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Kansas Women's Basketball: WNIT Chamionship

A record crowd of more than 16,100 filled Allen Fieldhouse to watch the Jayhawks compete in Saturday's WNIT Championship game against the USF Bulls.

In the final minutes, with 16,113 fans roaring in support, Kansas clawed to within one point of South Florida.

But the late-game surge and storybook finish to an up and down season fell just short. Kansas lost to South Florida 75-71 in front of the largest crowd in Kansas women’s basketball history.

“We needed to put that together earlier in the half,” coach Bonnie Henrickson said.

Kansas failed to consistently generate stops on defense, allowing South Florida to piece together two 16-2 runs during the game.

Kansas made just 38 percent of its shots, while South Florida converted 45 percent of its attempts.

“We never got very good rhythm or timing,” Henrickson said.

Junior forward Danielle McCray led Kansas with 24 points but made just 7-of-25 shots, and junior guard Sade Morris chipped in 19 points.

But both McCray and Morris were hampered by foul trouble, forced to sit on the bench for portions of the game.

After South Florida built a double-digit lead in the second half, Kansas closed the gap late in the game. But the Jayhawks couldn’t grab the lead and, subsequently, finished runner-up in the WNIT.

“Just too little too late,” Henrickson said.

The Jayhawks won nine of their final 12 games of the season after opening Big 12 play 2-9.