Saturday night’s game was of great importance for both Kansas and Texas A&M as each sat at 1-4 in conference play. And when it came down to the end, the same mistakes that caused Kansas problems early in the season doomed them once again.

The Jayhawks allowed the Aggies to grab 21 offensive rebounds and matched that with 21 turnovers, an equation that added up to a 58-51 loss for coach Bonnie Henrickson’s team.

Aggie forward Danielle Gant reeked havoc on the Jayhawks all night, filling up the stat sheet with 14 points, 12 rebounds – nine of those offensive – six steals and three blocks.

“We said at halftime, ‘If you want to win, commit to boxing out,’ and we just didn’t have anybody do that,” Henrickson said. “Nobody was going to get her off the boards.”

With 13:37 left in the second half, freshman forward Nicollette Smith hit one of her two three-pointers to put Kansas on top 39-37. The Jayhawks would not score another field goal until sophomore guard LaChelda Jacobs made a layup with 4:37 left to cut the deficit to nine.

Sophomore guard Danielle McCray said a big reason behind that was the full court pressure applied by the Aggies.

“We didn’t answer their pressure, and we were picking up the ball, I know I did a couple times,” McCray said. “I wasn’t losing my poise, I just thought I had the pass but when I picked it up they were like piranhas all over us.”

Sophomore guard Sade Morris added, “Sometimes we over think (the press), like what happens if I do this and they do that.

“I think we need to relax and just play.”

Freshman center Krysten Boogaard had another solid performance on the block with eight points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

The sophomore trio of McCray, Morris and Jacobs all reached double digits in scoring, but that wasn’t enough in Henrickson’s eyes.

“It’s not the freshmen that are killing us,” Henrickson quipped. “We’ve got some sophomores that need to step up and play.”

The Jayhawk defense held the Aggies to 33 percent shooting from the field, but their inability to block out cost them the game. Now as the losses start to pile up, so too does the disappointment and frustration.

“It’s very disappointing, because we know that we’re better than what we’re playing right now,” Morris said. “Everybody on this staff and on this team is sick of losing. We all have to figure out a way to stop and get some wins.”

— Edited by Daniel Reyes