photo by: Chance Parker/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas freshman Tatyonna Brown shoots the ball against Oral Roberts on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025.

For the first time since 2022, Kansas women’s basketball has started 6-0, after Sunday afternoon’s 86-75 win over the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles earned the Jayhawks their sixth win of the season.

The 75 points Oral Roberts scored were its most so far this season against a Division I opponent, with its previous high being 69 against Tulsa.

“I think (we were) defensively inconsistent,” Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider said. “I thought we had moments where we played really hard and played to the scouting report and finished possessions the way that we want, but we’ve got to develop a better mental toughness to do that consistently.”

One of the most glaring things on the stat sheet for Kansas was its inability to close out halves. In the first quarter, Kansas shot 61.1% from the field while forcing six turnovers, but the Jayhawks only shot 38.5% from the field and had three takeaways in the second. In the third, they shot 62.5% and forced six turnovers, but the final period of action saw them only shoot 33.3% with just two takeaways.

“It’s just consistency,” Schneider said. “That all starts with focus and being mentally aware and locked in.”

On the offensive side of the ball, Kansas got production from top to bottom, with five players finishing the day with double-digit point totals. With KU led by junior guard S’Mya Nichols’ 15 points, freshman forward Tatyonna Brown and senior guard Elle Evans were able to contribute 12 points each, and the guard duo of freshman Keeley Parks and junior Laia Conesa added 11 apiece.

Parks missed most of the summer due to an injury and was still getting up to speed when the season tipped off for the Jayhawks, and her increased presence over the past two games has given Kansas a jolt.

“It felt really good,” Parks said of her performance on Sunday. “It gave me a lot of confidence in my game and especially being hurt, I was out all summer, so it was pretty rough coming back, but my teammates helped me a lot throughout that.”

Sunday’s win was the second straight matchup that the Jayhawks were without one of their key scorers, freshman forward Jaliya Davis. Schneider said after the game that she’s still day-to-day with lower leg pain.

He also said that Nichols was 100% today after having to leave Wednesday’s game against Minnesota for a few minutes in the first quarter when she slipped on water on the baseline.

The first quarter started slow for the Jayhawks, and they found themselves trailing the Golden Eagles just three minutes into the period, but some early substitutions for Kansas led to a jolt. Schneider replaced starters Nichols and Copeland with Conesa and Parks.

After these substitutions, the Jayhawks embarked on a 15-0 run, and Kansas was able to enter the second quarter with a 25-14 lead. That advantage was in large part due to the freshman duo of Parks and Brown, with both players finishing the quarter with six points.

In the second quarter, things quickly started to unravel for the Jayhawks.

Kansas went back to its starting five to start the period, but after Evans made a 3-pointer, Oral Roberts embarked on a 12-0 run and cut the Kansas lead to three. Another make from beyond the arc for Evans stopped the run, but the Golden Eagles traded buckets with the Jayhawks and were able to enter the half down 42-37.

In the third, the starting five for Kansas was finally able to find its footing. After Oral Roberts started the scoring, senior guard Sania Copeland knocked it in from deep for her first points of the afternoon. Just a few minutes later, Evans caught fire, cashing in from beyond the arc in back-to-back possessions for Kansas. The Jayhawks kept up that scoring through the final six minutes of the quarter, as they headed into the final period of action with a 71-53 advantage.

The fourth quarter was defined by the whistle.

During the final period of action, there were 16 fouls called, with just five going against Oral Roberts and 11 going against Kansas. Midway through the final quarter, Oral Roberts caught fire. The Golden Eagles connected on four consecutive field goal attempts, but a couple of buckets by Kansas kept Oral Roberts distant.

The Golden Eagles made one more push late, in large part due to misses, turnovers and fouls from the Jayhawks. A 7-0 run for Oral Roberts was halted by a bucket from Brown, and the Jayhawks were able to keep the Golden Eagles off the board for the rest of the game.

Kansas now heads on a long stretch away from home, starting with the Fort Myers Tip-Off in Florida. The Jayhawks will take on the Georgia Bulldogs in their first matchup of the tournament on Friday and the game is scheduled to tip off at 6:30 p.m. Central.