LAWRENCE — When Holly Kersgieter and Zakiyah Franklin decided to spend their college careers playing for Kansas women’s basketball, Brandon Schneider understood the faith they were showing in the Jayhawks.

It wasn’t popular back then, Schneider acknowledged Saturday.

KU’s head coach noted the program wasn’t where the coaching staff wanted it to be, yet. But both Kersgieter and Franklin signed on anyway, and this past weekend enjoyed an 83-74 victory on senior day against a ranked Oklahoma squad inside Allen Fieldhouse that will rank among their favorite memories at the venue.

In the five seasons the two super-senior guards have spent at Kansas, they’ve seen the team go from a non-factor in any postseason discussion to one that’s relevant every year. In a period of time when deciding to transfer may have been in their better interest, they stuck it out in Lawrence. They’re now primed to lead the Jayhawks to a second NCAA tournament appearance in three years, with the momentum of a 2023 Postseason WNIT championship still propelling KU forward.

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“I think at the end of the day — me and (Franklin) took our visits together actually, and I think we just found this place that we wanted to be committed to and I think we just stayed loyal,” Kersgieter said. “We’ve kind of had small conversations about like, well if we would have left, our mark wouldn’t have been as big on other places and we wouldn’t — it wouldn’t mean as much.”

There was a time this season when it looked as if Kansas (18-11, 11-7 in Big 12) wouldn’t be able to reach the NCAA tournament. The Jayhawks weren’t floundering, but weren’t getting enough of the results necessary ahead of postseason play. Then came the final stretch of the season, and the team’s ability to win nine of its last 11 games during Big 12 Conference play.

Kersgieter and Franklin weren’t the only two reasons why Kansas was able to put a run like that together. Super-senior center Taiyanna Jackson, senior guard Wyvette Mayberry and freshman guard S’Mya Nichols are a few of the other names worth mentioning.

Without the quintet stepping up, the Jayhawks would have struggled to the finish.

Kersgieter noted the commitment and work they’ve put in at Kansas have made days like the win against Oklahoma better. Even though things were difficult, at times, that doesn’t mean she or Franklin needed to leave and start over elsewhere.

“We knew what we were getting ourselves into to begin with, like it wasn’t going to be an easy feat, but like at the end of the day we wanted to just stay true to the process honestly,” Franklin said. “Real cliche, but like, literally that’s what it is. We obviously could have went other places, but that just shows how special this place is and the process that we’ve been able to be a part of and just build day by day.”

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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: Holly Kersgieter, Zakiyah Franklin saw value in KU women's basketball