KU Jayhawks women’s basketball pushes reigning national champ before falling in NCAAs
The eighth-seeded Kansas women’s basketball team hung tough for a half against No. 1 seed and reigning national champion Stanford, but the Cardinal followed with an offensive onslaught during a 91-65 victory in a NCAA Tournament Round of 32 game in Stanford, California.
KU, which was playing in its first NCAA Tournament since 2013, finished its season 21-10.
“Really proud of our team’s effort today,” KU coach Brandon Schneider said. “I thought we were highly competitive for about 25 minutes of the game. And give Stanford a lot of credit. I thought they were incredible in the third quarter.”
The Jayhawks were in it early, trailing 33-31 at halftime while turning up the defensive pressure and forcing the Cardinal to take shots away from the rim. Ioanna Chatzileonti also lifted KU offensively, scoring nine first-half points on 3-for-6 shooting.
“At halftime, I wasn’t really sure who was going to Spokane (to the Sweet 16),” Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “They have a really exceptional team.”
Stanford broke free in the third quarter, though, outscoring KU 32-15 with help from four layups and 5-for-9 three-point shooting.
Cardinal guard Lexie Hull was especially accurate, scoring a career-high 36 points on 14-for-21 shooting. That included a 6-for-11 performance from three-point range.
“Lexie just went into takeover mode, and it’s as elite (of an) offensive performance as I’ve probably witnessed in person — and the manner of which she scored in just every way possible,” Schneider said. “So a lot of credit to her and to Stanford on their performance tonight.”
Stanford (30-3) finished 13-for-26 from the perimeter, while KU was 5-for-11.
Zakiyah Franklin led KU with 13 points.
KU defeated ninth-seeded Georgia Tech 77-58 on Friday to advance to Sunday’s Round of 32. The Jayhawks, who were picked last in the preseason Big 12 coaches poll, finished fifth in the league and also posted 20 regular-season wins this season for the first time since 2000.
The Jayhawks have a young roster, as three starters are juniors and one is a sophomore. Only one player — graduate transfer Julie Brosseau — has no potential eligibility remaining with the NCAA’s new COVID-year rules in place.
“I thought we played really well against Georgia Tech, and I thought there were some moments against Stanford tonight that we played really well,” Schneider said. “And I would hope that it would create a great thirst in our program to continue to grow and develop and be a consistent participant in this tournament.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2022 at 10:58 PM.
