Offensively, things looked so easy last season for the UConn women's basketball team.

Part of the reason was because Stefanie Dolson was so efficient in the paint. She shot 56.4 percent from the field and also was one of the best passers on the team, averaging 3.7 assists per game.

And when you take Bria Hartley out of the equation along with her 16.2 points and 4.3 assists - the defending NCAA national champions graduated 28.7 points per game and 36.2 percent of its total assists from the All-American duo.

"It's a different team," junior forward Breanna Stewart said following last Sunday's final exhibition game against Post. "Things are going to be a lot different than they were last year. Stef and Bria did a lot for our team. Obviously, people are going to have to step up scoringwise. As long as we can get a little bit out of everybody we should be fine."

What helps coach Geno Auriemma and his staff this season is that despite those departures, there are still plenty of options to turn to for the unanimous pre-season No. 1 team in the country, which begins its season tonight on the West Coast at UC-Davis (10 p.m., no TV).

Look no further than Stewart, the nation's reigning top player who led the Huskies in scoring (19.4 points) and, since the beginning of the 2012 Big East tournament, has been everything that was expected while being the nation's top high school player from Cicero North in Syracuse, N.Y.

Senior Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis (13.4 points) played in just 28 games one year ago after suffering an ulnar nerve contusion to her right elbow while also overcoming mononucleosis. Mosqueda- Lewis, an All-American as a sophomore, is one of the most dangerous 3-point shooters in the country.

Junior guard Moriah Jefferson is on the verge of jumping into the national spotlight at point guard following a very successful sophomore season that saw the elusive 5-foot-7 guard average 10 points per game while leading the team in assists (4.8) and steals (2.5) per game.

You can make the case that UConn could have not just three All-Americans by season's end, but also that each member of the trio carries the mantle of being the best player at their respective positions in the country.

What is different this year is that Auriemma has more options to choose from with the likes of senior Kiah Stokes, redshirt sophomore Morgan Tuck, sophomore Saniya Chong and his group of four freshmen - Kia Nurse, Courtney Ekmark, Gabby Williams and Sadie Edwards.

"Sometimes the less options you have the less you want to use them," Auriemma said. "When you have a lot of options, if you are not careful it's one minute for this guy and if it doesn't work another minute for this guy. ... Stewie, Moriah and Kaleena are used to playing 35 minutes every night last year, they kind of got accustomed to that and they like it."

"Now they are going to have to get used to maybe not quite that many minutes. There is a reason why our offense ran as smoothly as it did last year. There weren't a whole lot of guys coming off the bench to screw it up."

Stokes, who played a major role off the bench in the postseason last season, enters her final season with a sense of urgency as she replaces Dolson. During the Huskies' two exhibition games against overmatched Division II opponents West Chester and Post, Stokes averaged 14 points, 13 rebouinds and seven blocked shots.

"Kiah's got an opportunity to do whatever she wants to do," Auriemma said. "Anybody that accomplishes anything great, it's because they want to, and anybody that comes up short, it's because they wanted to. And I think that's where Kiah is."

Tuck could be on the verge of a breakout season if she can stay healthy. She has been plagued with complications with her right knee in her first two seasons and has the ability to light up the scoreboard from the post and perimeter. Chong, who scored nearly 3,000 points in high school, will have to step up her game after she found herself at times not having confidence in herself during her freshman season.

And the quartet of freshmen is led by Nurse, the niece of former NFL quarterback Donovan McNabb, who has shown signs of maturity beyond her years with plenty of international experience on the Canadian National Team, including this summer at the World Championships, which Auriemma's U.S. team won, in the Czech Republic.

"She certainly has the will and the drive to be great and she will be great," Auriemma said. "I don't know when, but she'll be great."

What does Stewart like about the offense heading into the season opener?

"I think the offense right now is good," Stewart said. "When Moriah has the ball in her hands she knows she has to control the offense. With our new guys, who are learning and starting to get things each day in practice, we have to make sure they don't stop and be unsure of themselves.

"We just have to make hard cuts and move the ball and we'll get the open shot eventually."