photo by: Landon Cory/Special to the Journal-World

Kansas freshman guard Zoe Canfield knocks down a first-half 3-point shot against Omaha on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Lawrence.

After getting off to a slow start, the Kansas women’s basketball team dropped the second meeting of this year’s Sunflower Showdown, allowing Kansas State to score at least 20 points in each quarter of its senior-night celebration. The Wildcats swept the season series by claiming a 90-60 victory on Saturday evening at Bramlage Coliseum.

After sustaining a minor ankle injury early in the game, KU’s S’Mya Nichols had a slow offensive night, scoring only six points on 1-for-9 shooting with four of her points coming from the free-throw line. Freshmen Zoe Canfield and Regan Williams both came off the bench and provided sparks, combining for 22 points as Canfield grabbed a career-high 12 points while going 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.

“There were times I thought we were good enough to compete offensively in both halves but we just couldn’t string together enough stops,” head coach Brandon Schneider said in a press release. “I couldn’t be prouder of Zoe Canfield and her play today. It’s easy to look at a stat sheet and say she made shots, but it was so much more than that. I thought she played fearless and free, took open shots and tried to do everything that we coach, which is all that we can ask for as a staff.”

Although the Jayhawks finished with three players scoring in double figures, they shot a combined 36% from the field compared to Kansas State’s 53%. They also lost the rebound battle by 19 as Williams struggled under the basket against the Wildcats’ bigger lineup. Taryn Sides led Kansas State in scoring with 15 points off the bench while shooting 5-for-9 from deep. Senior Tamara Poindexter shot 60% to add 14 points of her own in the Wildcats’ game celebrating their seven seniors.

The Jayhawks stayed close in the first five minutes of the game, down only five halfway through the first, thanks to early contributions from Williams and Elle Evans. But they lost momentum in the final minutes of the quarter, as Kansas State went on an 11-2 run to end the period with a 26-12 lead. This included six straight points by sophomore Gisela Sanchez, who made a couple of short-range jumpers to get out to an 11-point lead. Williams led Kansas in scoring and held relatively strong down low, allowing only six points in the paint, as the Wildcats capitalized on mid-range success to take the double-digit lead.

Kansas was able to string together a successful second quarter after falling into an early deficit, sinking four 3-pointers, including three by Canfield. The Jayhawks outscored Kansas State in the period as the Wildcats slowed down from beyond the arc and relied more on their performance down low, taking on Williams. Kennedy Taylor scored six straight points in the paint to take a 34-15 lead less than five minutes into the quarter and force a timeout by the Jayhawks. KU continued to struggle with rebounding, securing only 11 compared to Kansas State’s 21 in the first 20 minutes of action, but stepped up its scoring late in the second to head into halftime in a 46-31 deficit.

The Jayhawks were able to keep the margin the same for the majority of the third until five straight points by Kansas State gave the Wildcats a 66-45 lead heading into the final 10 minutes of the game.

Kansas’ offense continued to sputter as the Wildcats gained speed. K-State posted a 24-point quarter on seven made shots and 6-for-7 shooting from the free throw line. The Wildcats’ hot shooting in the second half got them to the impressive mark of 90 points total as five players got to the double-digit scoring mark. Three of those players came from the bench, as starter Ayoka Lee, making her long-awaited return to action, only played five minutes and Sides and Sanchez played over 20 minutes coming off the bench.

Evans was the only other Jayhawk to join Canfield and Williams with more than 10 points as she led the way with 15 points while knocking down four triples. The loss marks Kansas’ second of the season to the Wildcats by 25-plus points.

The Jayhawks, who fell to 15-12 and 5-11 in Big 12 play, will look to bounce back as they continue their road trip further west to a more favorable opponent in BYU, which sits one spot behind Kansas in Big 12 Conference standings at 4-12. The Cougars will host Kansas on Tuesday at 8 p.m. Central Time in their penultimate game of the regular season.