Kansas University’s three seniors were hoping to achieve a feat they had yet to do in their careers Wednesday night at Allen Fieldhouse – that was knock off in-state rival Kansas State. Instead at the end of the night the scoreboard looked much like it has in the last few Sunflower Showdowns, with the Wildcats winning easy as Kansas State defeated KU 62-44.

“This isn’t the way the seniors deserve to go out, but it is what it is,” said KU coach Bonnie Henrickson, whose squad fell to 16-11 overall and 5-11 in the Big 12. “Give credit to Kansas State as they came out throwing punches and got us back on our heels a little bit. Kansas State really played with confidence.”

The Jayhawks, who closed to within 10 points late in the second half, will get to see a familiar face in their first game of the Big 12 tournament next week in Dallas as No. 10 Kansas will play the seventh-seeded Wildcats once again.

“We know we play them on Tuesday. That’s the only good thing that came out of tonight — that we have another opportunity to play them again,” said KU senior Erica Hallman of the rematch with the Wildcats at 6 p.m. at Reunion Arena.. “Hopefully the outcome will be different. We have to play harder, work together and put in better effort.”

Wednesday’s contest marked the final regular season game for KU’s highly decorated senior class. Senior forward Crystal Kemp led the all scorers with 19 points on 8-of-13 shooting, her 28th consecutive game in double figures. The Topeka, Kan., native is one of only seven players in Kansas history to record 1,500 points and 700 rebounds.

“I’m disappointed that it ended this way,” Kemp said. “I just have to credit my teammates, Erica, Kaylee and myself. I’ve had a pretty good four years here, and hopefully we’ll give our young teammates a chance to turn it around.”

Hallman added eight points and four rebounds in the contest. Hallman currently ranks second in three-point field goals and third in assists in Kansas history. Senior guard Kaylee Brown has become one of KU’s most accomplished sharpshooters, draining 105 three-pointers in her three seasons at Kansas. Most of the 5,271 in attendance stuck around to honor the seniors after the game.

Sophomore forward Taylor McIntosh crashed the boards for the Jayhawks, finishing with a game-high nine rebounds to go with her nine points. Freshman forward Marija Zinic provided a spark off the bench for KU, netting four points and snaring three rebounds.

The Jayhawks trailed 34-19 at halftime. Kemp had nine points and five rebounds at the break while McIntosh added a lay-up at the buzzer to go along with her four first-half rebounds. For the game, KU won the battle on the boards, 34-25.

Despite the difficult loss, Henrickson said there were a lot of good memories from Wednesday night.

“I am proud to be associated with our seniors. I have great respect for how they were able to adjust to elevated expectations both on and off the court,” she said. “They are great role models and good leaders. They can can walk away feeling as if they were part of the growth in the program in getting it back to the level we all expect to be at here.”