All-Big 12 WBB teams honor KU, K-State players. Two of them made history
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- Kansas freshman Jaliya Davis earns Freshman of the Year and first-team honors.
- S’Mya Nichols earns third straight first-team nod, leads nation in free throws.
- K-State’s Tess Heal named to third team; Taryn Sides receives honorable mention.
Just before the Big 12 women’s basketball tournament begins at T-Mobile Center, the conference announced its accolades for the 2025-26 regular season.
At the University of Kansas, the KC-area duo of freshman forward Jaliya Davis and junior guard S’Mya Nichols both received All-Big 12 honors Tuesday.
Blue Valley North alumna Davis was unanimously named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, an All-Freshman Team selection and first-team All-Big 12. Shawnee Mission West product Nichols earned her third consecutive All-Big 12 first-team selection.
This is the third time Kansas has had two players earn All-Big 12 first-team honors, with each happening in the past four years.
Davis is closing a historic freshman year, becoming the first Jayhawk to be named the Big 12 Freshman of the Year. She joins Nichols as the only Kansas freshman to be named to the All-Big 12 first team. The 6-2 forward won Big 12 Freshman of the Week for the last nine weeks of the regular season, setting a new Big 12 and power-conference record for consecutive weekly honors.
Davis dominated the paint, as she ranked second in the Big 12 in scoring during league play, averaging 21.5 points per game (21 ppg overall), while shooting a league-leading 63.6%. She scored in double-figures in all 20 games she appeared in with 13 games of 20-plus points.
Davis is on pace to become just the second freshman in Big 12 history to average more than 20 points per game.
Nichols is the second player in program history to be named a three-time All-Big 12 first-team selection, joining Lynn Pride (1998-2000). She was fourth in the conference with 17.8 points per game (48% FG, 41.1% 3PT) while ranking ninth in assists with 4.8 per game. Her career-high 40 points against Georgia on Nov. 28 was the first 40-point performance at KU since 1984.
Nichols is also adept at getting to the free-throw line, leading the nation in free throws made (204) and attempted (242) this season, with an 84.3% hit rate.
She became KU’s all-time leader in free throws made midway through her junior season. She’s also 12th on KU’s all-time scoring list with 1,599 career points and is second in school history with 37 20-point games. Nichols is eighth in school history with 373 career assists.
The Jayhawks (18-12) are the 11-seed in the Big 12 Tournament and open play Wednesday against 14-seed UCF at 8 p.m. Central on ESPN+.
K-State awards
For Kansas State, senior guard Tess Heal was named to the All-Big 12 third team, while junior guard Taryn Sides was an honorable mention.
Heal, who was held out of several games due to eligibility questions, is third on the team in scoring at 11.2 points per game, shooting 49.2% from the floor and 36.4% from beyond the arc. Her 86.1% free-throw mark is second in the Big 12 and third in K-State history for a career.
Sides leads K-State in scoring with a career-best 12.2 points per game while shooting 42.9% from the field and 40.1% from beyond the arc. Sides and former Wildcats guard Kindred Wesemann (2015-16) are the only two players in a junior season to register 100-plus assists and 65-plus 3-point field goals made.
K-State (15-16) is the 12-seed in the tournament, facing 13-seed Cincinnati in the first game at the event. They’ll tip off at 11 a.m. Wednesday.
Two other Kansas City natives also made the All-Big 12 teams.
Iowa State junior guard Jada Williams was named to the first team while Oklahoma State sophomore guard Jadyn Wooten (Blue Valley) received honorable mention. Former K-State guard Zyanna Walker, who now plays for Colorado, received honorable mention.
This story was originally published March 3, 2026 at 5:20 PM with the headline "All-Big 12 WBB teams honor KU, K-State players. Two of them made history."
