All season, coach Bonnie Henrickson’s team could never stop helping out the other team. Even in victory the Jayhawks turned the ball over an upward of 20 times but narrowly escaped.

Monday night Henrickson found out what happens when her squad replaces too many mistakes with 22 assists and only 13 turnovers. The result is an 82-60 victory.

Photo Gallery

Kansas Women's Basketball vs. Evansville

Photo gallery of Kansas women's basketball game against Evansville in the opening round of the WNIT Monday evening at Allen Fieldhouse.

While happy with the results, Henrickson admitted that she didn’t think Kansas’ turnover numbers would cease.

“No, not in my lifetime at Kansas I didn’t think it would,” Henrickson joked.

Truthfully, it was only the second fewest turnovers committed by the Jayhawks this season. But with the way things went at the end of the season – they averaged 21 turnovers in the last two games – it’s hard to blame her for doubting that the team would turn it around. Henrickson wasn’t the only one surprised by the performance, either.

“I looked at the stat sheet and was like, ‘Wow,’ 13 turnovers,” sophomore guard Danielle McCray said. “We were all excited because that’s a sign of progress for us and it shows how hard we’ve been working on making the easy passes.”

Easy passes and smart plays helped Kansas overcome Evansville and advance to the third round of the WNIT, but sophomore guard Sade Morris wondered why it didn’t come a little earlier.

“We were just waiting,” Morris said. “Some practices we would do really well with the turnovers and others we would do really bad, so we were like ‘Man, when is this going to come?’

“Tonight we took our time, made better decisions and I think we finally understand when people are going to be open and when to throw the ball.”

Henrickson noticed that her team was not only playing smarter, but the Jayhawks were playing with pride that she hasn’t seen for a while.

“That’s what we talked about, take some pride in your handles and take some pride in your ability to make a pass and finish a play,” Henrickson said.

The Jayhawks shot a season high 69.2 percent from beyond the arc, led by a 3-for-3 performance from Morris. A big reason for that spike in long distance connections was making one more pass to find the open shooter.

“When someone makes the extra pass, I bet most teams shoot 80 percent on that shot because you feel good about it,” Henrickson said. “You know someone has really worked hard to set you up in your rhythm and your timing and we made most of those shots tonight.”

Only two Kansas players had three or more turnovers while five had at least three assists. At the top of that list with seven assists was junior guard Ivana Catic, who made her first start in four games after being replaced at point guard by sophomore LaChelda Jacobs.

Catic took advantage of her second chance, much like the Jayhawks reveled in their opportunity to shine in the postseason.

“It’s all about making the most of your opportunity,” Henrickson said. “Whether it’s a kid in your program or a team in a tournament.”

— Edited by Jessica Sain-Baird