Kansas freshman forward Jaliya Davis has dominated the Big 12, averaging 22.4 points (63% FG) and 6.5 rebounds in conference play.
Davis is on track to be the second freshman since 1999-00 to average 20+ points per game over a full season (2005-06, Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris averaged 21.9 PPG).
She just recently became the first freshman in Big 12 history to win Freshman of the Week seven consecutive times.
Jaliya Davis’ Recent Outings
After missing multiple games due to a lower leg injury, Davis began conference play against West Virginia with a strong 21-point outing, making nine of her 14 attempts. Kansas lost to WVU 79-72, but her impact didn’t go unnoticed.
Following an 83-68 victory against UCF, the Jayhawks went on a four-game losing streak despite Davis’ contributions. In an 85-76 defeat against Oklahoma State, her career-high 30-point performance wasn’t enough, but it proved she could play against anyone in a gauntlet of a conference.
She went 10-for-15 from the floor and made 10 of her 13 free throws.
When asked about how she found her rhythm in the matchup, she credited it to making her free throws when she couldn’t cash in on the shots she wanted.
“I kind of found my rhythm through my free throws. Just getting to the line when I couldn’t finish shots that I wanted to finish. That was super important for me and the team,” Davis said.
During the four-game losing streak, Arizona State held Davis to a season-low 11 points.
Against Arizona and cross-town rival Kansas State, Davis steered the ship to two straight wins for the Jayhawks. Davis dominated Arizona, scoring 25 points alongside junior guard S’Maya Nichols, who scored 18 points. Against K-State, she led the way with 22 points, making seven of her eight attempts.
Following the two-game winning streak, the Jayhawks suffered two narrow losses against No. 12 TCU and Colorado. Davis contributed 29 points and shot 11-of-18 from the field in a 79-77 loss against the Horned Frogs. Her 29 points were the most against an AP Top 25 this season nationally.
Colorado defeated Kansas 69-66 in overtime and held Davis in check with 14 points and only allowed her to shoot nine shots for the game.
Davis’s First Career Double-Double
Since the loss against the Buffaloes, the Jayhawks are 3-1 due to two multiple 25+ point games from Davis. Against BYU, Davis secured her first career double-double with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
Kansas Women’s Basketball head coach Brandon Schneider enjoyed Davis’s presence and the contagious intensity she brought in the second half.
“Well, I think her intensity level out of the locker room at halftime was terrific and also contagious. I thought that was a big key to us getting off to a really good start,” Schneider said.
After the game, Davis emphasized that executing her game and playing with energy helped her get her first career double-double.
“I’m feeling good. I mean, just going out there and executing all the things that I’ve been working on, playing with a lot of energy. That’s something that was really important to me,” Davis said.
When senior guard Sania Copeland was asked about Davis’s Big 12 Starting Five recognition and her first double-double, she had high praise for her hard work.
“She’s just a star, and she really puts the work in, and we all see that. I’m really proud of her, and she’s going to keep going,” Copeland said.
She followed up the performance against BYU with another 28-point performance in an 80-71 win against Cincinnati, making it her 11th time scoring 20+ points and her 10th in conference play.
In Kansas’s matchup against Houston, Davis scored 25 points in an 85-68 victory. She went 10-for-18 from the field and made five of her seven attempts from the free-throw line.
In her recent outing against Kansas State, Davis finished the game with 16 points and nine rebounds in route to a 75-68 victory.
Jaliya Davis’s Future
With the regular season coming to a close and the Big 12 Tournament and March Madness on the horizon, Davis’s contributions will be key to helping Kansas be successful.
Davis and the Jayhawks will round out their season and conference play against No. 20 Texas Tech and Oklahoma State.
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