The first impression of the Binghamton women’s basketball team: a mixed bag.

Individual players shined at points in the opening exhibition game, but the team as a whole looked shaky, with new players struggling to fill in roles vacated by the graduated seniors.

“We’re going to have new players finding their way in some very tough games early on,” said head coach Rich Conover. “I think that knowing one another, knowing where we’re going to be, well, that’s going to come with time.”

For the Bearcats to cut the nets down in Vestal this March, several things must happen.

The importance of a premier point guard trumps everything else in the women’s game. Shea Kenny acts as the brain on the court, and more often than not is the best athlete to boot. But Kenny actually has to be on the court for her skills to make an impact, after missing the exhibition season due to injury.

Look at the top three teams in the America East last year: Hartford, Stony Brook and Boston University all had point guards that garnered first-team America East honors.

As for Kenny, last season you didn’t know what you were getting on a nightly basis. She looked like a prime-time clutch performer in a road win against Marshall and home wins against Stony Brook and UMBC. Unfortunately, she would then play below par in many tough conference games when the team needed a spark. More consistency will be required from Kenny, the Bearcats’ undisputed team leader, to improve upon last year’s 17-12 record.

Junior center Laine Kurpniece summed it up well when asked about how much impact senor point guard Shea Kenny has on the team.

”A lot,” Kurpniece replied.

Aside from Kenny, the vast majority of BU’s ability looks to be in the post.

“I think we’ll be very, very strong in the post,” Conover said. “We’ve got a lot of weapons in there. Laine and Juta and Laura Franceski, Erin Owens, Bri Thompson; those are all five players who can score the ball when they’re coming in.”

Kurpniece, selected to the America East preseason first team, must play up to her billing. A powerful force in the post, she is incredibly hard for opponents to defend due to her sheer size and strength. Kurpniece will see constant double teams, opening up opportunities for other players to score.

In addition to Kenny and the women up front, Laura Sario must maximize her talent as well. She needs to use her experience playing this summer on the Finnish National team to raise her game to another level. And new players, especially the three freshmen, must step up and make an impact.

“I think we’re going to need for them to play minutes,” Conover said. “We can’t play Laura Sario, Shea Kenny and Rebecka Lindgren 40 minutes a night.”

So, what’s the bottom line?

This team is definitely a work in progress, but there’s a lot of serious talent. They’ll have to gel before the conference season starts, because the America East is one of the top three mid-major conferences in the country.

The Bearcats were picked to finish fourth in the America East, but keep this in mind: another BU sports team was also picked to finish fourth this fall. They lost three seniors in Graham Munro, Danilo and Darius Ravangard, who were considered by many to be irreplaceable. A week ago, they went on to win the America East championship in dramatic fashion.

Women’s basketball can pull it off just like men’s soccer, but it’s a very long and arduous road.

That road starts Tuesday.