For the first time as a Kansas University basketball player, Crystal Kemp went the distance Saturday.

“I like to go as long as the number on my jersey,” Kemp quipped.

Kemp, who wears No. 40, scored 17 points and retrieved a dozen caroms to help fuel Kansas to a 47-36 triumph over Missouri-Kansas City in Allen Fieldhouse.

“A couple of times in the second half, I felt my legs would fall off,” Kemp said with a smile. “Another time I felt I was going to pass out.”

Kemp, a 6-foot-2 junior from Topeka, never had played a full 40 minutes before Saturday. The closest she had come was a 38-minute stint in her first game in a KU uniform two years ago against Texas-El Paso.

Four times last year Kemp logged as many as 35 minutes, and she was carrying more weight then, too. She’s trimmer now.

“You look at pictures of her last year and it’s night and day,” KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “She’s lost 15 pounds and it may be more than that. We don’t weigh them that often.”

Kemp wasn’t the only Jayhawk to hang a 40 in the minutes-played column. Senior Aquanita Burras and junior point guard Erica Hallman also logged zero bench time.

“We were all waiting for dead balls and free throws,” Burras said. “I’m a great recovery person. I only need a couple of minutes.”

Kansas University junior guard Erica Hallman, top, dives for a loose ball against Missouri-Kansas City guard Sammie Knapic. The Jayhawks won, 47-36, Saturday at Allen Fieldhouse.

Media timeouts helped, but Henrickson called a couple of stoppages when she noticed her players were gassed.

Offensively, the Jayhawks were awful. They made only 18 of 55 shots — four of 17 from three-point range — and clanked eight of their 15 free-throw attempts, but defensively they were dynamite.

“We were trying to wear out their shooters,” Burras said. “If you don’t give them an open shot, they have to create and that wore them out.”

Only Katie Houlehan survived the Jayhawks’ blitz. The Kangaroos’ senior guard scored 17 points while making seven of 12 shots. But Houlehan also committed a third of the ‘Roos 21 turnovers as did backcourt mate Sammi Knapic, who had more turnovers (7) than points (4).

Hear Bonnie: UMKC postgame comments Get the stats: KU vs. UMKC box score

Jowan Ortega, UMKC’s other perimeter starter, missed six of seven shots and settled for two points.

KU's Crystal Kemp, right, puts up a shot over UMKC's Liz Obrecht. Kemp finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds.

“We were able to get out in transition a few times early which got us some easy shots, but we didn’t get any easy shots the rest of the game,” UMKC coach Bo Overton said. “You have to give it to Kansas for not letting us have those.”

Still, the ‘Roos never lost touch because the Jayhawks suffered a couple of serious point droughts. For example, Kansas missed nine of its first 10 shots after the tipoff, then clanked 13 of its first 14 attempts after intermission.

“Defensively, we’re learning to be pretty good,” Henrickson said. “I’m hanging on faith we’ll be better offensively.”

Kemp made seven of 12 shots, but the other four starters cashed only seven of 30 attempts. Hallman hardly could buy a basket, making two of 11.

“Even though I wasn’t hitting, other people were,” Hallman said. “Our game plan was to stop their shooters. They’re really good players. The coaches had a good game plan, and we went out and executed.”

Kansas University freshman Taylor McIntosh (13) drives past Missouri-Kansas City guard Jowan Ortega. The Jayhawks beat the Kangaroos, 47-36, Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse.

Defense clearly was Job One, leading to the possibility the offense may have suffered because the Jayhawks were so plugged into dogging the Kangaroos on defense.

Henrickson thought not.

“It was a combination,” she said about the poor shooting. “When we got good looks they weren’t falling, but there were stretches when we took bad shots. Too many times we went one-on-one, and one-on-one is not a strength of ours.”

Durability is, however. The Jayhawks proved that Saturday.

“I told the team, ‘Let’s see who’s in better shape,'” Henrickson said. “Mentally, I think they’ve gotten tougher, too.”

That includes the rejuvenated Kemp.

“We want her in the flow as much as we can,” Henrickson said. “She’s dropped weight and continues to work hard. She’s in shape, and I think she can be in better shape.”

Kansas (2-1) will play host to Denver at 7 p.m. Tuesday.