photo by: Sarah Buchanan/Special to the Journal-World

Freshman Jaliya Davis celebrates with her teammates after a foul is called on Cincinnati during the matchup on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Kansas women’s basketball team defeated Cincinnati 80-71 on Saturday evening in Allen Fieldhouse, capping off a successful doubleheader for the Jayhawks after the men’s team had beaten Utah earlier in the day.

KU had four scorers finish the victory over the Bearcats in double figures, with freshman forward Jaliya Davis leading the way with 28 points and eight rebounds. Junior guard S’Mya Nichols contributed 16 points and six assists for the Jayhawks. Senior forward Lilly Meister finished with 14 points, while senior guard Elle Evans added 12 more.

Kansas squandered an 11-point advantage early in the fourth quarter, but salvaged a win with a late 10-1 run to fend off the Bearcats.

“We rebounded better and we stopped fouling,” Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider said. “We just didn’t finish possessions well most of the game. (We gave up) way too many offensive rebounds and when you’re in a scramble situation, whether it’s in the halfcourt or it’s on an offensive rebound, now you’re in rotation and you’re way more apt to foul, and sometimes those two things go hand in hand.”

Saturday’s performance by Davis marks her 11th 20-point game of her freshman campaign and her second of the week after her 28-point, 12-rebound double-double against BYU last Wednesday. Davis, who has won the Big 12 freshman of the week award the past five weeks, looks poised to match a league record (set by Kansas State’s Ayoka Lee in 2020) with her sixth on Monday.

Cincinnati struck first, but Davis responded on the next possession with a basket to make it 2-2. The Bearcats found the lead again, but a Nichols 3 and another bucket by Davis gave Kansas a 7-6 lead heading into the under-five timeout.

Cincinnati reclaimed the lead and the two teams traded blows, but back-to-back 3s by freshman guard Libby Fandel and Evans reclaimed the lead for Kansas. That lead was short-lived, with the Bearcats adding a jumper and a 3-pointer before the end of the quarter and taking a 21-17 lead into the second.

The Jayhawks retook the edge early in the next period. Led by Davis’ 15 points in the quarter, Kansas extended its lead up to 11 before a 7-0 run by Cincinnati in the final two minutes sent the two teams into halftime with the Jayhawks clinging onto a 40-36 lead.

The third quarter started slowly for both teams, with Cincinnati shrinking its deficit to one point before consecutive scores by Kansas put the Jayhawks back up six. Kansas kept piling on, and the Bearcats struggled to respond. Another 3 by Evans put the Jayhawks’ lead back in the double digits and forced a timeout by Cincinnati with just over two minutes left in the third and Kansas leading 60-48.

The Jayhawks held an 11-point advantage entering the final period, but the Bearcats took control of the opening minutes of the fourth with a 11-0 run that tied things at 66-66 with 6:01 to go. The Jayhawks finally ended the run with a layup from Nichols and Cincinnati responded with a jumper before the under-five timeout to keep things tied at 68-68.

Kansas came out of the timeout with energy. Davis got things started with a pair of free throws and Meister followed those up with a layup. Nichols added on two more free throws and the Jayhawks built up a decisive lead from there. After one free throw by Cincinnati, Kansas embarked on another 6-0 run, including a rare long-range jumper by Davis, to close things out and take home an 80-71 victory.

Kansas (15-10, 5-8) now hits the road and heads to Lubbock, Texas, to take on No. 18 Texas Tech (22-3, 9-3) on Tuesday evening. That game is scheduled for 6 p.m.

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