If someone traveled back in time to one year ago from last night and watched Kansas pull out a tough victory against Oklahoma State, they might notice a few similar story lines.

Just like this year, Kansas was struggling to make up ground in the Big 12 while attempting to impress the NCAA tournament committee enough to earn a tournament berth. Last year, Kansas’ then-junior guard Sade Morris scored 13 points, just the third-most on the team, and that’s all she needed to do for the Jayhawks to earn a victory.

Last night Morris upped that point total from a year ago by one to 14, once again third-most on the team. This time it wasn’t enough to scrape out a victory, though, as No. 13 Iowa State snuck out of Allen Fieldhouse with a 57-54 victory.

One of the more glaring differences between the two games, aside from the Jayhawks’ loss this year, was the lack of Morris’ proverbial Batman. Senior guard Danielle McCray fulfilled that role last year as she scored 30 points in the victory over the Cowgirls, while Morris simply had to play the part of Robin.

With McCray out with a torn ACL for the rest of this year, Morris has to perform an entirely new role. Whereas she stayed in the background and gave help wherever it was needed last year, now Morris resides squarely in the center of the spotlight.

“Ever since she went down, it’s like, ‘Okay, it’s just another game,’” Morris said. “I’ve just got to play even harder, I’ve got to be more disciplined, take care of the ball more, take better shots, and get people open shots.”

Morris is doing things she never did last year when the Jayhawks won nine of their last 12 games en route to an appearance in the WNIT championship game. For example she’s playing point guard, a spot she hasn’t played regularly for quite some time.

“She gets to play the point, so that’s something a little new for her,” freshman guard Monica Engelman said. “She has a little bit of experience over me and I think that’s going to really benefit.”

Morris has executed that role well enough to earn a spot on the floor as point guard in clutch situations, a part she performed down the stretch in the loss last night.

On top of learning how to play an entirely new spot on the floor and regularly guarding the opposing team’s best player, Morris has managed to increase her scoring productivity in recent games.

If one were to omit her performance in a Feb. 21 loss at Texas Tech where Morris got into early foul trouble and spent a significant amount of time on the bench, she has averaged two more points per game in her last six contests than her previous 20.

“She has played with some toughness and confidence; she’s played like a senior has,” coach Bonnie Henrickson said.

While that’s still a far cry from the 17 points Morris averaged during the team’s WNIT run last year, it has been enough to keep her team in games. Engelman and fellow freshman Carolyn Davis have led the Jayhawks in scoring over the last six games.

“Well I know that Carolyn has stepped up, I’ve stepped up, and I feel that Day (Sade) has really stepped up” Engelman said. “We may have three or four, but we need all five to get a win in.”

In the team’s remaining games, Morris will continue her shift from the part of Robin to a more central role as her team moves to unify around her.

“We’re not quite there yet, we’re getting there,” Morris said. “Once we all start clicking, we’ll get on that run and we’ll feel good about ourselves.”

— Edited by Cory Bunting