Smith, the Big 12 Conference’s leading scorer this year, has been slowed by a recurring knee injury, however, and didn’t attempt a shot Friday during KU’s first-round game against Illinois State in the NCAA Tournament.

It didn’t matter. Francis’ latest jackpot signee — Jessica Kilpatrick — picked up the slack.

Kilpatrick, a freshman forward from Englewood, Colo., scored twice and fired No. 16 Kansas (17-5-1) to a 3-1 victory over the Redbirds (11-6-3) at the Audrey J. Walton Soccer Complex on the Missouri campus.

The victory is the Jayhawks’ first-ever in the NCAAs. They next play Missouri (12-10-1) at 1 p.m. Sunday in the second round; the Tigers beat Eastern Illinois, 1-0, Friday night.

“When Caroline’s injury started acting up, I got a lot more playing time and had more time to adjust to how the rest of the team plays,” said Kilpatrick, who has scored four goals in KU’s last four games. “Unfortunately, some of my playing time has come because she’s been hurt.”

Smith sported a bulky brace on her right knee Friday, but it hardly slowed her typical speed bursts that attracted plenty of attention from the Redbird defense.

Smith’s only trouble against Illinois State was getting open, which is why she was grateful for Kilpatrick’s recent emergence.

“It takes the pressure off of me, and it takes the pressure off of other people,” Smith said. “Now, instead of having one person score or two people score, we have all three of our forwards scoring.”

Kilpatrick’s first strike came just 1:33 into the game when junior midfielder Lauren Williams stole the ball and threaded her way to the goal. The defense collapsed, and Williams found Kilpatrick wide open for an easy chip shot.

After that, the Jayhawks found themselves under the guillotine. Looking generally confused by Illinois State’s formation, they struggled to create pressure offensively while the defense had problems clearing the ball into the wind.

The Redbirds evened the score in the 34th minute. Amanda Lauber’s shot deflected off KU goalkeeper Meghan Miller, but Diana Puckett scored on the second-chance opportunity.

“They changed around the way they played,” Francis said. “With the tape that we got from them playing last week, they played completely different today.”

Kansas sorted things out at halftime, however, and took control in the second half. Junior forward Rachel Gilfillan put the Jayhawks ahead for good when she drilled a penalty kick in the 48th minute.

A stronger defensive front, paired with tidy goalkeeping by Miller and a backsave by Williams, kept Kansas in command. Kilpatrick’s second score, courtesy of a nifty chip pass from junior Monica Brothers, put the game out of reach in the 84rd minute and sent the Jayhawks to the next round.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Francis said, “but at this point in the season we’re still playing. That’s the important thing.”