With questions swirling around the UConn women’s basketball team’s ability to make it back to the national title game this year after losing three key players, the Huskies started their preseason out with a dominant performance on Sunday to silence some of those doubts.

Showing an impressive amount of chemistry for a team that added two players with little experience to the starting lineup, the Huskies showed off their signature speed and assist-heavy offense in a 96-30 rout of Vanguard University at Gampel Pavilion. The exhibition was overwhelmingly positive, but it also showed the problems the Huskies still need to address.

“Every exhibition game is the same,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “You’re going to play a team you’re going to beat by a lot so you can’t go by the final score, so you try to go by ‘How did it look? What was the feel of it?’ and those first five, six, seven minutes — considering it was the first time out — a lot of good stuff was happening.”

The starting five — led by seniors Katie Lou Samuelson and Napheesa Collier, who contributed a game-high 26 points apiece — proved to be on the same page a majority of the time they spent on the court together during the first and third quarters. Megan Walker and Christyn Williams, the new additions to the lineup, were able to take pressure off of Samuelson, Collier and Crystal Dangerfield. They didn’t show any signs of being nervous.

Williams stood out early on in the exhibition, scoring the Huskies’ first four points on aggressive drives to the basket. Later on the freshman would show off her 3-point range, connecting on a pair of 3-pointers. By the end of the first half she had 10 points and four rebounds before tacking on another rebound before the end of the game.

“Of course there’s some things I need to work on, but overall I think I did a pretty good job,” Williams said,

Walker had a decent game with aggressive rebounding and points in the paint. She had a few opportunities for 3-pointers, but struggled to get her shot to fall throughout the afternoon. She finished the game with 11 points, a team-high 12 rebounds and two assists.

Auriemma said Walker and Williams played at around the same level they’ve been practicing at and did what the team needed them to do throughout the game. He’s expecting the pair to contribute more as the season goes on.

By the end of the first quarter the Huskies were already up 34-6 and had begun playing with lineups to give some of the starters a break. Once Walker and Williams weren’t in the game it became pretty clear that the level of play drops off noticeably, even with Samuelson, Collier and Dangerfield in the game because it puts more responsibility on the Core Three. Auriemma warned earlier in the fall that this was to be expected, and it showed on Sunday.

As substitutions began and lasted the entirety of the second quarter, Kyla Irwin, Molly Bent, Mikayla Coombs and Batouly Camara all saw playing time. The bench also closed out the game, playing a majority of the fourth quarter and being outscored 15-9.

“I’ve been saying it for two years now, or however long I’ve been saying it, that we’ve got a gap between a certain group that we play and the next group,” Auriemma said. “It’s too early in the season to make any assumptions, but anyone coming off the bench has to feel like they can contribute something because we’re going to need them at some point.”

What remained consistent for UConn from last season was the play of Samuelson, Collier and Dangerfield. After the first quarter they largely took over scoring for the team in the next two quarters. Samuelson also had five assists and 11 rebounds, while Collier recorded eight rebounds and four assists. Dangerfield finished with seven points, eight assists and four rebounds.

“I think I’m just trying to do more stuff this year,” Samuelson said. “We lost a really big rebounder for us (Gabby Williams), and I’ve been trying to do it more in practice and just be more of an all-around player for this team.”

The Huskies will face their first real test in their home opener next Sunday against Ohio State at noon inside Gampel Pavilion. The game against the Buckeyes should be a more accurate look at where this year’s UConn team stands.