Kansas University’s women’s basketball team appeared to take control against Texas-Arlington with less than a minute to go when, trailing by two, guard Erica Hallman put in a layup to the tune of the referee’s whistle.

While nearly everyone in Allen Fieldhouse thought a possible three-point play was pending, Hallman instead was called for a charging foul that transformed cheers to boos and a potential KU victory into a season-opening 53-49 defeat against the University of Texas-Arlington.

Despite the momentum-shifting call, Hallman played down the effect of the foul, blaming the defeat on sloppy play.

“The ref made a call, and that’s his job,” she said, “but that’s not what cost us the game.”

KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said the Jayhawks lost when they couldn’t find any offense from guards Kaylee Brown, Aquanita Burras and Blair Waltz to compliment forward Crystal Kemp’s game-leading 26 points.

“We’ve got options. The options just aren’t knocking down shots,” Henrickson said. “We’ve got things we run for ‘Aqua.’ We’ve got offenses we run for Blair and Kaylee, but those three go 1-for-19.

“And those kids are getting shots. They had 19 shots, and I would say 75 percent of them are uncontested.”

Fouls and offensive rebounds, especially in the second half, changed a game that the Jayhawks appeared poised to run off with early in the second half. The Mavericks’ 12 offensive rebounds in the second half, coupled with a pair of three-point plays from forward Rola Ogunoye, cost the Jayhawks their nine point lead in the early in the second half.

“It shouldn’t have been a ball game,” Henrickson said. “We shouldn’t have been fighting to get at the end to beat this team.”

Kansas University sophomore forward Alicia Rhymes (34) fights for a rebound with Texas-Arlington's Ashley Bobb (20) while Maryann Abanobi (10) awaits the outcome during the first half. The Jayhawks lost, 53-49, Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse.

A 13-1 run by the Mavs in the middle of the second half siphoned the momentum the Jayhawks had accumulated with a 16-2 run to close out the first half.

KU found most of its points on the run with dominating inside play from Kemp who physically dominated Texas-Arlington’s smaller forwards, pushing her way to the basket for easy bank-shots.

Mavericks coach Donna Capps said Kemp forced her team to find another way to defeat the Jayhawks.

“She’s just so strong. Obviously, we’re a small team, we depend on our speed and quickness and we just couldn’t outsize her in the paint,” Capps said.

Instead, the Mavs relied on a full-court press and man-to-man coverage on defense to force turnovers and coax the Jayhawks into unnecessary fouls. And, of course, Ogunoye’s 11 rebounds helped the Mavs’ cause as they cruised to a 48-42 lead with just more than four minutes remaining in the game.

Kansas University coach Bonnie Henrickson calls out a play during the second half against Texas-Arlington. The Jayhawks were defeated, 53-49, Sunday afternoon at Allen Fieldhouse.

The Jayhawks cut the lead to one with less than a minute left after Hallman dribbled around the perimeter and knocked down an uncontested three-point shot.

But that was as good as it got for the Jayhawks down the stretch. An off-ball offense foul by Hallman and Waltz’s subsequent foul on guard Krystal Buchanan put her on the free-throw line.

Buchanan increased the Mavs’ lead to 51-49. Both teams traded possessions before Hallman committed the contentious charging foul.

Ogunoye’s 21 points led Texas-Arlington (2-0) in its effort to spoil Henrickson’s regular season debut at Kansas (0-1). The defeat marked the first time since 1984 that KU has dropped a home-opener, not to mention its second defeat in a row counting the exhibition loss to the West Coast All-Stars.

Junior guard Erica Hallman tries to get by Texas-Arlington guard Tabitha Wesley during second half action. The Lady Mavs beat the Jayhawks 53-49, Sunday afternoon at Allenfield House.

Henrickson said afterward that the defeat couldn’t be blamed on any one aspect of the Jayhawks’ game, but rather several shortcomings the team displayed Sunday.

“The result isn’t going to change unless we make changes,” Henrickson said. “There isn’t one thing, it’s literally probably 50 different things.”

Kemp said she believed shooting was the team’s main problem, despite her 56 percent shooting from the field.

“I think it was they were forcing us to shoot off-balance shots and sometimes out shot selection wasn’t very good,” Kemp said. “Sometimes it’s a matter of them not going in.”

KU only has until Wednesday to work on its game before playing host to Sacred Heart.