LAWRENCE, Kan. (KUAthletics.com) – For the second consecutive season, Kansas sophomore guard S’Mya Nichols earned All-Big 12 First Team honors, it was announced Tuesday afternoon by the conference office. Elle Evans (Honorable Mention) and Regan Williams (All-Freshman Team) also earned a spot 2024-25 All-Big 12 Women’s Basketball Team.
The All-Big 12 honors were chosen by a vote of the league’s head coaches, who were not allowed to vote for their own student-athletes. This marks the fourth-straight season that Kansas has had at least three players earn All-Big 12 postseason recognition.
Nichols (Overland Park, Kan.) earns All-Big 12 First Team honors for the second time following a standout sophomore season. She leads the Jayhawks and ranks fifth in the league in scoring, averaging 18.9 points per game, scoring in double figures 26 times in 29 games, with 16 games of scoring 20 or more points. Nichols is the 33rd player in program history to score 1,000 career points, doing so in her 58th career game to become the second-fastest player in school history to hit reach the milestone.
Nichols leads the Big 12 and ranks second nationally in both free throws made (216) and free throws attempted (258) and is shooting 83.7 percent from the free throw line. She has shattered the single season school record for free throws made and she enters the postseason ranked fifth in league history. Nichols has already moved into the top 10 in school history for free throws made with 382 in her career.
With her selection, Nichols is now the fifth Jayhawk to become a two-time All-Big 12 First Team selection, joining Lynn Pride (1998, 1999, 2000), Carolyn Davis (2011, 2012), Chelsea Gardner (2014, 2015) and Taiyanna Jackson (2023, 2024).
Evans (Edwardsville, Ill.) picks up an All-Big 12 selection following her first season at Kansas. She is KU’s No. 2 leading scorer, averaging 14.4 points per game for the season, a mark that’s even higher at 15.1 points per game during league play. A prolific shooter, Evans has connected on 69 three-pointers to move into a tie for No. 2 in school history for a single season. She’s shooting 42.1 percent from long range, which ranks fifth in school history, and 84.5 percent (60-71) from the free throw line, which ranks second.
Evans scored a season-high 30 points at Cincinnati on Feb. 8 and matched a career-high with seven three-pointers during a 28-point effort at Colorado on Jan. 11. She reached double figures in scoring 20 times in 28 regular season games, with six games scoring 20 or more points.
For Evans, this is her third career all-conference selection. She previously earned All-Summit League First Team (2024) and honorable mention (2023) honors while playing at North Dakota State.
Williams (Kansas City, Mo.) claims her first All-Big 12 honors after making an immediate impact for the Jayhawks as a freshman. She has appeared in all 29 games, making 24 starts and ranks third on the team with an average of 8.9 points per game, while leading the Jayhawks with 5.0 rebounds per game and 53.6 percent field goal shooting. Williams has three double-doubles to her credit, and she was named the Big 12 Freshman of the Week on Dec. 9 after going for 13 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Wichita State.
Williams has reached double figures in scoring 13 times this season, most recently with a career-high 20 points at BYU on Feb. 25. She has led the team in rebounding seven times, with a career-high of 16 versus Kansas City on Dec. 11.
Kansas has now had an All-Big 12 Freshman Team selection in back-to-back seasons after Nichols earned a spot on the team last season. Williams becomes the sixth Kansas player to earn a spot on the team, joining Nichols (2024), Ioanna Chatzileonti (2021), Zakiyah Franklin (2020), Lauren Aldridge (2015) and Carolyn Davis (2010).
