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.

“So happy and proud and relieved right now,” KU coach Nate Lie said. “The last half hour was as much under siege as I’ve seen a team that I’ve coached in a moment that important and pressure-filled. We found a way.”

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.

Tech coach Tom Stone remarked postgame that his team had gone nearly two years without giving up a set-piece goal before struggling with them against both BYU and KU: “Clearly we’ve started thinking (it’s) just magic, I guess,” he said.

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

“We want to soak this in,” Lie said. “You don’t always get these (kinds) of games, moments, weeks. But you want more. And I’m just trying to process how we can celebrate and then how we can keep this team going.”

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 sent 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 of 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.

“Honestly, on my goal I kind of blacked out,” Knust said. “… Nate does a really good job of telling us to move forward. In my head I was like ‘Move forward, get the ball, doesn’t matter if it goes in.”

Lie said Knust had been an “amazing, amazing teammate” this season despite not having the exact role she might have wanted.

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.

“Liv’s goal, beyond being an absolutely amazing header, gave us a little bit of breathing room, gave us the confidence, gave us the extra boost of energy,” Lie said.

It was the sophomore defender Page’s first goal in 14 months.

“Honestly, I think I’m still processing,” Page said. “It’s really exciting and it’s really surreal to see our growth and how good this team is doing.”

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. Stone called it “one-way traffic” going his team’s way.

“The tough thing about our sport is there’s no timeouts,” Lie said. “I’m sure I would have used a few.”

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.

“TCU’s maybe, probably, the best team in the conference in many ways, but they’re possession-based,” Lie said. “They really can wear you down and pull you apart. They pride themselves on it … We have our work cut out for us, but we did today as well. This is a very good Texas Tech team we played.”

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

Kansas forward Lexi Watts clears the ball late in the game against Texas Tech during the Big 12 tournament at CPKC Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo.

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

Kansas defender Olivia Page celebrates with teammates after defeating Texas Tech during the Big 12 tournament at CPKC Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo.

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

Kansas defender Caroline Castans heads the ball against Texas Tech during the Big 12 tournament at CPKC Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo.

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

Kansas defender Olivia Page celebrates with teammates after winning against Texas Tech during the Big 12 tournament at CPKC Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo.

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

Kansas defender Olivia Page looks back to her teammates after placing Kansas in the final on the bracket of the Big 12 tournament at CPKC Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo.

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

Kansas defender Olivia Page waves to fans after defeating Texas Tech during the Big 12 tournament at CPKC Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo.

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

The Kansas Jayhawks celebrate a goal by defender Olivia Page against Texas Tech during the Big 12 tournament at CPKC Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Kansas City, Mo.

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

Kansas defender Olivia Page celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against Texas Tech during the Big 12 Tournament at CPKC Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.

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

Kansas defender Olivia Page celebrates with teammates after scoring a goal against Texas Tech during the Big 12 Tournament at CPKC Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.

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

Kansas head coach Nate Lie instructs his players against Texas Tech during the Big 12 tournament at CPKC Stadium on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.

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

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

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

Kansas’ Raena Knust scores a goal against Texas Tech during the Big 12 tournament at CPKC Stadium on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.

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

Kansas forward Lexi Watts steps in the knock the ball away from an opponent against Texas Tech during the Big 12 tournament at CPKC Stadium on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.

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

Kansas goalkeeper Sophie Dawe punches the ball away against Texas Tech during the Big 12 tournament at CPKC Stadium on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo.