Kansas Hosts First Round of NCAA Tournament Against California Baptist Friday

Friday, November 14

Lawrence, Kan.

6 p.m. CT

University of Kansas

California Baptist

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Kansas Hosts First Round of NCAA Tournament Against California Baptist Friday

11/13/2025 1:00:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Watch Live Stats Kansas Game Notes

California Baptist (10-8-4) vs. (3) Kansas (14-5-3)
When	Friday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. CT
Where	Lawrence, Kan. // Rock Chalk Park
Watch	ESPN+
Live Stats	Stats
Tickets	Buy Tickets
Social Media	@KUWSoccer \| @kansassoccer \| Facebook

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The No. 3-seeded Kansas Jayhawks will host their first NCAA Tournament match since 2019 when the Jayhawks welcome the California Baptist Lancers in the first round on Friday evening. The match is slated to begin at 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN+. Fans can purchase tickets by clicking here or by calling the Kansas ticket office at 785-864-3141.

Kansas (14-5-3) is in the NCAA Tournament for the 11th time in school history. The back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances mark the third time in program history and the first since 2018-19. This will be the seventh time that Kansas has hosted the NCAA Tournament and the No. 3 seed is tied for the highest seed in program history with 2019.

"The NCAA Tournament is a different animal," Kansas head coach Nate Lie said. "The urgency ratchets up, the intensity, and the crowd. It's a different cadence throughout the week. You have to go through a couple extra little things, which are great and exciting, but it's a little bit different. We didn't play our best in the NCAA Tournament last year, but we have a chance to make it right, and I do hope that we learned a little bit from last year."

Kansas advanced to the Big 12 Tournament Championship for the second straight season. The Jayhawks knocked off the number two (West Virginia) and three (Colorado) seeds in the first two rounds before falling to BYU in the championship match. Kansas has already surpassed its win total from last season and has its most wins since 2019.

The five losses for the Jayhawks this season have all come against teams in the top 20 in RPI (No. 5 TCU, No. 8 Colorado, No. 16 Texas Tech, No. 17 Baylor, No. 20 BYU). Kansas has played one of the toughest schedules in the country, as 14 of its 22 matches have come against teams that qualified for this year's NCAA Tournament.

Defender Caroline Castans was named to the Big 12 All-Tournament Team for the second straight year on Monday. After the regular season concluded, Castans and Lexi Watts were All-Big 12 First Team selections, while Kate Langfelder and Jillian Gregorski were named to the All-Big 12 Second Team.

During the Big 12 Tournament, Kansas had multiple players step up to help the Jayhawks advance. Against West Virginia, Jocelyn Herrema scored her first goal of the season to give Kansas the initial lead, while Mackenzie Hammontree scored her first career goal to seal the game. In the semifinal match against Colorado, freshman Lydia Viets scored her first career goal, which was the game-winner, to advance Kansas to the championship match.

ABOUT CALIFORNIA BAPTIST
California Baptist enters the NCAA Tournament with a 10-8-4 (6-3-1 Western Athletic Conference) record after winning the WAC Tournament title for the second straight year. Ava Westlund leads the Lancers on the offensive side with nine goals and 23 points this season. In goal, Mikayla O'Brien has started 19 games and has recorded six shutouts and 81 saves.

SERIES HISTORY
This will be the first meeting in program history between Kansas and California Baptist.

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
Friday's match will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Josh Klingler (play-by-play) and Sarah Gonzalez (analyst) on the call. Fans can watch by clicking here.

Live statistics can be found here, while live updates will also be provided on the team's official X page at @KUWSoccer.

UP NEXT
Kansas will face the winner of No. 6 seed Louisville and Kentucky on Nov. 20 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament or its season will come to an end.