The youthful women's basketball team will almost definitely learn something about itself tonight.
In their second game of the season, the 22nd-ranked Blue Devils (1-0) will be seriously tested by No. 20 Boston College (1-0) in the second round of the preseason WNIT tonight in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
The Eagles return four starters from a team that upset perennial power Connecticut in Big East play last season and began this year's campaign with an 83-56 opening-round dismantling of Maine.
And while the Eagles simply need to tinker with last year's formula, the Blue Devils are still experimenting with their lineup. Coach Gail Goestenkors still doesn't know exactly what she has in front of her and sees this early-season test as an opportunity for her team to continue its self-exploration.
"[We wanted] to give our young players a chance to play early on, really before the season was supposed to get started, to kind of help us see what we have and help us learn," Goestenkors said. "The more games we can play the better we can be, not just with our freshman but with our returnees too, finding their roles. We're still searching for our identity as a team and it takes experience."
While Goestenkors tries to solve the puzzle, she is also hoping guards Georgia Schweitzer and Krista Gingrich stay in one piece. Both played well in their return to action Monday night, but both complained of soreness yesterday.
The Blue Devil guards can't afford to limp into tonight's game, though, as the Eagles boast one of the Big East's most talented backcourts. Senior Cal Bouchard was first-team All-Big East her sophomore season, but an ACL tear ended her season early last year.
Bouchard is joined by a pair of all-conference honorees, Alissa Murphy and Brianne Stepherson.
"[Their guards] are tough to defend because all three of them can shoot the three and they can all penetrate," Goestenkors said. "You can't take anything away from them."
Inside, 6-foot-1 Becky Gottstein is a versatile forward who can play the post or the perimeter. The sophomore led the team in rebounding last season and in the opener against Maine.
With such talent up and down the lineup, the Eagles boast a menacing inside-outside game that looks very familiar to Goestenkors.
"They kind of remind me of us last year in that they share the ball really well," she said. "They're all good passers, they can all shoot and they use their post game. They have a good inside-outside attack. They don't rely on one person to win; it's really a team effort."
The Blue Devils handily defeated UNC-Greensboro 72-47, Monday yet Goestenkors was not satisfied by her team's effort. But yesterday after practice, she was confident that the Blue Devils would show more fire tonight.
"I feel like we had much better intensity in practice today," Goestenkors said. "We were a lot more relaxed. I don't know if we were tense because it was our first game, but we were just much more relaxed today, more vocal, more intense."
Note: Olga Gvozdenovic, recovering from a torn ACL, will warm-up with the team tonight, but likely will not play for an additional two weeks.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.