Kansas sophomore Sade Morris (20) slides in for a lay-up against Cal-Riverside. The Jayhawks won, 62-49, Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse.

KU senior Taylor McIntosh (13) drives the lane against UC Riverside. KU won, 62-49, Sunday at Allen Fieldhouse.

No way Kansas University can win without Danielle McCray. Uh, check that.

With their leading scorer and rebounder out because of an injury, KU’s women’s basketball team responded by tripping Cal-Riverside, 62-49, on Sunday night in Allen Fieldhouse.

“They played a very good game without their best player on the floor,” UCR coach John Margaritis said.

Specifically, Sade Morris and Taylor McIntosh did. Morris scored a career-high 20 points and matched her career high with six rebounds.

“We had to have different people step up,” said Morris, a 5-foot-11 sophomore who had been averaging 12.9 points a game. “I’m part of that, but we had other people.”

Mostly McIntosh, who contributed 14 points and eight boards.

“I’ve been here long enough,” said McIntosh, a 5-11 senior, “to know that, yes, we didn’t have (McCray), but we have business to take care of.”

Point guard Ivana Catic also took care of business. Catic had only five points and three assists, but notably she wasn’t guilty of a single turnover.

McIntosh logged 38 minutes, Catic 37 and Morris 35.

“I wasn’t surprised. I thought we might sputter losing Danielle’s 13 shots a game,” KU coach Bonnie Henrickson said, “but Taylor was solid, Sade was solid, and Ivana’s court management was solid.”

Not so solid, however, is the status of McCray. The 5-foot-11 sophomore, who is averaging 16.6 points and 8.0 rebounds spent the entire game on the bench, charting deflected shots on a clipboard.

McCray’s problem is her left ankle, the same ankle that was operated on prior to her freshman year.

“It’s not a fracture. It’s a stress reaction,” Henrickson said. “We’re fortunate we caught it early.”

McCray said the ankle hurts only when she plays basketball, that she is in no pain at all when she walks.

“I noticed it about two weeks ago when I was in the training room,” said McCray, an Olathe East product. “They took an X-ray, and it didn’t show anything, but the MRI showed it.”

McCray will accompany the Jayhawks on their two-game swing to the San Francisco Bay Area – Wednesday at San Jose State and Friday at Cal-Berkeley – but she isn’t likely to play.

“Obviously, we want to have our leading scorer and rebounder for every game,” Henrickson said, “but she understands the Big 12 is the most important part of our schedule.”

The Jayhawks’ first conference game will be Jan. 9 against Oklahoma State.

Kansas played the entire game without its top scorer and rebounder while Cal-Riverside played the second half without Kemie Nkele, the reigning Big West Conference played of the year.

Nkele, who missed the Highlanders’ first three games while recovering from off-season knee surgery, tangled with McIntosh 90 seconds before halftime. Both players went to the floor, but Nkele didn’t get up.

UCR’s 6-1 senior standout had reinjured the knee and spent the second half on the bench.

“Not having Kemie had some impact on the game,” Margaritis said, stressing, however, that Kansas had more weapons to take up the slack.

“They are explosive,” Margaritis said of the Jayhawks. “They shoot the ball exceptionally well. They were just very tough to play against.”

Notes: Kansas made half its shots (24-48), outrebounded UCR, 35-29, and forced 15 turnovers. : Now 8-1, Kansas has won five straight, all in Allen Fieldhouse. UCR, the preseason favorite to repeat in the Big West, fell to 2-7. : Nkele had six points and six boards before being sidelined.