Via Kansas Athletics
SAINT THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands – S’Mya Nichols scored 15 fourth-quarter points to lead Kansas past Pittsburgh, 59-53, on Thursday afternoon in the opening game of the Paradise Jam.
Despite battling foul trouble in the first half, Nichols finished with a team-high 20 points, her third-straight 20-point game and fourth of the season. She was 12-of-18 from the free throw line and hit 4-of-9 field goal attempts, while adding four rebounds and matching a career-high with four steals.
Elle Evans added 19 points for the Jayhawks and surpassed the 1,000-point milestone for her career in the game. Evans, who scored 928 points over two seasons at North Dakota State, reached 1,000 points in her 70th career game, and she’s now scored in double figures in each of the past four games for the Jayhawks. Laia Conesa also reached double figures for Kansas, finishing one point shy of her career with 12 points and five rebounds in 36 minutes of action.
With the win, Kansas improves to 5-1 on the year while dropping Pitt to 5-2.
“I thought we really executed well in the fourth quarter on both ends of the floor,” Kansas coach Brandon Schneider said following the game. “We did some good things down the stretch and made free throws. Northern Iowa couldn’t be more different than the team we played today. We’ll need to flip the script and come up with an entirely different plan for tomorrow.”
After Pitt took an early 3-2 lead, the Jayhawks used a 14-3 run to take a 10-point lead at 16-6 following a three-pointer from Conesa with 4:03 to play in the quarter. She led the Jayhawks with eight points in the frame, hitting another three-pointer near the end of quarter and lifting Kansas to a 20-12 advantage at the end of the frame.
The second quarter was low scoring, starting with a basket for Pitt followed by an 8-2 Kansas run that pushed the lead back into double figures at 28-16. Pitt scored the final three points of the half, the last of which came at the 2:42 mark, and the Jayhawks carried a 28-19 lead into the break. Conesa continued to lead the way with 12 first-half points, while Elle Evans had nine.
KU’s offensive woes continued early in the second half as it took more than five minutes before Nadira Eltayeb scored the Jayhawks’ first points of the third quarter. Pitt scored the first seven points before Kansas used a 5-2 run to lead 33-28 following a traditional three-point play from Evans, which put her right at 1,000 points for her career. Pitt used a 5-0 run to tie the game at 33-33, but two free throws from Nichols had KU up 35-33 at the end of three.
Pitt scored the first four points of the fourth quarter, taking a 37-35 lead, but Kansas responded with an 8-0 run that featured six-straight points from Nichols as KU went up 43-37 with 6:02 to play. Kansas kept the Panthers at arm’s length for the game, holding a lead of at least three points for the final six minutes. The Jayhawks outscored Pitt 24-20 in the fourth quarter to secure the victory.
Up Next
Kansas will play its second of three games at the Paradise Jam on Friday, Nov. 29, when the Jayhawks meet Northern Iowa. Tipoff of that game is set for at 2:00 p.m. CT, with streaming again available on ESPN+.
