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

Kansas forward Jaliya Davis (25) makes a layup against Omaha in the season opener on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2026 in Allen Fieldhouse.

After months of waiting, Kansas women’s basketball tipped off its 2026-27 season with a 66-48 win over the Omaha Mavericks on Tuesday night at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Jayhawks, who were picked sixth in the Big 12 preseason poll and received votes in the preseason AP poll, were led in scoring by the tandem of sophomore forward Jaliya Davis and senior guard S’Mya Nichols. Davis finished the matchup with 20 points, eight rebounds and five blocks, and Nichols scored 17 points with three assists and two steals.

“I thought we were really good defensively all night,” Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider said. “We didn’t finish possessions in the first half. We gave up too many offensive rebounds and they made five threes in the first half, one was a bank and the other two were errors so it will be great for us to learn from that.”

As a team, the Jayhawks finished the evening 0-for-11 from 3-point range, with both Nichols and sophomore guard Libby Fandel leading Kansas with three attempts each.

“We just didn’t make them,” Schneider said. “A lot of good, open looks, I didn’t think any of them were bad shots, they just didn’t go in, and that’s basketball. I think the message for our team tonight is that’s why we rely on defense and rebounding and winning the free-throw battle.”

The Jayhawks struggled to find production beyond the starting five. Kansas scored just six points off the bench, all coming in the fourth quarter.

“We have, obviously, an important player to our team is out right now and then we get another good guard back at semester,” Schneider said. “I’m not going to evaluate right now, game one, bench points as a concern. We’re still obviously, outside our starting lineup, developing some roles.”

Senior guards Mariyah Noel and Makayla Cunningham missed Tuesday’s game, with Noel dealing with a knee injury and Cunningham ineligible for the first semester of the season.

“She was obviously unavailable tonight, I don’t anticipate her being available for Friday,” Schneider said of Noel. “She’s not practiced yet and I think as soon as she can get back on the court and practice – we’re also waiting on a knee brace to come in, sometimes that takes time – we’ll have her out there as soon as possible when our medical staff clears her.”

For Cunningham, her absence from the court is due to an error transferring credits from Southern University, her previous school. Schneider said that KU petitioned the NCAA for Cunningham to be eligible this semester, but that petition was denied.

Kansas struck first and built a 4-0 lead in the first minute before a pair of fouls and turnovers found the Jayhawks trailing 9-8 at the under-five media timeout in the first. After the break, Kansas embarked on a 6-0 run and reclaimed the edge.

Omaha erased the Jayhawks’ lead quickly with a 3-point bucket and jumper from Mavericks sophomore forward Aduke Ojullu heading into the final minute to knot things at 14, before two Nichols free throws sent Kansas into the second with a 16-14 lead.

The second quarter started with Omaha continuing to apply the pressure, grabbing the lead once more and building a three-point advantage just under two minutes into the period.

Kansas followed up with an 8-0 run over the next 2:24, led by a pair of layups and a free throw from Nichols. The Mavericks fired back with five straight to knot things up at 25-25, and the two teams traded baskets heading into the final minute of the first half. Junior forward Regan Williams scored the final points of the first half with an and-1 layup, and the Jayhawks took a narrow 34-28 edge into the locker room.

Out of halftime, the Jayhawks pushed the tempo and began to dominate the Mavericks with their speed. Kansas was outrebounded by Omaha 21-16 in the first half, but turned the tables and collected six more boards than the Mavericks in the second half.

“We really emphasized — I know we gave up some (offensive) boards in the first half — so boxing out and just being ourselves on defense,” senior guard Brittany Harshaw said of the halftime adjustment. “Not denying or overplaying but just playing solid and playing connected still.”

Davis got the scoring started with a layup 14 seconds into the quarter, and free throws from Harshaw and Nichols pushed the Kansas advantage to 12. Davis added six more points with three consecutive fast-break layups, and the Jayhawks led 46-28 midway through the third.

Kansas piled on with a layup from junior forward Regan Williams and another from Davis to extend the lead to 22 before Omaha finally stopped the Jayhawks’ run with their first bucket of the half seven minutes and six seconds into the third quarter.

The Kansas bench core finally added its first points of the night with a jumper from sophomore guard Anna Gooden with 1:06 to go in the third. The Jayhawks only had three players, Gooden and freshman guard Mollie Ernestes and forward Brooklyn Renn, in the bench rotation during the first three quarters of action.

Heading into the final frame of action, Kansas led 55-33.

The Mavericks and Jayhawks traded blows throughout much of the fourth quarter. Sophomore forward Tatyonna Brown and freshman center Cydnee Bryant logged their first minutes of the season in the period, and Davis continued to dominate at the rim.

Down the stretch in the fourth, Omaha got its deficit below 20, but Kansas stood strong and took home the 66-48 victory.

Kansas will turn its sights to the Drake Bulldogs, who will visit Allen Fieldhouse for an 11 a.m. start on Friday.

“I know our marketing staff is doing a great job trying to promote (the game) with local schools,” Schneider said. “I’m going to put my wife in that too, she’s worked really hard in contacting schools outside of Lawrence in some smaller communities in our area so hopefully we’ll have a great turnout. It was one of those situations where Allen’s double booked and we couldn’t move it one way or the other.”

Box score