The Kansas women’s golf team played well above its seed at last week’s Big 12 Match Play tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona, where the Jayhawks finished second overall after falling to No. 7 and top-seeded Texas.

Texas knocked off the Jayhawks 4-1 in the final match of the nine-team event on Sunday at Kierland Golf Resort outside of Phoenix, but the Jayhawks picked up wins over Oklahoma and Kansas State, along with key ties against the Longhorns and 24th-ranked Oklahoma State during pool play.

KU went 0-2-2 on Friday before dominating OSU and K-State on Saturday.

KU finished pool play with 17 points, giving the Jayhawks the top seed in bracket play, just ahead of UT and TCU with 16.5 points.

“The first day we had the hardest draw with No. 7 Texas and No. 24 Oklahoma State and to tie those matches and get five points was a huge confidence boost for us,” KU coach Lindsay Kuhle said. “That afternoon we lost to Iowa State (3-2) and Texas Tech (3-2) but we were still playing well.”

The Jayhawks then knocked off No. 12 Baylor in the semifinals of bracket play, needing a win in the tiebreaker to advance, before falling to Texas.

Esme Hamilton and Lauren Clark picked up wins for the Jayhawks in the semifinals and Abby Glynn was the lone Jayhawk to win against Texas in the title match.

Jordan Rothman and Johanna Ebner also picked up victories for Kansas during the event.

“I know we are disappointed because we had a taste of what it would be like to win,” Kuhle said of her team’s showing in the desert. “I am proud of them and how hard they are working and how badly they want to win for KU. We proved that we can compete against some of the best teams in our conference who are some of the best teams in the country. It was a great experience for the girls to feel pressure and how to handle that. I hope they use this for motivation for the next tournament.”

Next up, the Jayhawks will travel to Dallas, April 21-23 to compete in the Big 12 team championships at the Dallas Athletic Club.