Kansas women’s basketball’s path to earning NCAA tournament spot starts with Kansas State
LAWRENCE — Kansas women’s basketball’s home game Sunday would be important regardless of the larger implications of the final result.
The Jayhawks are going up against Kansas State, an in-state rival and fellow Big 12 Conference program. Kansas lost its previous game against the Wildcats this season, over in Manhattan. And not only will this be an opportunity for the Jayhawks to exact some revenge in Lawrence, but for players like super-senior guards Holly Kersgieter and Zakiyah Franklin this is the last guaranteed opportunity in their careers to earn another win in this rivalry.
Kansas (15-11, 8-7 in Big 12), though, is also in a position where a win would go a long ways to solidifying its NCAA tournament resume. Defeating No. 9 Kansas State (23-4, 12-3 in Big 12) would give the Jayhawks a victory against a Wildcats squad that is in contention for the Big 12’s regular season title. With just a few games remaining in the regular season, Kansas can’t afford to let opportunities like this go to waste.
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“We’ve addressed it for a long time, just the sense of urgency of every game,” Kansas coach Brandon Schneider said. “I think as you evaluate teams under consideration there’s going to be a lot of Power Five teams that are right around, are going to finish around, .500, in all the Power Five conferences. So, I think if you can get to 10-8 in our league, I think you’re a lock. I think 9-9 probably still gives you a chance, just because there’s so many conferences out there that there’s a lot of parity.”
Opinions might differ on where exactly Kansas is in the NCAA tournament picture at the moment. Earlier in the week a projection by The Athletic had the Jayhawks as one of the last four teams in, while a recent projection by ESPN had them as one of the first four out. But either way, Kansas has a chance.
After the Jayhawks’ loss earlier this season in January at Kansas State, they sat at 9-9 overall and 2-5 in the Big 12. Since that defeat, Kansas has won six of its last eight games and even put together a five-game winning streak. Even the two defeats the Jayhawks suffered, road games at No. 25 Oklahoma and No. 24 Baylor, were competitive.
Kersgieter pointed to an ability in recent weeks to do a better job at carrying momentum forward, at remaining optimistic even if an obstacle appears — like the loss earlier this week at Baylor. Franklin pointed to a need to keep that going, to not let adversity in one area affect other aspects of their play. And Schneider highlighted how much more improved they’ve been on the defensive end, which will matter a lot in a matchup Sunday that will see Kansas super-senior center Taiyanna Jackson go up against Kansas State senior center Ayoka Lee.
“Obviously the Baylor one was important for us, but we fell short and this one is even more important,” Franklin said. “We want to go out there and we want to get this one, and it’s a lot at stake. So, I just want to go out there and execute the plan as best as we can and get the job done. So, looking forward to that.”
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Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.
This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Defeating Kansas State would mean a lot for Kansas women's basketball
