While equipment and food were being loaded and stored onto a bus outside Allen Fieldhouse on Sunday, coach Bonnie Henrickson stood on the Jayhawk at halfcourt with her players gathered around.

Soon after, the Jayhawks boarded a bus — and eventually a plane — destined for their WNIT game at New Mexico (25-10, 9-7). But first, Henrickson wanted to leave her team with one final thought for the lengthy trip ahead.

Photo Gallery

Kansas Women's Basketball vs. Arkansas

A photo gallery of the women's basketball game against Arkansas.

Henrickson wanted to make unmistakably clear that Kansas couldn’t overlook New Mexico — a team that lacks one standout player, but plays well collectively. “Those teams, like New Mexico, are harder to beat because you have to guard everybody,” Henrickson said.

Perhaps the mental aspect of tonight’s game at 8 p.m. poses the biggest challenge for Kansas (20-13, 6-10). The Jayhawks have won seven of their last nine games, and the only losses in that stretch were to top-25 teams that made the NCAA tournament.

Still, something didn’t sit right for Henrickson — or her players for that matter — in Kansas’ last two practices. And the Jayhawks insisted they weren’t overlooking a New Mexico team that plays in the lesser-known Mountain West Conference.

“I can’t tell you why, but the feel was different,” senior guard Ivana Catic said. “Even if there was some thought that they weren’t an SEC or Big 12 team, they still have (25) wins and they’re still a good team.”

In the middle of her team Sunday afternoon, Henrickson used her best player, junior forward Danielle McCray, as a perfect example. In a 69-62 loss at Colorado on Feb. 18 — arguably Kansas’ lowest point this season — McCray struggled, scoring just 11 points.

And Henrickson noticed something with McCray, something she pointed out to the rest of the team.

“She’s a very confident kid, which makes her a great player. And I’m not trying to take any ounce of confidence from her,” Henrickson said. “But at times I think her confidence set her up to fail because she wasn’t dialed in and focused. She thought it was going to be easy.

“We all talked about that and I said as a group we can’t do that. But you should have confidence, and you should have a swagger about you because we’ve played well.”

The Jayhawks credit much of their turnaround to the responsibility taken by individuals on the team or, in other words, the ability to accept roles.

In the basketball sense of the word, a role is a player’s job description — the tasks they must complete in order for the team as a whole to be successful. Early in the season, Kansas’ players seemed to struggle with the concept, either not successfully fulfilling the role or a not entirely buying into it.

Yet, somewhere during the season that all changed and, not coincidentally, Kansas has since been winning.

“People became more comfortable and then they became better because they accepted their role,” Catic said. “When you know what your role is and you come to like it, you’re naturally going to become better.”

Added junior guard Sade Morris: “Once people are like, ‘This is my role and I want to do it to help this team be successful,’ it just makes things a lot easier. It makes us that much more confident in each other.”

Now, the task for Kansas shifts to New Mexico and advancing to the Final Four of the WNIT. Oklahoma State coach Kurt Budke said Kansas appeared to be the favorite in the tournament and with two-lopsided victories so far, the Jayhawks have provided backing for those words.

But, as Henrickson preached to her team inside Allen Fieldhouse, nothing will be easy from this point on.

“Be confident, but don’t let that keep you from focus and concentration,” Henrickson said. “Don’t think it’s going to be easy because we’re playing well. It’s going to be harder because we’re playing well.”

— — Edited by Casey Miles