LAWRENCE, Kan. – Kansas freshman Jaliya Davis scored 12 of her game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter as Kansas defeated San Diego State, 85-78, in the quarterfinals of the WBIT at Allen Fieldhouse Thursday evening.
BOX SCORE
Kansas junior S’Mya Nichols poured in 18 points with a team-high five assists and six rebounds, while sophomore Regan Williams scored 15 points with five rebounds, and senior Lilly Meister added 14 points, including a career-high 4-for-4 effort from three-point range. Meister also pulled down five rebounds. Davis and Williams were the anchor down low as KU outscored SDSU 40-28 in points in the paint.
“I thought we really guarded in the fourth quarter and held them to 33 percent shooting in the fourth quarter,” Kansas coach Brandon Schneider said. “Obviously, they are a really good team with some talented perimeter players and some forwards that can pick and pop and that gave us issues early. We had to make multiple adjustments. But, it took us a while to learn our right from our left, but we finally did a better job of taking away the right hand in the fourth quarter.”
With the win, Kansas (22-13) advances to the WBIT semifinals to be played March 30 at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita, Kansas. San Diego State’s season ends with a 27-6 record.
“Is there anything else that a coach can ask for, then just continuing to get better,” Schneider added. “I think a lot of teams, especially when they get into this tournament, they’re so disappointed and they kind of check out. I’m very fortunate to have the group of young women that we have. They’ve just really taken advantage of this opportunity, not only to play games and win games, but we’re still getting better in practice.”
Meister scored 11 of the team’s first 15 points, which included her first three three-point field goal attempts as Kansas built a 15-8 lead with 5:13 remaining in the period. KU increased its lead to 21-10 on a pair of Williams free throws and eventually led 25-15 after the opening quarter.
San Diego State scored the first six points of the second quarter and outscored the Jayhawks 14-4 in the first four minutes to tie the game at 29-29. The Jayhawks built a 43-38 on a Nichols three-pointer with 1:27 before half and took a 45-42 lead into halftime. Nichols and Meister paced KU with 11 points each in the opening half.
In the third quarter, Kansas increased its lead to 51-45 on a Davis jumper. San Diego State battled back to cut the lead to one at 51-50 before Meister made her fourth three of the game to give KU a 54-50 lead. San Diego State then used an 8-3 run to take a 58-57 lead with 2:45 left in the quarter. Davis would make a layup with 10 seconds remaining in the period as the Aztecs led 65-63 heading into the fourth quarter.
Kansas tied the game at 65-65 on a drive and dish from senior Sania Copeland to Davis for a lay-in. Down 67-65, Nichols drained a three to give KU a one-point lead at 68-67. Nichols then stole the ball and found Davis for a lay-in making the score 70-67 in favor of the Jayhawks. SDSU would tie the game at 70-70 with 5:55 to play before Kansas went on an 8-2 run with Davis scoring four points and KU buckets from Nichols and Williams to give KU a 78-72 lead with 3:21 to play. Another Davis basket gave KU an 80-74 lead with 55 seconds remaining.
NOTES:
- Kansas improves to 22-13 on the year, giving the Jayhawks 22+ wins for the 14th time in school history, first since 2023.
- The Jayhawks now advance to the semifinals of the WBIT with their ninth-consecutive victory in a non-NCAA Tournament postseason event.
- Kansas improves to 2-1 all-time against SDSU and 3-0 all-time in the WBIT.
- The win allowed Kansas to finish the season with a 15-4 record at Allen Fieldhouse, including a 10-0 mark against non-conference foes. Kansas has now won 43 consecutive home games against non-conference opponents.
- Kansas went with the starting lineup of Nichols, Fandel, Copeland, Davis, and Meister for the 17th time this season. KU is 11-6 with that lineup in 2025-26.
- At least four players in double figures for the ninth time this season, Kansas is 7-2 in those nine games.
- Kansas is now 4-12 when trailing after three quarters, Kansas trailed 65-63 at the end of the third quarter against San Diego State.
- Junior S’Mya Nichols scored 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field marking her 31st game this season scoring in double figures, and 86th time in her career.
- Nichols recorded five assists and moved into eighth place in program history for assists in a career with 391.
- Freshman Jaliya Davis finished the game with 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field and moved into third on the all-time freshman scoring list with 496 points, passing Shyra Holden from 1979.
- Davis’ 25 points marks the 24th time in 25 games this season that she has scored in double figures, and was her 15th 20-point performance.
- Davis’ 15th 20-point performance moves her into fourth place all time for 20-point games by a freshman in Big 12 history, and seventh in school history.
- Davis tied a career high with three assists, marking the eighth time this season she has had three assists.
- Davis pulled down six rebounds against San Diego State, marking the 18th time this season she has grabbed at least five rebounds in a game.
- Senior Lilly Meister finished the game with 14 points on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, marking her 14th game this season in double figures and first since at Kansas State on February 21.
- Meister set a new career high for three pointers made in a game after going 4-of-4 from beyond the arc, her previous high was two
- Sophomore Regan Williams finished the game with 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, marking the 11th game this season scoring in double figures and 25th time in her career.
- Williams pulled down five rebounds marking the 16th time this season she has grabbed at least five rebounds in a game, and 27th time in her career.
- Senior Sania Copeland recorded three steals, marking the second time this season she has recorded three or more steals in a game, and 15th time in her career.
