After missing out last season, Kansas women’s basketball will return to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed in a first-round matchup against ninth-seeded Michigan.
“Last year was devastating, because I think all indications were that we were going to get in, so I think it was really shocking,” head coach Brandon Schneider said. “Obviously this year we were much more comfortable. It was more of just an anticipation of who might our opponent be and where might we be going to play a game.”
The Jayhawks will have the seeding advantage in their tournament opener when they take on the Wolverines in the Galen Center in Los Angeles.
After winning nine of their last 10 games of the year, including their first victory in the Big 12 tournament in five years, the Jayhawks boosted their resume enough to get off the bubble and secure a spot in the L.A. region.
When asked about the team’s best qualities, Schneider said, “I think of resilience.” He added, “We obviously didn’t get off to the start we wanted in Big 12 play and had a tough January, but I thought we finished the season as one of the hotter teams in the country.”
If it can overcome Michigan, Kansas will likely face the No. 1-seeded USC Trojans, who hold a 26-5 record with freshman phenom JuJu Watkins leading the way.
The 20-13 Wolverines finished seventh in Big Ten play and upset No. 3 Indiana in the first round of the conference tournament before losing 95-68 to the eventual Big Ten champion Iowa Hawkeyes. Michigan also upset then-No. 17 Ohio State before finishing even in Big Ten play.
The Wolverines, like the Jayhawks, made it past the first round in the 2022 tournament, advancing all the way to an Elite Eight matchup against No. 1 Louisville. After this, Michigan made it to the second round of the Big Dance in 2023, where it lost to eventual champion LSU.
This season, the Wolverines do not have the prestige that they have had in recent seasons — they were seeded No. 6 and No. 3 in 2023 and 2022, respectively — but they do have a trio of double-digit scorers who have led them into the round of 64.
Junior Laila Phelia leads Michigan with 17.2 points per game, while fellow guards Lauren Hansen and Jordan Hobbs tack on 12 and 11 points per game. Phelia scored a season-high 30 points in the Wolverines’ 17-point comeback win against Indiana in the first round of the Big Ten tournament, earning her a spot on the All-Big Ten tournament team and First-Team Big Ten for the regular season.
While Kansas boasts a strong post presence in 6-foot-6 center Taiyanna Jackson, Michigan doesn’t have a single center listed on its roster, with the 6-foot-3 Hobbs getting most of the starts down low.
The Jayhawks will have a couple of electric guards of their own in the first-round matchup. S’Mya Nichols ranks first for the Jayhawks in points per game with 15.2, and Zakiyah Franklin and Holly Kersgieter rank third with 11.7 each. Along with these good matchups for Michigan’s top-scoring guard trio, Kansas should have an upper hand down low with Jackson, who is averaging 12.6 points per game and made the all-conference and Big 12 all-defensive teams.
Jackson’s nearly 10 rebounds per game are also more than double any Michigan player’s individual rebound average.
With some pretty even guard play on both sides, Kansas’ chances definitely hinge on Jackson’s monster presence in the post. After only scoring 14 points in the Jayhawks’ two Big 12 Tournament games, Jackson will be looking at an easier matchup against the smaller Wolverines than she faced against either Lauren Gustin or a tall Texas roster. Kansas will hope she can once again show up in a big game as she has all year, and power the Jayhawks to the chance to face a No. 1 seed in the second round.
“It’s different too with the long break,” Schneider said about this year’s preparation. “It’s been challenging for our players and our coaches, just kind of how should we be operating. Because you’re in the middle of our routine of playing games, and then there’s potentially a two-week break.”
After being projected mostly as a No. 9 or 10 seed, and usually in the Columbia, South Carolina, region, before Selection Sunday, the Jayhawks should be pleasantly surprised with a No. 8 selection that acknowledges their tough strength of schedule.
“I’m excited to be in the tournament. I think oftentimes, 7 through 10, there can be a lot of shuffling just within those seeds,” Schneider said.
He also noted Kansas’ high finishes in both overall and non-conference strength of schedule, as the Jayhawks appeared in the Cayman Islands Classic in late November, taking on then-No. 9 Virginia Tech and No. 6 UConn and losing both games by a combined nine points.
“We won 11 Big 12 games prior to the conference tournament,” he said, “so we all felt like we had challenged ourselves enough and won enough to be included.”
Following a disappointing snub from the Big Dance last season, Kansas went on to win the Women’s National Invitation Tournament championship before putting together a solid resume in both pre-conference and conference play to ensure a spot in this year’s tournament after a year of hard work.
“I think it’s really beneficial,” Schneider said of his roster’s postseason experience from both the 2022 NCAA Tournament and 2023 WNIT run. “Especially having three of our starters who have participated. And then obviously with six postseason games a year ago as well.”
The Jayhawks’ quest for tournament success will begin against Michigan, and they will hope to advance for a shot at the region’s No. 1 seed, USC, which is taking on No. 16 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
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Mike Gunnoe/Special to the Journal-World
