hadn’t played since Oct. 25, got a clean look after KU’s Kate Langfelder wiggled out of the way and drove a shot to the bottom right corner for a go-ahead goal.

The Jayhawks doubled their lead on the other side of the intermission, this time on a perfectly aimed header by defender Page off a corner by Caroline Castans. Nguyen had virtually no chance as the ball arced into the back of the net.

KU prevented a near-immediate goal (though not as immediate as when it conceded against Arizona State) when Dawe leaned to her right to save a shot by Skurcenski shortly afterward; Nguyen had to return the favor at the other end when a ball bounced to Knust in a dangerous spot.

The Jayhawks struggled to slow down the pace of the game in the ensuing minutes. In the 64th minute, Elise Anderson got the ball to Ashleigh Williams at point-blank range. Williams made a move to get space from Dawe and converted to cut KU’s lead in half.

Skurcenski had a chance for an equalizer on a bounce, but she hit it far too hard and the Jayhawks stayed in front. Tech almost scored again on a free kick moments later.

KU has now won seven matches in a row, while TCU hasn’t lost since Sept. 5.