🏀 Kansas Falls to No. 9/10 Longhorns on Senior Night

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas Women’s Basketball team closed out its home schedule on Wednesday night with a 70-60 setback to No. 9/10 Texas at Allen Fieldhouse on Senior Day.

Holly Kersgieter led the Jayhawks with 18 points, while Zakiyah Franklin added 16 for the Jayhawks, who fell to 19-8 on the season and 10-7 in Big 12 play. The ninth-ranked Longhorns moved to 22-6 and 12-5 in the league.

The game started tight with neither team leading by more than four points in the opening quarter. The game was knotted at eight less than four minutes into the game, before Texas scored the next four points to take the largest lead of the quarter at 12-8. But Ioanna Chatzileonti and Aniya Thomas scored back-to-back baskets to tie the game at 12.

Taiyanna Jackson then scored to put Kansas up a pair with 2:38 left in the quarter. However, there was just one more basket the rest of the quarter, and it belonged to Texas, who knotted the game at 14 at the end of the first quarter.

The Longhorns scored the first five points of the second quarter to grab a lead. Texas maintained that lead until the 2:42 mark of the quarter when Kersgieter knocked down a 3-pointer to give Kansas its first lead of the quarter at 22-21. Chandler Prater knocked down two free throws to extend the lead to three, but the Longhorns scored the next four to take a one-point lead. However, Kansas hit three free throws to grab a two-point lead at halftime at 27-25.

Texas came out hot in the second half, going on a 13-2 run over the first 4:12 of the third quarter to take a 38-29 lead over Kansas. The Jayhawks cut the lead to three at two different points, before Texas pushed its lead back to eight at 45-37 with 1:41 to play in the third. Kansas, however, scored the final six points of the quarter to get it back to two.

The 6-0 run started with an and-one from Franklin, before Kersgieter added one of her own with five seconds left in the third to cut the deficit to 45-43 in favor of the Longhorns.

Texas outscored Kansas 25-17 in the fourth quarter to put the game away and secure a road victory to even the season series at one apiece after the Jayhawks topped the Longhorns in Austin in January. Chatzileonti added 10 points for the Jayhawks, reaching double figures to join Kersgieter and Franklin. Franklin added six rebounds and five assists to go with her 16 points.

“I thought we played well in stretches tonight, but we had too many mistakes in the fourth quarter,” Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider said. “The margin for error in this league is too thin to make those type of errors and it cost us tonight against a very good Texas team.”

Joanne Allen-Taylor led Texas with 20 points, while Lauren Ebo had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Up Next:

Kansas will close out the regular season Saturday at Oklahoma. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m., on Bally Sports.