LAWRENCE, Kan. – Four players scored in double figures as the Kansas Jayhawks defeated Kansas City, 79-49, on Wednesday evening at Allen Fieldhouse.
Sania Copeland led the Jayhawks with a season-high 17 points, while S’Mya Nichols added 16 points and matched her career high with nine assists. Elle Evans had 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range and Regan Williams posted her second-consecutive double-double with 12 points and 16 rebounds.
The win is the fifth straight for the Jayhawks, who improve to 9-1 on the year while moving to 6-0 at home. Kansas City falls to 3-8 on the year.
“Things that were important to me are that we didn’t give up second-chance points and we didn’t give up points on turnovers,” Kansas coach Brandon Schneider said after the game. “They average 33 points per game in those areas, and we held them to 15. I like 20 assists to 11 turnovers. I thought we shared the ball well and had some girls shoot it really well.”
Despite Kansas City scoring the game’s first basket, the Jayhawks showed a strong offensive presence by going on a 10-0 run over the next two minutes. The Roos cut into KU’s advantage, but the Jayhawks maintained a 10-7 margin at the media timeout. Kansas used another 6-0 run to build up to a 20-11 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Kansas continued to command both ends of the court in the second quarter, scoring the first 13 points as the surplus grew to 36-11. During this stretch, Copeland scored eight of her 11 first-half points as she went 4-4 from the field with three triples. Defensively, the Jayhawks reigned in the Roos as they went scoreless for almost four minutes. Kansas City notched 12 points in the quarter, including a 6-0 run towards the end of the frame, but Kansas continued to pull away and extended its edge to as many as 26 points as it took a 47-23 lead into halftime.
To start the second half, Kansas City slowed down KU’s offense, chopping the lead to 20 points with 7:55 remaining in the quarter. However, the Jayhawks remained dominant, extending it back to 30 points after Nichols made a pair of free throws. On the defensive side of the ball, Kansas held Kansas City to just one field goal for the final half of the third quarter and the Jayhawks led 65-35 heading into the last frame.
In the final quarter, Kansas found its first points from Evans hitting a three-point jumper. Brittany Harshawmaking her return after missing the last seven games, added another three-pointer to push the Jayhawks back over the 30 point mark at 71-41. Kansas City attempted to narrow the gap, but Kansas consistently responded with answers as both teams tallied 14 points in the final frame and collected the 79-49 win.
Up Next
Kansas will play its final non-conference game of the season on Sunday, Dec. 15, when the Jayhawks host Penn State. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU, with tipoff set for 2 p.m. CT from Allen Fieldhouse.
Postgame Notes
Team
– Kansas wins its fourth-straight game against Kansas City and extends its all-time series lead to 19-4.
– Kansas had four players finish in double figures, led by Sania Copeland with 17 points, followed by S’Mya Nichols (16), Elle Evans (15), and Regan Williams (12).
– Kansas extends its home court advantage to 19-1 since the start of last season with 14 consecutive wins at Allen Fieldhouse.
– Kansas dished out a season-high 20 assists as a team, marking the first time the Jayhawks recorded 20 assists since November 8, 2023, against Northwestern State.
Individual
– Regan Williams recorded her second-straight double-double as she finished with 12 points and a career-high 16 rebounds. She is the first Kansas freshman to achieve this feat since 2017, when Micaela Wilson had 14 points / 10 rebounds against Yale on November 19, 2017, and 10 points / 11 rebounds against Delaware State on November 22, 2017. This also marks the first time a Kansas player has had back-to-back double-doubles since Taiyanna Jackson performances against UCF (29 points / 10 rebounds) on Feb. 28, 2024, and Oklahoma (12 points / 15 rebounds) on March 2, 2024.
– S’Mya Nichols surpassed 700 career points as she finished with 16 points and tied her career high in assists with nine. She currently sits 2nd in the Big 12 in scoring with 20.6 points per game, and 10th in the Big 12 in assists as she is dishing out 4.9 assists per game.
– Sania Copeland went a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, including three three-pointers and a pair of free throws as she finished with 17 points to lead the team in scoring for the first time this season.
– Elle Evans contributed 15 points as she finished in double figures for the seventh time this season.
– Brittney Harshaw saw action for the first time in exactly a month and finished with eight points. In the three games she’s played this season, she’s averaging 10.3 points per game.
