The Kansas offense runs through sophomore forward Caroline Smith. The Cyclone defense knew it.

Smith entered Friday’s game at the ISU Soccer Complex ranked third in the Big 12 in shots per game with 3.9 and second in goals, with 11.

Through 75 scoreless minutes, the Cyclone defense used every available trick to contain Smith and hold her to two off-target shots.

But Smith found space twice in two minutes and parked two perfect shots in the net, giving Kansas a 2-0 win and sending Iowa State to its third Big 12 loss in four tries.

“We shut her down the first half,” senior defender Lindsey Lees said. “It was a couple minutes of mental letdowns.”

Smith’s first goal came when she took a pass from junior midfielder Amy Geha in the middle of the field as the Cyclones tried to set an offside trap. But an ISU midfielder on the right side of the field held Smith on, allowing her to fake and dribble past Cyclone goalkeeper Beth Chapman and tap the ball in for a 1-0 Kansas lead in the 75th minute.

Iowa State had already caught the Jayhawks offside four times in the match.

“It wasn’t anybody’s fault — it wasn’t Erin McDowell’s fault,” Lees said. “Sometimes, the trap doesn’t work.”

Just 83 seconds later, Smith took sophomore forward Jessica Smith’s pass, found herself unmarked, and fired a rocket into the upper-left corner of the net from about 25 yards out, giving the Jayhawks (11-3-1, 3-2-1 Big 12) an insurmountable lead.

“[The first goal] stung us, and we weren’t sharp for about five to seven minutes there,” ISU head coach Rebecca Hornbacher said. “It cost us the game.”

The Cyclones need to start getting results from repeated strong efforts, Hornbacher said.

“We can compete, but we’ve got to do it for the whole game,” she said. “Our game plan was to keep the ball in front … We stepped, and they got behind us.”

After a slow first half with just eight shots by the two teams, Iowa State started the second half crisply and created several goal-scoring opportunities.

“We played possession a lot better,” said redshirt freshman forward Kate Kirwan, whose work set up several of Iowa State’s seven second-half shots.

Sophomore Kristina Baumann narrowly missed on two chances — both in the 54th minute.

First, after dribbling away from pressure about 12 yards from the left side of the goal, Baumann fired a left-footed line drive toward the far post. Only a diving stop by Kansas’ Meghan Miller kept the Cyclones off the scoreboard.

“I think their goalkeeper came up with two or three big time saves,” Hornbacher said.

Just seconds later, Kirwan stole the ball away from a Jayhawk defender and centered to Baumann, who tried to loft a shot over the 5-foot-10 Miller’s head. Miller could only punch the ball over the crossbar while falling backward. The Cyclones couldn’t convert the ensuing corner kick.

“We created some problems for them up front,” Hornbacher said. “We were able to use our outside midfielders a lot more effectively in the second half.”

Baumann led the Cyclones with five shots, four on goal. Kansas took 12 shots in the game, and Iowa State’s Chapman had five saves.

Lees said Iowa State wants to return to the Big 12 postseason tournament and needs to start winning games to have any hope of doing that.

“It’s too easy to throw it away,” she said. “We have to get it done.”