photo by: Missy Minear/Kansas Athletics

Head Coach Mark Francis of the Kansas Jayhawks during the game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the Kansas Jayhawks at Rock Chalk Park in Lawrence.

For the second match in a row, Kansas dramatically outshot its opponent, but dropped a tight Big 12 Conference contest 1-0.

The Jayhawks fell on the road to Iowa State despite amassing 22 shots, including nine on target, to the Cyclones’ 12 total, and taking 10 corner kicks on the night.

As a result, they dropped to 3-7-6 (0-6-2 Big 12) with their fourth straight loss.

KU has struggled since opening the year 3-0-3, and by the time the Jayhawks take the field to host West Virginia on Sunday, they will have scored just one goal — by freshman Caroline Castans at home against Texas on Oct. 1 — in the last month.

“Today, there’s not a lot that you can say we didn’t do besides score,” KU coach Mark Francis said in a press release. “We did everything else. Nothing is quite dropping. Those little bounces that you need sometimes, we’re not getting right now.

On Thursday night, sophomore forward Lexi Watts took a game-high five shots and Castans, Mackenzie Boeve, Hallie Klanke and Maree Shinkle had three apiece, but it was instead Iowa State’s Sophia Thomas who converted on her lone attempt of the night. She found a soft spot in the center of the KU defense and got on the other end of a hard-driven pass by Abigail Miller, then won space with a first touch to the outside and got the ball past KU goalie Melania Pasar.

Pasar made three saves in the first half and finished with four but couldn’t stop Thomas’ 55th-minute effort. She blocked an off-balance but challenging attempt from Kristin Boos just before the break.

Avery Gillahan was called on to make four saves for the Cyclones in the first 12 minutes of play, then four more the rest of the game combined. Defender Chloe Broughton also made a key play just before the half to deflect a long-distance effort by Mackenzie Hammontree out for a corner kick.

“Again, we played some fantastic soccer tonight,” Francis said. “We defended really well, battled hard and created tons of opportunities. We just couldn’t execute one. I’m really proud of how the group fought and battled tonight. We just have to recover and get ready for the game on Sunday.”