Bonnie Henrickson’s second Late Night in the Phog might even be more fun than her first.

That’s because the Kansas University women’s basketball coach enters the event armed with a top-25 recruiting class and six accomplished returning players.

“We’re excited about our first recruiting class and the growth of those players already in our program,” Henrickson said.

“We’ll need to continue to build on the foundation we set last season, but we feel like we have the pieces in place to have the type of improvement that we expect.”

In year one, Henrickson instilled in her team the importance of working hard and “coming right” every day.

Playing “Bonnie Ball,” the team experienced its best campaign in five seasons.

“I think we made great progress,” Henrickson said. “In areas of strength and conditioning, we saw tremendous growth. Defensively, we were better than I had anticipated and, most importantly, we learned to be consistent in our work ethic.”

This season, a trio of seniors who started last season returns in Erica Hallman, Kaylee Brown and Crystal Kemp.

“I expect Erica, Kaylee and Crystal — having been with us for a year and understanding what the expectation level is — to lead us. They also understand what the increased expectation level for this team will be as far as getting to the postseason, and I think they are quite capable,” Henrickson said. “I’ve noticed some change from them in the spring and summer, but just like anything else I’ll always ask for a little bit more.

“It’s realistic for us to feel like we have a chance to move up in the Big 12 North and knock on the door for postseason,” Henrickson said. “If it’s the WNIT and we build from there, then that’s a good place to start.”

Other returnees include junior guard Sharita Smith and sophomore forwards Taylor McIntosh and Jamie Boyd.

McIntosh was a surprise starter last season. Smith and Boyd operated primarily as the first two weapons off the bench. Five newcomers, including four freshmen and one junior, will look to make impacts.

Junior College Player of the Year Shaquina Mosley joins freshmen Ivana Catic and Sophronia Sallard on the perimeter, while freshmen posts Jen Orgas and Marija Zinic will fight for minutes in the paint.

Aquanita Burras, the third-leading scorer and team’s top defensive specialist, has graduated. Henrickson is penciling in Smith or one of the several talented newcomers to become the new stopper.

“I talked to Sharita at the end of last season about becoming our defensive presence this year,” Henrickson said. “She is the most likely candidate to be able to replace Aqua defensively but she’s going to have to have a willingness to put in the hard work it takes to do something like that. Shaq is another player who we think could really be a great defender.”

Since day one, Henrickson has emphasized defense and creating opportunities from the defense. While it remains to be seen just who will step up on that end of the floor, the offensive firepower should be vastly improved.

Tonight is the first sneak peek of that firepower, the women expected again to scrimmage against the “Dream Team,” a group of men’s players who help out at practice.