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MANHATTAN — Normally after games – win or lose – coach Bonnie Henrickson leads off the press conference with her thoughts of the game.

But after being dismantled at Kansas State 72-39, Henrickson employed a lesson taught to most people in elementary school.

“If you’ve got nothing nice to say, don’t say anything,” Henrickson said. “My mom taught me that a long time ago.”

After finishing non-conference play 11-2, the same record as last season, the Jayhawks were looking to shed the idea that they couldn’t beat quality opponents. That the Jayhawks lost on the road against a ranked team isn’t surprising. That they were thoroughly and completely beaten is.

“We’ve been nauseous for about the last two and a half hours,” Henrickson said.

In Kansas’ Big 12 opener last season, the Jayhawks lost to a ranked Oklahoma State team at home by four points. Henrickson said it took two weeks to fully recover from the disappointment of the loss. The Jayhawks went on to drop their next two games – something they can’t allow to happen again.

“You can’t let it eat you and suck the life out of you,” Henrickson said. “It did last year and we weren’t right for a while after that.”

Kansas never found a way keep K-State out of the paint as senior guard Shalee Lehning and junior forward Ashley Sweat spun and maneuvered their way for easy points and perfectly delivered assists. Sweat scored 18 points, while Lehning chipped in 14 points, 10 assists and six rebounds.

The Jayhawks weren’t the pair’s first victim this season: Sweat entered averaging 16 points and Lehning leads the nation in assists with 9.2 per game.

“We played out of control and fast on offense,” Henrickson said. “And then we played in mud on defense.”

Coming into the game, Henrickson made sure her players knew that despite Kansas State’s soft non-conference schedule, the Wildcats possessed an extremely talented team that played lock-down defense. Deb Patterson’s team led the nation in scoring defense coming into the game, allowing 49.5 points per game.

But even the Jayhawks had to be surprised with the tenacity and effectiveness of the Wildcats’ defense. Kansas committed 20 turnovers – five in the first five minutes – and K-State forward Marlies Gipson controlled the paint, blocking five shots and altering many more.

“Whenever we made those small mistakes, they killed us every single time,” sophomore forward Nicollette Smith said

During a four-minute stretch late in the first half, Kansas scored zero points and seemed to be forcing shots. At the same time, K-State was building what would be a 39-21 halftime lead. The Jayhawks were outscored 15-4 the final eight minutes of the half.

“They’re defensive presence…they were switching everything,” said junior forward Danielle McCray, who finished with a season-low seven points. “I think it was more of ourselves than their defense. We didn’t have an offensive presence today.”

The second half was more of the same. K-State’s defense continued to make Kansas look uncomfortable on offense, and Henrickson’s team never got closer than 16 points.

Kansas will have to regroup quickly. Rival Missouri travels to Allen Fieldhouse on Wednesday.

“We have to come to practice Monday with a different attitude,” McCray said. “We all got to change.”

Before McCray could finish, Henrickson jumped in with a thought that seemed to sum up Kansas’ performance.

“We’re off our best practice ever (on Friday),” she said. “That’s what’s so disappointing.”

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