Ever since a thrilling 62-61 victory over Nebraska on Feb. 17, Kansas has gone into a tailspin, losing four games along the way.

The Jayhawks desperately tried to pick up a win before the Big 12 tournament begins on Tuesday. They went on a 7-0 run late in Wednesday night’s game to pull within two of the No. 19 Wildcats. Then, like every time since that last win, the game slipped through Kansas’ fingers and Kansas State cruised to a 61-50 victory, celebrating a share of the Big 12 crown on James Naismith Court.

Guard Shalee Lehning torched the Kansas defense for a career high 29 points and also recorded 17 rebounds. However, the biggest shot in the game belonged to guard Kimberly Dietz.

After sophomore guard LaChelda Jacobs made her third straight shot to pull the score to 52-50, Kansas State coach Deb Patterson called timeout. Out of the break the Wildcats set a play for Dietz, and the senior drilled a deep, high-arching three-pointer from the top of the key.

Photo Gallery

Kansas Women's Basketball vs. Kansas State

A photo gallery of the Kansas vs. Kansas State women's basketball game on March 5, 2008.

“That was a big shot off of what should have been a relatively easy defensive play,” coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “We don’t get the switch to deny and she hits a big three and then Lehning comes down and hits another layup.

“That kid tore us up.”

That sequence killed any momentum the Jayhawks (15-14, 4-12) had as they failed to score the remainder of the game.

Jacobs made her first start of the season with a solid 14 points offensively, but her defensive assignment was to guard Lehning. The box score told that story.

“It’s very, very frustrating to know that I played a big part in that,” Jacobs said. “In a way, I feel this loss is some part my fault, (actually) all part my fault. I take the total blame for not getting the seniors a win tonight.”

Kansas State’s domination of the boards was another factor. The Wildcats out-rebounded the Jayhawks 37-28 and used 10 offensive rebounds to get 12 second chance points.

Kansas committed only 13 turnovers, but Henrickson has grown tired of searching for moral victories in her team’s losses.

“At the end of the day it’s, ‘Did you win?’” Henrickson said. “We’re doing some good things at times, but not enough to win.”

After a fifth straight loss, Kansas dropped to the No. 11 seed in the conference tournament.

That means the Jayhawks will square-off with the No. 6 seed Cornhuskers who they beat in February. Senior forward Taylor McIntosh intends to extend her career beyond the first round of the tournament and she thinks the key to doing that is in creating a clean slate.

“It would have been nice to have some momentum going into the Big 12 tournament, but we just have to use this, fix it and move on,” McIntosh said. “We can’t dwell on this loss.”

SENIOR SEND-OFF

Seniors Taylor McIntosh and Jamie Boyd were honored before and after Wednesday night’s game for their four-year contributions to Kansas basketball.

Jayhawk fans stayed in the stands after the final buzzer for a presentation to each player at half court. Coach Bonnie Henrickson greeted the players with a framed jersey, cheerleaders tossed roses and every player came out to thank McIntosh and Boyd.

THE STARTING LINE

Coach Bonnie Henrickson decided to shake up her starting line-up for the last regular season game of the year.

On senior night, senior forward Jamie Boyd made her second start of the season and sixth of her career, while sophomore guard LaChelda Jacobs made her first start of the year and also sixth of her career.

Jacobs got the nod ahead of junior guard Ivana Catic and that’s the first time all season Catic’s come off the bench. As a result, sophomore guard Sade Morris was the only Jayhawk to start all 29 regular season games.

ROAD COURT ADVANTAGE

The game may have been played in Allen Fieldhouse but at times it felt more like Bramlage Coliseum East.

Purple power was in full effect as the Wildcat faithful filled nearly half the Fieldhouse. The Kansas State fans erupted after every good play from their team – of which there were more than a few – and seemed to eliminate any home court advantage for Kansas.

HEAD OF THE CLASS

The Big 12 announced its Academic all-conference teams on Wednesday and three Jayhawks were named to the first team, which requires a GPA of 3.2 or above.

Senior Taylor McIntosh, junior Ivana Catic and sophomore Kelly Kohn were all honored for their work in the classroom.

Kansas State led all Big 12 schools with eight selections, seven on the first team and one on the second. The second team requires a GPA of 3.0-3.2.

—Edited by Nick Mangiaracina