Crystal Kemp scored 27 points, one off her career-high.

Kaylee Brown counted 20 points, one more than her career best.

End of positives for Kansas University’s women’s basketball team.

Texas A&M forced 20 turnovers and shot 54.7 percent to thump the Jayhawks, 78-64, Sunday afternoon in Allen Fieldhouse.

“Basketball is a game of mistakes,” KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “We made mistakes, and they capitalized.”

It wasn’t so much the turnovers that troubled Henrickson as it was the lackluster defensive effort.

“At times, we were very aggressive against a tremendous amount of athleticism,” Henrickson said, “but we should have fought through 80 percent of screens, and we were at about 60 percent.”

Kansas University's Crystal Kemp (40) loses control of the ball during the first half of the Jayhawks' 78-64 loss to Texas A&M. Kemp scored a team-high 27 points in KU's loss Sunday in Allen Fieldhouse.

On offense, while Kemp and Brown sparkled – Brown hit four of her seven three-point attempts – their teammates combined for a grand total of 17 points.

Erica Hallman, averaging nearly 15 points a game, made only two baskets in 38 minutes. Worse, the 5-foot-8 senior had as many turnovers (5) as points – a fact that particularly perturbed Henrickson.

“I would have expected Erica, being a senior, would have been better than that,” the KU coach said. “I can’t tell you that she brought anything today.”

In defense of Hallman’s 2-for-10 shooting, A&M always seemed to have a taller and quicker player assigned to KU’s best three-point shooter.

“I thought Kemp and Brown did an outstanding job,” A&M coach Gary Blair said. “We couldn’t shut down all three, but one of our keys was to shut down Erica Hallman. I thought we did a very good job most of the time.”

Kansas sophomore forward Taylor McIntosh (13) walks past Texas A&M players Erica Roy, left, Tamea Scales, center, and A'Quonesia Franklin as the Aggies applaud after KU missed two technical foul shots late in the second half of A&M's 78-64 victory. KU lost Sunday in Allen Fieldhouse.

Amen to that.

“I can think of one time I was open,” Hallman said. “Every other look was contested. It was frustrating for me. I struggled from beginning to end.”

Every Jayhawk struggled during the last two minutes of the first half and five minutes into the second. The score was knotted at 29 about two minutes before the break, but the Aggies went on an 8-0 run for a 37-29 halftime lead.

“That was tremendously disappointing,” Henrickson said, “and tremendously frustrating.”

The Jayhawks failed to score again until nearly five minutes into the second half when Kemp converted a conventional three-point play.

Still, KU was lagging by only five points (66-61) with 2:29 remaining. But then the Jayhawks had to foul, and A&M went 12-for-12 at the foul line in the last two minutes and won going away.

“They were athletic at every position,” KU’s Kemp said of the Aggies. “Everybody they have can do it.”

Specifically, sophomore Morenike Atunrase, who exploded for 29 points – eight more than her previous career high – and blocked five shots. Atunrase drilled five of eight three-pointers.

KU's Kaylee Brown, left, and Texas A&M's Morenike Atunrase chase down a possession. Brown had 20 points and Atunrase 29 in the Aggies' victory over KU.

“We knew she was a match-up problem for us,” Henrickson said, “but I didn’t anticipate us not getting through screens to contest more of her shots.”

A&M (14-3) has won 12 of its last 13 outings and climbed to 3-1 in Big 12 Conference play. Kansas (12-3) slipped to 1-3 in the league with its third straight loss.

The Jayhawks aren’t scheduled again until Sunday when Oklahoma State comes to town. On the surface, a midweek break may be just what the doctor ordered for the slumping Jayhawks, but Henrickson doesn’t buy into that theory.

“I’d rather play in a day or two than sit for a week after this,” she said.

Notes: KU extended its streak of consecutive games with at least one three-point goal to 52. : Hallman’s six assists vaulted her into a tie with Jennifer Jackson for second place on the KU career list. :Kemp’s 20 shot attempts were a career high. She played a route-going 40 minutes for the fifth time this season. : Kemp had nine boards and Taylor McIntosh eight as KU outrebounded the Aggies, 37-26. A&M had only four offensive boards.