KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas held UCF to the fewest points in Big 12 Tournament history, while freshman Jaliya Davis recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds as No. 11 seed Kansas defeated No. 14 seed UCF 56-35 in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament Wednesday night at the T-Mobile Center.
With the win, Kansas improves to 18-12 this season and will take on 6-seeded Colorado in the Big 12 Tournament Second Round on Thursday at 8 p.m. CT. Kansas improves its series record over UCF to 3-1 all-time, while UCF falls to 11-18 on the season.
The first quarter went back-and-fourth until Kansas pulled ahead with its largest lead of the quarter on back-to-back 3-pointers from senior Sania Copeland and junior Brittany Harshaw. The pair of 3-pointers gave Kansas a 17-10 lead that the Jayhawks would take into the first quarter break, led by Harshaw’s 6 points.
Kansas held UCF scoreless for just over the first four minutes of the second quarter, as the Jayhawks built their lead up to 14 at 24-10 following a 3-pointer by senior Elle Evans. UCF would draw the KU lead down to 10 points at 27-17 with 52 seconds remaining, as teams went into the halftime break with Kansas leading 27-17.
Kansas started out the second half by outscoring UCF 6-2 in the opening minutes to bring the Jayhawk lead to 33-19 with 6:37 remaining in the third quarter, forcing a UCF timeout. UCF would trim Kansas’ lead down to 13 at the end of the end of the third quarter as Kansas led, 39-26.
In the fourth quarter, the Jayhawks continued to distance themselves from the Knights as Kansas drew its lead to 17 points following a 3-pointer from junior Laia Conesa to give Kansas a 47-30 lead with just under 7 minutes remaining.
Kansas would close out the final minutes of the game with six straight points to increase the lead to 54-33 with 1:33 remaining. The Jayhawks would close out the game and defeat UCF in the first round of the Big 12 Tournament, 56-35.
Kansas will take on No. 6 seed Colorado in the second round of the 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 women’s basketball tournament on Thursday at 8 p.m. CT. The winner of Thursday’s game will advance to the quarterfinals to take on No. 3 seed Baylor on Friday at 8 p.m. CT.
NOTES
- Kansas improves to 19-12 on the year and wins its opening game in the Big 12 Tournament for the second time in the past three seasons.
- Kansas moves to 4-1 all-time against UCF, including a 4-0 record vs. the Knights since they joined the Big 12. The victory is also KU’s first postseason win over UCF.
- Kansas is now 16-28 all-time in the Big 12 Tournament, and 11-11 in the first round of the event.
- Kansas held UCF to 35 points, which were the fewest points scored in the Big 12 Conference Tournament all-time. The previous low was 36 points when Baylor defeated Oklahoma State 76-36 on March 11, 2022.
Fewest Points Scored in a Big 12 Tournament Game
1. 35 UCF vs. Kansas (3/4/26)
2. 36 Oklahoma State vs. Baylor (3/11/22)
3. 39 Missouri vs. Texas A&M (3/12/08)
39 Iowa State vs. Colorado (3/5/97)
5. 40 Texas Tech vs West Virginia (3/6/15)
- Junior S’Mya Nichols scored 6 points, surpassing 1,600 career points. Nichols now has 1,605 over her career.
- Kansas led the game 27-17 at halftime. The 17 points by UCF in the first half is the lowest total Kansas has allowed against a Big 12 opponent this season. The previous low was 19 points against Colorado on Feb. 1.
- Freshman Jaliya Davis scored 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Davis has now scored in double figures in all 21 games she’s appeared in this season. Davis recorded the first double-double by a Kansas player in a Big 12 Tournament game since Chandler Prater had 21 points and 12 rebounds vs. TCU on March 9, 2023
- Senior Elle Evans shot 2-of-6 from beyond the arc and now has 68 3-pointers this season to move into fifth in single season school history.