All season, junior forward Danielle McCray talked about being Kansas’ go-to player, the one who wanted the ball in her hands with the game on the line.

Those thoughts have never been far from McCray’s mind, but the situation failed to fully materialize in the season’s first 34 games.

That all changed last night when McCray’s late bucket sent Kansas to the Women’s NIT championship game by defeating Illinois State 75-72 in front of 8,360 fans at Allen Fieldhouse.

With 39 seconds left and Kansas desperately clinging to a three-point lead, McCray grabbed her own miss and completed a three-point play with a zealous scream to give Kansas a 68-62 lead.

“She’s always been a kid that’s wanted to take big shots and has been capable of hitting big shots,” coach Bonnie Henrickson said. “She loves the pressure and that’s what great players do.”

McCray has always been Kansas’ best, and most consistent, scorer this season. When needed, she has taken over offensively and guided Kansas to victories.

But the magnitude of Wednesday night’s game, and the sheer volume of fans in attendance, marked McCray’s gutsiest performance this season.

Her three-point play allowed the Jayhawks a cushion, albeit a small one, at a time when the Redbirds were slicing into their lead. That play, the one that had everyone in Allen Fieldhouse on their feet, highlighted a night in which McCray scored 31 points and grabbed six rebounds.

“When my teammates know that I’m excited, they feed off of me,” McCray said. “In the second half, I think I put them on my shoulders.”

McCray scored 22 points after halftime and helped Kansas build a 16-point second-half lead. But Illinois State trimmed Kansas’ lead throughout the second half, getting as close as two points.

The Jayhawks struggled to score down the stretch and fatigue appeared to play a factor when they couldn’t get stops late in the game.

Still, Kansas found a way to win — something that probably wouldn’t have happened earlier in the season.

“Two months ago, we wouldn’t have known what to do,” junior guard Sade Morris said. “But we’ve learned a lot, like how much we have to stay together when those times get that tough.”

Illinois State employed a defensive strategy focused solely around limiting the touches and disrupting the comfort levels of McCray and Morris.

And, in the beginning, the approach rattled Kansas’ top scorers, who struggled to get clean attempts or simply hold on to the ball.

“I was somewhere else in the beginning of the game,” McCray said. “I don’t know where I was at.”

Enter sophomore center Krysten Boogaard, who McCray said carried Kansas in the first half.

Boogaard was the beneficiary of the defensive attention drawn by McCray and Morris. While Illinois State focused on the perimeter, Boogaard continued to work near the basket. She scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds.

“She got her confidence back,” Morris said. “She knows she’s unstoppable when she sits on the low block. She’s just been a lot more confident.”

But as the game wore on it became blatantly clear that McCray wanted to put Kansas on her back. And that’s exactly what she did despite logging 40 minutes after playing 39 minutes against New Mexico on Monday night.

“She’s an amazing player, “Illinois State coach Robin Pingeton said. “What a talented player. At times I thought she was getting a little fatigued but she got her second, third and fourth winds.”

Now, McCray and the Jayhawks’ enter the final game of their season with the chance to finish what few thought was possible just months ago. Kansas will play South Florida for the WNIT championship at 1 p.m., Saturday in Allen Fieldhouse.

“We talked about not celebrating the fact that we were in the WNIT but we would celebrate when we won a championship,” Henrickson said. “And we’ve put ourselves in a position to have that opportunity.”

— — Edited by Andrew Wiebe