BYU women's basketball closed out its 2024-25 home schedule with another hard-fought game but fell short in another close loss, 71-66, to the visiting Kansas Jayhawks Tuesday night.
This edition of Senior Night saw the farewell of five Cougars: Kendra Gillispie, Lauren Davenport, Emma Calvert, Kemery Congdon and Kylie Krebs.
BYU head coach Amber Whiting spoke highly of these players for the character they exemplified, not only as basketball players but as people.
"They're some of the best people on the planet," Whiting said. "I'm going to miss what they bring every day. They are all lights individually to our team."
Thank you seniors, we love you🥺🫶 pic.twitter.com/wc9mgDcaDk
— BYU Women's Hoops (@byuwbb) February 26, 2025
A night meant to celebrate the seniors of the program also saw future stars like freshman Delaney Gibb and sophomore Amari Whiting make their mark on the home crowd.
Whiting stood out as the Cougars’ most productive player, finishing 10 of 11 on field goals, 2 of 2 from three, and 2 of 4 from the free throw line.
Her efforts weren't enough, as the Jayhawks came out hungry and determined, much to Kansas coach Brandon Schneider’s delight.
"(The Marriott Center) has shown itself to be a difficult place to play. Oklahoma State lost here this year, and a really good Baylor team lost here last year," Schneider said. "We tried to be very aggressive early in the game with Delaney. She's had a heck of a season, so we tried to make it hard on her. She made some great reads out of the traps, and they punished us with some threes."
BYU shot more than twice as many 3-pointers as Kansas, finishing 10 of 31 from deep. But those missed shots added up, while Kansas took a more selective approach, attempting just 13 threes, making 49% of its field goals, and taking advantage of BYU’s empty possessions.
Junior Jayhawk Elle Evans proved to be the game-breaker, as her offensive efforts contributed 24 points for Kansas, including 4 of 6 from three, forcing the Cougars to play catch-up for most of the game.
Kansas ended up with 22 free throw attempts compared to just six for BYU, something that didn’t sit well with Amber Whiting.
"I'm not ever going to blame the refs, but I feel like we could have gotten some more calls," she said. "I would've just liked it to be a little more even."
Whiting discussed how the struggles in close games continued.
"We had so many losses within 10 or fewer points, and I feel like we are almost ready to get over the hump. We're right there all the time," she said.
BYU has struggled in its first two seasons in the Big 12, a stark contrast from its 26-4 season in 2021-22 as part of the WCC. A program that made the NCAA Tournament seven times in 11 years is now poised to miss out on the dance for the third straight season.
Still, Whiting remains optimistic about the program’s future due to the younger players who had to take on bigger roles this season.
"We'll be back. We're going to go to work. We have to get some more players, but I feel the core of our group right now is really young," Whiting said. "Kambree was starting even before she got hurt, so I have three freshmen and a sophomore that essentially started. We have a good core group with a lot of experience, so next year is already looking promising."
BYU will conclude its regular season against rival Utah at the Huntsman Center on March 1.