After Wednesday’s 75-64 win against Colorado, Kansas’ locker room was jubilant. Coach Bonnie Henrickson had other things in mind.

“I hate to rain on your parade,” Henrickson said to her team. “But we’ve got to be able to string two halves together.”

By NCAA rule, a game is to last 40 minutes with two 20 minute halves and a break in between. Take a look at the Jayhawks and one might think they missed the memo.

Wednesday’s first half was a one-sided trouncing. Kansas shot 18-of-35 from the field and out-rebounded Colorado 27 to seven. Led by senior guard Danielle McCray’s 19 points and eight rebounds, the Jayhawks went into the break ahead 47-27. It was perhaps the finest 20 minutes that the team had played the entire season.

“We came out aggressively, attacked and shared the ball,” Henrickson said.

During halftime, the Jayhawks became too comfortable with their 20-point lead. Right out of the locker room, the team’s lack of intensity showed.

Kansas surrendered 11 turnovers, five by McCray alone, in a sloppy and irresponsible second half.

“You grow that lead to 30 or 35 if you manage possessions and take care of the ball,” Henrickson said. “Those turnovers turned into lay-ups and threes for them.”

The careless ball handling provided the Buffaloes with several opportunities that should have never arisen. Old fundamentals, such as shielding a dribble from a defender, seemed to be forgotten after halftime.

“We weren’t taking care of the ball,” freshman guard Monica Engelman said. “We were wasting possessions.”

Also aiding Colorado in their pursuit of a comeback was Kansas’ defensive laziness and lack of assertion. The Jayhawks committed eight fouls, granting their opponent 11 free throw attempts. The Buffaloes converted nine of them.

The Jayhawks also struggled with on-ball defense, resulting in uncontested jump shots or easy lay-ups conceded.

“If you can guard someone for 25 minutes, you’ve got to be able to guard them for 40,” Henrickson said.

After living on the wrong end of a relentless thumping in the first half, Colorado actually outscored Kansas 37-28 in the second half.

McCray had a rational explanation for her team’s lapse.

“We lost focus and played passively,” McCray said. “We relaxed because we knew what the lead was instead of keep pushing.”

This has to be an alarming sign for Kansas, especially considering that Wednesday is not the first time Kansas has dominated the first half and collapsed in the second. On Jan. 17, Kansas defeated Missouri 72-59 in a near replica of Wednesday’s win.

The Jayhawks mustered a 46-18 lead by the break. Then in the second half, they were outscored 41-26 in large part to a five-minute scoring drought.

“Once we dial in, we’re a great team,” McCray said. “We’ve got to put that together for forty minutes.”

If Kansas cannot find a way to put both parts of the two-piece puzzle together, many games will result in being outscored in cumulation, not just in the second half.

“We can’t create that lull where we get sloppy and turn the ball over in the second half if we expect to get a win on Saturday,” Henrickson said.

— Edited by Kelly Gibson