Via Kansas Athletics
ORLANDO, Fla. –Jaliya Davis and Lilly Meister led the charge as Kansas outscored UCF 51-35 in the second half and picked up an 83-68 victory Sunday afternoon at Addition Financial Arena.
Davis scored 26 points to lead the Jayhawks. She hit 10-of-12 field goal attempts and went 6-of-7 from the free throw line, while adding five rebounds. Meister set a new career-high with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the field. She also pulled down a team-leading six rebounds and dished out three assists. S’Mya Nichols added 14 points and matched her season highs with seven assists and three steals.
Kansas shot a season-high 57.4 percent from the field, hitting 31-of-54 field goal attempts. The Jayhawks knocked down five three-pointers, including two from Elle Evans, who entered the game leading the nation in three-point field goal percentage. Nichols and Davis each went 6-of-7 from the free throw line, helping KU shoot 76.2 percent (16-21) from the line for the night.
Kansas earns its first Big 12 Conference win in the process, improving to 11-4 (1-2 Big 12) on the year. UCF is now 8-6 (0-3 Big 12) this season.
The Jayhawks return home on Wednesday, Jan. 7, to welcome Utah to Allen Fieldhouse for the first time. Tipoff of that game is set for 6:30 p.m. CT and it will be broadcast on ESPN+.
“I thought we really executed well at the offensive end and displayed great patience,” Kansas head coach Brandon Schneider said after the game. “If we didn’t get our first or second option, we were able to play deeper into the clock and get our third option on a lot of stuff. The front line played really good today. We didn’t shoot it from the perimeter as well as we would like, but it’s good to see Jaliya and Lilly play well and really complement one another.”
The game was tied twice in the early going before Davis scored six points as part of a 7-0 run that put Kansas on top 11-4 at the 4:33 mark of the first quarter. UCF scored the next four points and used a 6-1 run to get back within two at 12-10. The Knights got within one point twice, but a Keeley Parks three-pointer put KU on top 18-16 at the end of the first.
Davis and Laia Conesa scored baskets early in the second as KU used a 4-0 run to push its lead to 22-16 with 8:24 to play in the half. UCF’s Leah Harmon then warmed up from downtown, hitting three consecutive three-pointers to give the Knights their first lead of the day at 25-24. UCF led by three on two occasions in the first half, but Nichols scored the last four points for Kansas, keeping KU’s deficit to one, 33-32, at the break.
Meister scored the first four points of the third, putting the Jayhawks back on top 36-33, and she put up nine points in the quarter as KU took control of the game. Evans and Libby Fandel knocked down three-pointers and Kansas outscored UCF 24-15 in the third quarter to take a 56-48 lead to the fourth.
Davis scored 12 points in the fourth and Nichols had seven points and five of her assists in the final 10 minutes as KU scored 27 points and added to the final margin. The Jayhawks led by at least six the entire fourth quarter and pushed the lead into double figures for good at the 4:31 mark.
NOTES
- Davis recorded her second-straight 20-point game since returning from injury. She finished with 26 points on 10-12 shooting and added five rebounds and two blocked shots. Davis has scored in double figures in all five games she’s played in this season.
- Lilly Meister scored a career-high 22 points as she reached double figures in scoring for the seventh time this season and sixth time in the past eight games. Meister’s previous scoring high at Kansas was 14 points vs. Haskell on Dec. 17. She previously scored 20 points three times during her tenure at Indiana, most recently vs. Wisconsin on Dec. 28, 2024.
- S’Mya Nichols reached double figures in scoring for the 14th time this season as she finished with 14 points, seven assists, three rebounds and two steals. Nichols, the nation’s leader in free throws made and attempted, was 6-7 from the line and she recorded the 300th assist of her career in the first quarter.
