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

Kansas guard Sania Copeland and center Nadira Eltayeb reach out for a loose ball during the Big 12 tournament against Texas Tech at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Mo., Wednesday, March 5, 2025.

Kansas City, Mo. — The Kansas women’s basketball team dropped its first-round Big 12 tournament matchup against Texas Tech on Wednesday night at the T-Mobile Center, as a third period that included only six points for the Jayhawks required an ill-fated fourth-quarter comeback attempt, locking in a 57-53 loss.

In Elle Evans’ continued absence due to a quad injury, the Jayhawks relied on fellow wing Brittany Harshaw for shooting on the outside while continuing with a successful pick-and-roll scheme with Regan Williams that they had deployed in the regular season against the Lady Raiders. The duo scored 28 of Kansas’ 53 points, with only Laia Conesa joining them in double-digit scoring with 12 points.

First-team all-conference guard S’Mya Nichols was largely absent from the offense, scoring only eight points in 28 minutes of play and committing eight turnovers, before she didn’t play a single minute in the final period after suffering an apparent leg injury. After the game, head coach Brandon Schneider characterized her as “extremely banged up after a very long and physical season,” adding that Kansas’ lack of depth resulted in very minimal in-game rest for the starting guard.

“As a coach, I’ve been really proud of how our team has defended the last two games, being as short-handed as we are, really down to eight players. And tonight, S’Mya was probably at 40%,” Schneider said. “I felt really good about how we defended, we just didn’t have the offensive punch to make enough baskets or free throws to win the game.”

Bailey Maupin scored a dozen points on just 2-for-10 shooting to lead Tech, which avenged a 57-50 defeat in Lawrence from earlier in the season. Denae Fritz hit three key 3-pointers and she and Jasmine Shavers each reached double figures, while Kilah Freelon powered the Lady Raiders late as they fended off KU’s comeback effort.

After scoring only five combined points in Kansas’ previous three games, Harshaw was involved early as a clear part of the Jayhawks’ game plan with the absence of Evans. She scored on an easy drive after a Texas Tech 3-pointer to open the scoring, spurring a six-point run for Kansas. A triad of triples between the teams tied the game at nine before Harshaw airballed her first long-range attempt of the night, though she remained unafraid to keep shooting and get involved.

Kansas entered a five-minute-long scoring drought, broken only by a fast-break 3-pointer by Carla Osma to make it 13-12 with under two minutes to play. Harshaw and Jasmine Shavers traded off a pair of jumpers to give Texas Tech a 15-14 lead heading into the second quarter.

The Jayhawks scored only four of their points in the paint in the first quarter after scoring over 50% of their points from inside in their first meeting with the Lady Raiders. But to start the second, Kansas went back to what it found so much success with in the first meeting, setting up a pick-and-roll for Williams to take a 17-15 lead after the ensuing foul shot. Harshaw’s first 3 of the game gave the Jayhawks their biggest lead at 22-17 before a six-point Texas Tech run resulted in another lead change.

Williams took over as Kansas continued to look for her on the pick-and-roll as four-straight points made it 26-25. An 8-4 run gave the Lady Raiders a four-point lead at the break, as S’Mya Nichols finished off the half with an acrobatic layup for just her second bucket of the night.

After slowing down throughout the second, Kansas’ offense completely stalled for the entirety of the third quarter. The Jayhawks shot 15.4% in the period, making only two field goals and giving up four turnovers.

With a 9-2 run, the Jayhawks miraculously found themselves in a one-point game after a 10-minute offensive shutdown. Harshaw scored eight of the nine before a layup by Williams got Kansas its first lead since the second quarter. But after this four-minute surge, the Jayhawks once again entered a five-minute scoring drought as Texas Tech scored five straight.

“We turned it over consecutive possessions and and weren’t getting great shots, and they started knocking down some shots,” Texas Tech head coach Krista Gerlich said. “And so it opened us up a little, a little bit, and we just weren’t getting payoff on the other end. And then we started getting some great stops and not getting any possessions, not getting payoff for it. So (I) just thought that in the fourth quarter, you know, we finally got them settled in and got some stops, and it started making some baskets.”

With Nichols out, KU struggled to run anything resembling a normal offense. A sideline inbounds play resulted in a 3-pointer for Conesa that cut the Jayhawks’ deficit to 55-53 with 13 seconds remaining, but Tech’s Maupin calmly drained a pair of free throws, and Conesa held the ball too long on KU’s unsuccessful final possession.

“We probably missed (Elle Evans) numerous times, I thought, on some open rolls,” Schneider said. “We also had some situations in the first game (against Tech) where we were able to attack their pressure, where they overplayed Regan, especially in the high post. They softened that up a little bit with this game, which put us in a situation where those kinds of things weren’t available.”

He continued: “I thought we still got some good shots. Obviously, missed six free throws, we had enough open opportunities to win the game, just didn’t make enough baskets.”

The Jayhawks’ fate is uncertain at this time, as with a record of 16-14 they will not be in consideration for the NCAA Tournament, but could receive consideration for an alternative postseason competition like the WNIT or WBIT.