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Kansas women's basketball to face first challenge of season after strong start

The Jayhawks are off to a hot start.

By Joshua Schulman

Oct 22, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Wyvette Mayberry (0) and guard Elle Evans (21) and guard S’Mya Nichols (12) pose for a photo during Big 12 Women’s Basketball Media Day at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
Oct 22, 2024; Kansas City, MO, USA; Kansas Jayhawks guard Wyvette Mayberry (0) and guard Elle Evans (21) and guard S’Mya Nichols (12) pose for a photo during Big 12 Women’s Basketball Media Day at T-Mobile Center. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images / Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images
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The Kansas women's basketball completely transformed its roster over the offseason after losing its top contributors to graduation. With familiar faces such as Taiyanna Jackson and Zakiyah Franklin gone, Brandon Schneider had to dive deep into the transfer portal to find replacements for his top players.

While the Jayhawks' expectations are not quite as high as last year's, they are still off to a strong start. KU opened 2024-25 with four consecutive victories, moving to 4-0 on the season. However, it will face its first real test against Iowa on Wednesday at the Sandford Pentagon in South Dakota.

Tough nonconference games loom for Kansas women's basketball

The team's early nonconference schedule was relatively light, hosting home games to lowly mid-majors such as Lindenwood, Sam Houston, Omaha, and North Alabama. They won't be nearly as battle-tested as last year's squad, who played two top-10 teams in the first three weeks, but much more difficult games are approaching on the calendar.

Kansas will square off vs. Iowa tomorrow. The Hawkeyes obviously have a new look without WNBA phenom Caitlin Clark on the roster. Much like the Lady Jayhawks, they have had to work out some early kinks. However, they are a more formidable opponent than anything KU has seen so far. With Wyvette Mayberry recently returning from an injury to make her season debut, both schools should be at full strength.

Kansas has enjoyed much more postseason success in recent years compared to Schneider's first few seasons as head coach. The Jayhawks have won an NCAA Tournament game in two of the past three campaigns. In 2022-23, the selection committee left them out, but KU went on to win the women's NIT for the first time in program history.

Fans will finally be given a chance just how good this group is over the next few weeks. Following the Iowa contest, they will play Pittsburgh and Auburn in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam. A rematch of last year's meeting with Penn State will round out the nonconference slate.

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