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

Kansas junior S'Mya Nichols shoots the ball against Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lawrence.

With eight games left on the schedule heading into Sunday, Kansas women’s basketball was in dire need of a win to help itself climb the Big 12 standings after a 3-7 start to conference play.

But the Jayhawks were unable to secure a win on Sunday, as they fell 69-66 to Colorado in a tightly contested defensive clinic in which both teams shot under 40% from the field.

Kansas led by eight points with nine minutes left in regulation before a scoring drought of five minutes and 53 seconds allowed Colorado to reclaim the lead. Free throws by freshman forward Jaliya Davis and junior guard S’Mya Nichols, plus six straight misses from the line by Colorado, helped Kansas force overtime, but the Jayhawks never led in the extra period as the Buffaloes pulled away.

“I mean, our backs are against the wall,” Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider said postgame. “There’s no question about that and we’re not going to look each other in the eye and sugarcoat it. Our margin for error has become very, very small and that’s something that we’re going to have to understand when it comes to the importance of every single possession.”

The Jayhawks were led in scoring by Nichols, who finished the day with 22 points on just 5-of-16 shooting from the field. 12 of her 22 points came from the free throw line. Davis added 14 of her own but fouled out of the game with 24 seconds left in regulation.

Kansas forced 22 turnovers from the Buffaloes on Sunday afternoon, and tallied four blocks and 11 steals. On the other side, however, Colorado was able to force the Jayhawks to turn the ball over 25 times and went to the free-throw line 39 times in the matchup.

“When we didn’t foul, I thought our defense was pretty good,” Schneider said. “The problem is you can’t put a team on the line 39 times. Even though we had a chance – I can’t believe we had a chance – turning the ball over 25 times and putting a team on the free throw line 39 times, that’s just not the kind of discipline that we want to play with.”

The two teams, who both sit in the top 150 in total scoring this season, combined for just 11 points in the first quarter.

“I was thinking that’s awesome because we have a hard time scoring at times,” Colorado head coach JR Payne said of the first quarter. “We love to defend, we’re really built on the defensive side of the ball.”

Kansas guard Libby Fandel found the basket for the first points of the game in the opening minute and Colorado forward Jade Masogayo responded with two of her own a few minutes later to tie it at two.

That was all the scoring before the under-five media timeout, with both teams playing physical defense and forcing turnovers. Both teams were 1-for-7 from the field and had four turnovers apiece at the break.

Senior forward Nadira Eltayeb brought the Allen Fieldhouse crowd to life when she finally ended the Jayhawks’ scoring drought that lasted almost seven minutes and gave Kansas a 4-2 lead.

Junior guard Zyanna Walker tied things up for the Buffaloes and freshman guard Erianna Gooden added a free throw and layup at the buzzer to send Colorado into the second quarter with a 7-4 lead.

Nichols got things started in the second and the scoring picked up for the first five minutes. At the under-five timeout, Kansas led 18-15 largely in part to buckets by Nichols and fellow guard junior Elle Evans.

The scoring slowed down after the break with the teams exchanging a pair of free throws and Walker adding another layup. The Jayhawks took a 21-19 lead into halftime.

Colorado picked it up early in the third quarter, with Walker adding to her performance with 10 more points in the first three minutes of the half and retaking the lead for the Buffaloes. A scoring drought allowed Kansas to claw back into it and tie the game at 31 right after the under-five timeout.

The Jayhawks’ offense found a groove after tying the game and outscored the Buffaloes 14-8 over the next five minutes, sending the game into the final quarter of regulation with Kansas leading 43-39. Ten of the 14 points scored during that run came at the charity stripe.

The Jayhawks were able to build on that lead early in the fourth with free throws from senior guard Sania Copeland and an and-1 from Davis, pushing the Kansas edge to 48-40.

Things fell apart for the Jayhawks from there. Colorado embarked on a 14-2 run over the next 8:17 that had the Buffaloes back in front with a four-point lead.

A missed layup by Copeland and turnover by Evans in the final two minutes made it look like Colorado was going to pull away and take the game easily, but the Buffaloes missed all four free throws and kept the Jayhawks in it.

Davis drew a foul, sending her to the line where she converted a pair of free throws and brought Kansas within two with 40.2 seconds left. The Buffaloes took a timeout and advanced the ball, but Davis stole an inbounds pass and KU regained possession with 37.4 seconds remaining.

Nichols drove to the rim but missed, giving the ball back to Colorado and forcing a foul by the Jayhawks, which went against Davis, her fifth of the afternoon. The Buffaloes missed both at the line again, giving Kansas life.

Nichols, the program’s all-time leader in made free throws, drew a foul on the next possession and sank both from the line to tie things up with 9.9 seconds remaining. The Buffaloes tried a 3 for the win which missed, but the putback by senior forward Jade Masogayo at the buzzer was counted on the floor, sending the officials to replay to see if she got the ball out of her hand in time. After a short review, they determined she didn’t get the shot off in time and the game was heading to overtime tied at 54-54.

In overtime, Colorado junior guard Desiree Wooten struck first, and the Buffaloes never looked back. They outscored Kansas 10-5 over the first four minutes of extra time, but a layup from Meister would keep the deficit at three with 44 seconds left. After trading free throws, and Colorado adding another, Evans would make just the second 3-pointer of the night for the Jayhawks to cut the Buffaloes’ lead to one.

Kansas intentionally fouled and Wooten made both for Colorado to pad that lead to three. That’s all CU would need, as junior guard Laia Conesa’s 3-point heave was short and the Buffaloes escaped with a 69-66 victory in Lawrence.

Kansas (13-10, 3-8) now turns its attention to the BYU Cougars (16-6, 5-5), who will travel to Lawrence on Wednesday. That game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

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

Kansas freshman Libby Fandel drives the ball against Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lawrence.

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

Kansas junior Laia Conesa drives the ball against Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lawrence.

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

Kansas freshman Jaliya Davis drives the ball against Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lawrence.

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

Kansas freshman Jaliya Davis leaps to catch a pass against Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lawrence.

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

Kansas freshman Jaliya Davis shoots the ball against Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lawrence.

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

Kansas junior S’Mya Nichols drives the ball against Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lawrence.

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

Kansas freshman Jaliya Davis is highly contested against Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lawrence.

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

Kansas junior Brittany Harshaw passes the ball against Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lawrence.

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

Kansas junior Brittany Harshaw dribbles the ball against Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lawrence.

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

Kansas junior Laia Conesa dribbles the ball against Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lawrence.

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

Kansas freshman Jaliya Davis during the game against Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lawrence.

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

Kansas freshman Jaliya Davis shoots the ball against Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Lawrence.

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