Danielle McCray dribbled through a few defenders under the basket and settled along the right wing midway through the first half. Point guard LaChelda Jacobs clapped her hands calling for the ball, but McCray shook her head and instead drilled a three-pointer, her fourth of the game.

Tops on the list of things missing from the women’s basketball team last season was a killer instinct. The Jayhawks simply didn’t have the tenacity to slam the door when they had an opportunity to win easily. That wasn’t the case Friday night.

In the regular season opener against Sacred Heart, McCray dominated with 29 points to lead Kansas’ rousing 106-64 victory. The Olathe junior also recorded five rebounds, two blocks and one steal in just 26 minutes.

“The girl had more points than she had minutes played tonight,” junior guard Kelly Kohn said. “She’s an incredible offensive threat for us and when she’s on, she’s on.”

McCray was on fire from the opening tipoff and coach Bonnie Henrickson said the key to her game was slowing down.

“She’s being very, very aggressive and her intensity was good, but she couldn’t make decisions fast enough at the pace she was going,” Henrickson said. “I said, ‘Let the game come to you a little bit and allow yourself to make good decisions.’”

Henrickson said it’s not often that she has to tell a player to lay off the gas. McCray said she let her defense dictate her offense and that resulted in balanced scoring. She scored from the inside and outside at will, hitting 12-of-16 shots.

Kansas hit 60 percent of its shots and the 106 points were the most of the Bonnie Ball era.

“It’s amazing,” Kohn said. “We did something we’ve never done before and that’s really special.”

Not everything was perfect, though. Jacobs started the game with two turnovers and a foul. Henrickson replaced her with senior guard Ivana Catic, who picked up an assist on her first possession with a dump down pass to center Krysten Boogaard.

“It was great that Ivana came in and did exactly what we were trying to get her to do,” Henrickson said. “I think that kind of settled (LaChelda) down a little bit.”

Jacobs came back with five assists, four steals and 10 points. Six Jayhawks scored in double figures.

“We did it in half-court sets, we did it in transition and we took good shots,” Henrickson said.

Next up for Kansas is a nationally televised contest against Iowa at 11 a.m. on Tuesday. Junior forward Porscha Weddington said she hopes the obscure time won’t deter fans from showing up in droves.

More important than who shows up in the stands is which No. 4 will they see. Henrickson said there was something off about McCray in the practices leading up to the game.

“Not that she’s played poorly, but I don’t think she’s been herself until tonight,” she said.

The real McCray is a beast on the court who will shake off a teammate and go for the throat. That player disappeared at times last season, but she was alive and well on that play Friday night.

“I just felt, at the moment, that I was on and I had a hot hand,” McCray said. “There are some times when I need to do that.”

— — Edited by Arthur Hur