Kansas University’s women’s basketball team figuratively closed the book on its 2004-05 season with its end-of-the-year reception Sunday at SpringHill Suites.

Approximately 200 people showed up to commemorate KU’s best season since 2001.

It also was the end of KU coach Bonnie Henrickson’s first year, in which she began to turn around a team that had been mired at the bottom of the Big 12 Conference standings in recent years.

Arriving at KU with a short bench and a team with four consecutive losing seasons was not an easy task, but Henrickson said Sunday her team wasn’t interested in taking the easy way out.

“My favorite quote, ‘If the piano needs to be moved, don’t reach for the stool,'” Henrickson said.

Henrickson spoke fondly of her first team at KU and applauded the Jayhawks’ adaptability with a coaching change. Afterward, she said the season was one of the most rewarding of her career.

“The losing was tough, and as a staff we’re so competitive. We’re competitive about everything,” Henrickson said. “But it was more rewarding than most people would probably believe and probably more rewarding than we had anticipated.”

A recurring theme at the reception was teamwork, and therefore there were no individual awards given, except academic awards given for a team that also boasted its best overall grade-point average in four years.

But a major gift was in store for Henrickson.

Kansas University women's basketball seniors Blair Waltz, left, and Aquanita Burras, center, and coach Bonnie Henrickson applaud during the team's annual awards reception. The event was Sunday at SpringHill Suites.

Gwen Perkins, wife of KU athletics director Lew Perkins, announced the birth of a fully endowed Bonnie Henrickson Scholarship. The master of ceremonies for the reception — Brenda VanLengen, Big 12 analyst for Fox Sports — said the gift was a step in the right direction for the program.

Henrickson said she was thankful for the gift and saw it in part as a token of recognition from the community.

“I was shocked when they talked to me about it,” Henrickson said. “I’m honored and humbled. I think it’s great for the program and speaks volumes about the respect we’ve gained in the community.”

The final segment of the reception honored the team’s two outgoing seniors, Aquanita Burras and Blair Waltz.

Burras said afterward that the event provided closure on her college-basketball career.

“Now, reality has hit, and we just have to move on and do what’s best for us in our careers,” Burras said.

Burras said she was looking into the possibility of playing basketball overseas.

Waltz might embark on a professional-sports career of her own after she wraps up her college degree in a month.

“I want to move to California and try to pursue being a pro-beach volleyball player. Every year I’ve been here we’ve gotten better, so we can go nowhere but up,” Waltz said.

Waltz said she was confident in the team’s direction and made a lofty prediction in her speech.

“I guarantee you we’ll be in the top 25 in four years, no doubt,” Waltz said.