When Kansas University’s women’s basketball players crawled out of bed for their first full week of classes, few complained about lack of sleep after a trip kept them out late the night before.

After all, it’s not every weekend KU jets to Monterrey, Mexico, to play a few games and returns without missing any class.

“It was pretty exciting,” sophomore Crystal Kemp said about the Jayhawks’ four-game exhibition tour during Labor Day weekend. “We got to do a little shopping, buy some knick-knacks, souvenirs and stuff. We didn’t really have the time to do a whole lot.”

Coach Marian Washington stressed her team was there on business.

“We wanted our players to get a feel for what is expected of them at the Division I level,” Washington said, “to become comfortable with our system and its terminology, and really — because we have so many new faces — we wanted the team to have a chance to bond a little.”

The NCAA allows teams to take part in preseason practice tournaments once every four years.

In addition to the four games the Jayhawks played, they were allotted 10 practice days to prepare for the trip.

KU posted four blowout victories against undermanned teams.

“It was very successful, actually, having the opportunity to play over the holiday and to get the 10 days of practice time in there,” said Washington, whose 1992 team traveled to Aruba on a similar excursion. “I think anytime in a situation like ours, where we’re in a rebuilding mode, coaches will tell you that they will always try to find a way to get an advantage, and I feel like we did that.”

Washington’s squad has no trouble on offense.

“Everybody scored,” Kemp said. “It was nice to know that whoever’s hands the ball was in that something good was going to come out of it.”

In KU’s second game, a 136-39 rout of Monterrey Tigres, Kemp had 32 points and 14 rebounds. The sophomore from Topeka led the Jayhawks by averaging 22 points a game on the trip.

While the Jayhawks’ 11-18 record last season wasn’t memorable, it was an improvement over the dismal 5-25 campaign of 2001-02. That year Kansas had the dubious distinction of going 0-16 in the Big 12 Conference.

A strong recruiting class — including touted 6-foot-4 freshman Lauren Ervin — could push the Jayhawks back into a winning mode this season.

“What we wanted to add to our squad this year were people who can score,” Washington said. “That was our biggest challenge last season, but from what we saw we’re pretty comfortable that a number of players will be confident in doing that.”

Five Jayhawks averaged double figures for the trip, including sophomore Tamara Ransburg, who had a 30-point performance in a 102-32 victory over Ex-A-Tec.

Junior Blair Waltz averaged 14 points a game and Ransburg 13.3. Aquanita Burras, the only other returning starter to play (both Leila Mengüç and Erica Hallman sat out because of injuries) added 10.3 points per game. Ervin tallied 9.5 a game while averaging a team-high 11.0 boards.

Kandis Bonner, a junior transfer from Wabash Valley College, averaged 13 ppg, while Kaylee Brown, a sophomore transfer from Northern Oklahoma-Enid, tallied 8.3.

The Jayhawks enjoyed some light moments. At one team meal, for instance, Kemp said several players were skeptical of the native cuisine.

“One of the funniest things was right when we went in this restaurant, there were baby lambs in a window, turning on a thing like a turkey roaster,” Kemp said, laughing.

“It kind of made everyone nervous, but coach (Kate) Galligan tried it and said, ‘It tastes like chicken,’ so a few others braved the mystery meat.”