BYU women’s basketball edges KU to advance to WBIT championship game in Wichita
BYU survived the chaos, Kansas didn’t.
With a trip to the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament championship game on the line Monday at Koch Arena, the Cougars made the biggest plays in the biggest moments, weathered one last frantic Kansas comeback and escaped with a 70-67 semifinal win that ended the Jayhawks’ season and sent BYU to the brink of program history.
The game was played in front of 1,771 fans, a WBIT semifinal record and a total boosted by Kansas bringing a strong in-state crowd. BYU fans also traveled well and helped fill Koch Arena’s lower bowl with shades of blue from both sides to create a lively atmosphere for a Monday afternoon matchup.
“That’s what college basketball is all about,” BYU coach Lee Cummard said. “It was fun. Really talented athletes out there making plays for their team in key moments. I think that the product that was shown today will continue to help grow the game. But it was a great environment and a great facility to play in.”
And it wasn’t over until the final seconds.
KU got one last lifeline after officials overturned a late foul call on review and handed the Jayhawks the ball back with 5.9 seconds remaining and a chance to tie. But after all of the late drama, KU never got the shot it needed.
The Jayhawks threw the ball inside to Lilly Meister, who lost control going up. BYU then dribbled out the clock to punch its ticket to Wednesday’s 6 p.m. championship game against Columbia at Koch Arena.
“We didn’t finish plays that we normally finish, especially around the rim,” KU coach Brandon Schneider said. “Credit BYU’s defense and their length. But when you get an advantage, you have to try to capitalize, and we didn’t capitalize enough to win the game.”
The Cougars, who improved to 26-11, are now one win away from their first WBIT title after securing the first four-win postseason run in program history. Kansas, meanwhile, saw its season close at 22-14 after getting within one possession late but never fully recovering from the fourth-quarter mistakes that changed the game.
Kansas came out sharp and aggressive, jumping to an 8-0 lead and briefly looking like the team that had comfortably handled BYU 81-60 on Feb. 4 in Lawrence. The Jayhawks dictated the tempo early and carried a 31-28 lead into halftime, then pushed that advantage to 51-45 late in the third quarter behind a 9-1 burst fueled largely by free throws.
At that point, KU appeared in position to take control.
“We were together, we knew the game plan, and we executed it defensively pretty well first half,” KU senior Sania Copeland said. “We were getting the ball down low. We were sharing it. We were playing good.”
Instead, BYU saved its best stretch for when the stakes were highest.
The Cougars opened the fourth quarter with an 8-0 run, as Delaney Gibb scored four straight points before Olivia Hamlin followed with four of her own to put BYU in front 54-51 with 6:48 left. It was the first real jolt of momentum BYU had delivered since erasing Kansas’ early lead and set the stage for the decisive sequence that followed.
KU briefly responded. Meister hit a 3 that bounced softly off the back rim and dropped through to tie the game, then S’Mya Nichols knocked down two free throws to put the Jayhawks back in front 56-54 with 5:40 remaining.
That would be KU’s final lead.
What came next was the knockout punch.
Hamlin drilled a 3 to put BYU back in front, then Sydney Benally delivered the biggest shots of the game. Benally buried back-to-back transition 3s on consecutive possessions, both assisted by Gibb, as BYU ripped off three straight triples in less than 90 seconds. Suddenly, the Cougars had turned a two-point deficit into a 63-56 lead with 3:51 left, forcing Schneider to call timeout as the game swung hard in BYU’s favor.
“Those shots were amazing,” BYU senior Lara Rohkohl said. “Those shots got us ahead and those shots won us the game.”
When Kansas had chances to respond, turnovers got in the way.
Nichols made two free throws to cut the deficit to 63-58 and KU forced a turnover on the other end to create an opening. But the Jayhawks gave the ball right back on their next possession. After forcing another turnover defensively, KU again came up empty with another giveaway. Then, after another stop, Kansas turned it over a third straight time.
Those empty possessions were devastating.
BYU’s Bolanle Yussuf turned one of them into a layup for a 65-58 lead and Gibb followed with a driving finish to stretch the margin to 67-58. Kansas finished with six turnovers in the fourth quarter. In a three-point game, that stretch loomed as the difference.
Hamlin led BYU with a game-high 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting and knocked down four 3s. Benally added 15 points and four 3-pointers, while Gibb delivered an all-around performance with 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists. Rohkohl was a force inside with nine points, 14 rebounds and six blocks, helping BYU hold up physically when the game tightened.
Kansas was led by 18 points from Big 12 Freshman of the Year Jaliya Davis, while Meister added 12 points and nine rebounds and Nichols chipped in 14 points, four rebounds and six assists.
The Jayhawks still had one last rally in them.
Andover native Brittany Harshaw hit a 3 with 25.8 seconds left to cut BYU’s lead to 69-63 and then Kansas immediately forced a steal. Davis converted to make it 69-65 with 15 seconds left. Benally split a pair of free throws, and Nichols then made two from the line to trim the deficit to 70-67 with 7.5 seconds remaining.
That set up the frantic finish.
Officials initially ruled that Copeland fouled Benally with 5.9 seconds left before the ball was dislodged on what looked like a potential steal. KU challenged, and after review, the call was overturned, giving the Jayhawks the ball with one final chance to tie.
Schneider said the coaching staff expected the ball to be inbounded from the sideline, so they were surprised when officials ruled it would be a baseline inbounds pass under the basket.
“While they were looking at it, we had discussed a sideline play,” Schneider said. “And then the ball went to the baseline and we have a baseline play for that, but we had not talked through it in the timeout.”
After all of that suspense, the ending came without the clean look Kansas wanted.
Now the challenge for Schneider turns to retaining a promising core, starting with his pair of all-Big 12 performers and Kansas natives in Davis and Nichols. KU’s departing seniors include Meister (8.6 points), Elle Evans (8.2 points), Copeland (2.9 points) and Nadira Eltayeb (1.2 points).
Earlier Monday, Columbia advanced to the championship game with a 67-50 win over Wisconsin behind a game-high 21 points from Ivy League Player of the Year Riley Weiss. That means Wednesday’s title game at Koch Arena will feature two teams chasing history.
This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 6:30 PM.
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