LAWRENCE, Kan. – A Hail Mary lob wasn’t enough to save the ISU women’s basketball team from a devastating 65-64 loss at Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence.

After reaching a 19-point deficit early in the second half, the Cyclones rallied the last 18 minutes with the brand of basketball they have been recently lacking. A bucket tied the game at 64, and a foul gave Kansas two free throw shots, one of which was made. Down by one, Cyclone Lisa Bildeaux launched a pass to the opposite side of the court, but Kansas intercepted it, sealing the game.

“We practice that play all the time, and it was a chance to get a look at the basket,” said ISU coach Bill Fennelly. “Lisa [Bildeaux] made a great throw, but it was tough [for us] to catch.”

The loss comes as the latest in a four-game streak for Iowa State, setting them back to 12-8 and 3-6 in the conference. It was also the second game the Cyclones were without leading scorer Lyndsey Medders, who is out indefinitely with a serious ankle sprain.

“It is tough to lose, but our team showed competitive spirit today,” Fennelly said. “We weren’t sorry for ourselves because Lyndsey [Medders] wasn’t playing.

“They just made one more play than we did.”

ISU center Brittany Wilkins said the team is ready to snap the streak, and now they have to find the means to accomplish it.

“We’ve come to a point where we say we’re sick of this, we’ve talked about it enough and now it’s a matter of going out and doing it,” she said. “We could have given up and lost by 25, but we’re sick of losing. We know we tried hard and competed, and we know we have to get a win somehow, someway.”

Kansas (14-6, 3-6) used a smattering of first-half three-pointers to jump on the board, while Iowa State struggled to find its tempo and game plan on the court. ISU guard Heather Ezell tossed in a rim-rattling three, and Bildeaux connected with six straight points to give the Cyclones a two-point lead.

The Jayhawks answered with an 8-0 run, and eventually the lead crept to ten points. Kansas executed a variety of scoring weapons in guards Kaylee Brown and Ivana Catic, who combined for five threes in the first half. Crystal Kemp balanced the scoring in the paint, shooting 5 of 9. Kansas finished the half with a 42-29 lead on the Cyclones, shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor.

The Cyclones couldn’t find an answer early in the second half, and the Jayhawk lead grew to 19 points before Megan Ronhovde found her scoring prowess after three minutes. Iowa State successfully changed its defense to man-to-man, throwing Kansas out of its groove.

“Man-to-man keeps us moving more, and it gives us each more accountability,” Wilkins said. “If we would have played the first half better we would have had a better shot at winning.”

Iowa State flew on a 17-0 run, punctuated by two more treys from Ronhovde. That brought the score within two, and a three from Bildeaux gave Iowa State a 55-53 lead, its first of the second half.

Baskets were traded back and forth until the final seconds, and Iowa State was left with another loss at its hands.

“We cut the lead from 19 and got to the free throw line, and we were defending them pretty well,” Fennelly said. “We started playing the last 18 minutes, not at tip-off. The girls found that ‘it’ thing they had been looking for those last 18 minutes, but when you’re down 19 that’s a pretty big hole against anyone, especially on the road.”

Wilkins led all scorers with 20 points, and made a double-double of her effort with 12 rebounds. Ronhovde secured 18 in her refreshed offensive role, and Bildeaux garnered a season-high 14 points. Wilkins chipped in six blocked shots, while Ezell dished out seven assists.

Iowa State beat Kansas on the boards 35-33, and produced 19 points from players off the bench.

Kemp led the Jayhawks with 19 points, followed by Brown and Catic with 16 and 15 points, respectively.

With Missouri visiting Ames on Wednesday, the competition isn’t diminishing, and Wilkins said the team has to play without Medders and with more confidence.

“It’s been uncomfortable without Medders, and not having her should make us more motivated,” she said. “Losing sucks, but we really proved something to ourselves today. Maybe this is a chance for some of the younger kids to get a chance to step up.”