Crystal Kemp scored 26 points, tying her career high, in Kansas University’s women’s basketball opener.

Good news? Not when Kemp’s teammates combined for only 23 points.

“We can’t be that one-dimensional against anyone,” first-year KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said.

Ergo, Henrickson will be looking for more balanced scoring when the Jayhawks tangle tonight with Sacred Heart, a Northeast Conference school located in Fairfield, Conn.

Tipoff will be 7:05 p.m. in Allen Fieldhouse. The game will be televised live on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6.

Kemp came off the bench and played 33 minutes when KU fell, 53-49, Sunday to Texas-Arlington. Normally, the 6-foot-2 junior from Topeka is a starter, but she apparently was late for a pregame meeting, and Henrickson sat her early.

Kemp will start tonight, Henrickson said, “if she’s there when she’s supposed to be.”

In the loss to UTA — like Sacred Heart an NCAA Division One mid-major — junior guard Erica Hallman contributed 11 points on the strength of making three of five three-point field goal attempts, but Aquanita Burras, Blair Waltz and Kaylee Brown were a combined 1-for-21 from the field.

“They’re better shooters than that,” Henrickson said. “Also, we need to get Erica more shots.”

6Sports video: Jayhawks looking for offensive options KU-Sacred Heart game notes (.pdf)

Burras, a senior guard who is expected to be one of the Jayhawks’ leading scorers, bricked 10 of her 11 shots.

“Aqua plays hard. You can’t fault her effort,” Henrickson said. “She can be a difference-maker for us, but right now she’s missing shots she’s capable of making.”

Sacred Heart is hardly a pushover. The Pioneers, projected to finish second in the NEC behind perennial league power St. Francis, opened with a 66-53 victory Friday at Yale.

Junior guard Nicolle Rubino led Sacred Heart with 18 points. The Pioneers forced the Elis into 20 turnovers in the first 20 minutes, converting the mistakes into 17 points.

“They shoot really well and run a lot in transition,” Henrickson said of the Pioneers. “They’re effective in different zone defenses, and I’m sure they’ll use a lot of zone against us.”

Sacred Heart, which joined Division One in 1999, also has a standout guard in Amanda Pape, last year’s NEC Rookie of the Year and a preseason all-league selection.

Pape became the first player in school history to lead the Pioneers in scoring as a freshman by averaging 15.1 points per game.

Tonight’s game is the first of three for the Jayhawks in a seven-day stretch. They’ll play host to UMKC at 1 p.m. Friday and to Denver at 7 p.m. Tuesday.