🏀 Jayhawks Advance to WNIT Championship After Dominating Washington

LAWRENCE, Kan. – The Kansas Jayhawks led for greater than 33 minutes Wednesday evening and dominated Washington 61-36 within the Fab 4 of the WNIT.

With the convincing win, the Jayhawks (24-11) will now host Columbia out of the Ivy League within the WNIT Championship Sport on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. The competition may also be televised nationally by CBS Sports activities Community.

“I believed we acquired off to a gradual begin offensively, simply due to nerves,” stated Head Coach Brandon Schneider. “We missed some pictures that usually, we’d make. You’ll be able to’t blame the ladies in a setting like this, most likely for the primary time. Our protection was locked in they usually have been actually good all evening lengthy. It was nice to see us, even the final couple of minutes, actually keep attentive and take satisfaction in making an attempt to get a cease.”

Taiyanna Jackson posted her 22nd double-double of the season with 12 factors and 11 rebounds to guide the Jayhawks, whereas Zakiyah Franklin led all scorers with 14 factors and Holly Kersgieter and Wyvette Mayberry every had 11 factors apiece.

Kansas will now seem within the WNIT Championship Sport for the second time in program historical past after falling to South Florida within the 2009 title contest.

Wednesday’s sport opened as a defensive battle on each ends of the court docket, with Washington taking a 6-2 lead on the first media timeout with 4:38 to play within the first quarter. The Jayhawks held the Huskies to a 3-for-9 begin from the sphere and a 0-for-2 begin from deep.

Kansas acquired scorching out of the media timeout and instantly went on a 7-0 run over only a 54-second stretch. After a layup from Washington, a Sanna Strom three-pointer made it a 10-2 run for the Jayhawks and made the rating 12-8 Kansas with simply greater than two and a half minutes to play within the opening quarter. Washington lower it to 2, however a three-point play from Mayberry within the ultimate minute made the rating 15-10 on the finish of the primary.

The hosts prolonged their result in open the second quarter. After a basket from Washington, Kansas went on a 6-0 run to increase its result in 9 at 21-12 and drive a timeout for the Huskies with 5:37 to play within the first half. Kersgieter transformed a quick break with a layup to drive the Washington timeout and get the house crowd of seven,229 in a frenzy.

It seems the Jayhawks have been simply getting began. Washington hit a layup out of the timeout to interrupt the 6-0 run, however Kansas then went on a 9-0 run proper after the bucket that ballooned the rating to 30-14. The 9-0 run got here by way of six factors from Jackson and a three-point play from Kersgieter. Washington’s Hannah Stines transformed on a jumper within the ultimate minute of the half to make the rating 30-16 on the break.

The intermission did nothing to chill off the Jayhawks, who saved their foot on the fuel within the second half. Kansas started the third quarter on a 12-2 run to increase the result in 42-18 with lower than 5 minutes to play within the quarter. Kansas closed out the quarter, main 48-28 to take a 20-point lead into the ultimate quarter. The Jayhawks acquired six factors from Mayberry within the third and held Washington to 4 of 13 capturing from the ground with 5 turnovers within the quarter.

The Jayhawks led by a minimum of 21 factors the complete fourth quarter and held Washington to 7 of 31 capturing within the second half with 11 turnovers.