The Jayhawks hope to gain back some of their original spark when they play the Cornhuskers tonight at 8:30 p.m. in Kansas City, Mo., in the first round of the Big 12 tournament.

The women’s basketball team had a certain spark when it played against Nebraska on Feb. 17. Perhaps it was the pink uniforms that made Kansas’ 62-61 victory so exciting.

More likely, it was that sophomore guard Danielle McCray won the game at the free-throw line with 1.4 seconds on the clock, the Jayhawks’ third win in their last four games at the time.

After that game, the talk from Kansas was about finishing at least 8-8 in conference play and getting to the NCAA tournament. Five agonizing losses later and those ideas are long gone. But the Jayhawks still have a chance to recapture the magic from that Sunday afternoon.

Though she would have liked to pick up some victories along the way, McCray likes the fact that her team will go into the game knowing it can win.

“We could come away with a ‘W’ if we do the right things and do the process we did for that game,” McCray said. “We got them into some foul trouble, we focused on the game plan and we executed what we had to do.”

When the Jayhawks traveled to Lincoln, Neb., for their second Big 12 contest on Jan. 12, the Cornhuskers blew them away, 71-51.

“We felt like when we went to Nebraska the first time we played terrible,” senior forward Taylor McIntosh said. “It was just nice to get a win and get it going again when we played them here, but we still gave them too many free throw chances.”

In the first meeting, Nebraska was nearly perfect from the free-throw line, making 30-of-32. The second time around, the Cornhuskers shot an ice cold 17-for-34 from the charity stripe.

Nebraska gets to the line so frequently by taking the Kansas defenders one-on-one and driving to the rim to draw fouls. Coach Bonnie Henrickson said she thinks the Cornhuskers won’t shoot just 50 percent again so, to stay in the game, her team can’t commit so many fouls.

Another thing Henrickson needs from her players is more focus and fire out of the locker room in the second half. In the last five games Kansas has given up big runs to start the second half, making it difficult to crawl back into the game.

“You go back to how many games at the four-minute mark it’s been a one-possession game, where we’ve dug ourselves such a big hole out of the locker room but then we’re good enough and we’re tough enough to make it a one-possession game,” Henrickson said. “Then we don’t make enough plays down the stretch to get on the right end.”

If there’s a Jayhawk that’s going to get her team on the right end it’ll probably be McCray. She’s been the go-to player all season and wants to put the team on her shoulders when the game is on the line.

Not only would McCray like to get her team a victory just for them, but as the No. 11 seed, she knows that not a lot is expected of the Jayhawks.

“Everyone has their different doubts about us,” McCray said. “It would mean a lot to come back and beat a team that we beat before and a team that’s doing really good in the conference.”

­­— Edited by Mandy Earles