Kansas women’s basketball is making the most of its 2023 Postseason WNIT experience

LAWRENCE — It’s an interesting hypothetical.

Would you have rather been an at-large bid in the NCAA tournament and not known what the future held, or make a deep run in the 2023 Postseason WNIT after missing out on that?

That was a question posed to Kansas women’s basketball junior guard Chandler Prater on Thursday, after the Jayhawks’ 64-55 win at home against Nebraska in the WNIT’s Super 16.

And in Prater’s response, was the mentality that very well could be the reasons Kansas (22-11) has been able to make the most of a postseason opportunity that wouldn’t have been its first choice when the season began. Because Prater said she feels like they need to be grateful for what they have. Because Prater said she feels like a run in the WNIT this year could lead to a run in the NCAA tournament next year.

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“You want your culture and you want your performance to be at your best in March, and we always said that, even from the beginning, that we just want to keep on improving and improving throughout the season,” Prater said. “I feel like we’re finally at our peak. We’re finally at our best. So, it’s really special. It’s a great feeling right now.”

The Jayhawks have won three-straight WNIT games, against Western Kentucky, Missouri and Nebraska, and captured all three victories at home. They’ve done so with an average margin of victory of 17 points per game. They’re playing like the team that finished off the regular season with a three-game winning streak against Big 12 Conference opponents, and not the team that got bounced from the Big 12 tournament in an upset.

In this win against Nebraska (18-15), Kansas never trailed and led for more than 38 minutes of game time. The Jayhawks saw four starters score 13 points or more. Prater and senior center Taiyanna Jackson finished with double-doubles, Prater at 14 points and 16 rebounds and Jackson at 16 points and 12 rebounds.

There were differing perspectives, from senior guard Zakiyah Franklin and head coach Brandon Schneider, on if this win meant Kansas was able to exact some level of revenge for a triple overtime loss on the road against Nebraska earlier in the season. Franklin said it felt great and also downplayed that feeling, while Schneider noted he was just grateful to beat a team he has a lot of respect for like Nebraska.

But regardless of how much that played into things, the level of effort the Jayhawks played with showed they weren’t ready for their season to end.

“I hope it’s become the fabric of, just, who we are,” Schneider said. “Every team, there’s slippage. But I think, in particular, the last two games I’ve just really appreciated our fight. And even in moments where Nebraska obviously had the momentum, we just kind of stayed the course and got the next tough rebound or executed on the other end or got the next stop.”

Schneider said postgame neither he nor the KU administration had any definitive indication on if Kansas would host its matchup in the WNIT’s Great 8 round. The game Friday between Texas Tech and Arkansas that would give the Jayhawks their next opponent hadn’t been played yet, so the process to determine the location was still some ways away from being able to be completed. Schneider was only confident enough to say Kansas will next play Sunday or Monday.

But regardless, the Jayhawks are grateful for the three postseason games they have played inside Allen Fieldhouse already. Schneider described that as building momentum for this season. He added he hopes it’ll translate to future years, too.

“I definitely feel like it was like a blessing in disguise,” Prater said. “We were so upset after we missed the big dance, but having this opportunity to play in front of our fans who go so hard for us and — I mean, we have day one’s who’s been there from when we were winning no conference games to … now. … I know so many faces in the crowd, and it makes it even more special after the games when they’re so happy for us because they’ve seen our progress.”

Jordan Guskey covers University of Kansas Athletics at The Topeka Capital-Journal. He is the National Sports Media Association’s sportswriter of the year for the state of Kansas for 2022. Contact him at jmguskey@gannett.com or on Twitter at @JordanGuskey.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: KU women's basketball is making the most of the 2023 Postseason WNIT