CONWAY — Following their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, as the Sugar Bears walked off the court after their loss to 3rd-seeded Texas in March, walking away with them was seven combined all-Southland Conference selections; a Southland All-Defensive performer; a former Southland Freshman of the Year; a Southland Tournament MVP; the program's Division I era career leaders in 3-pointers, assists and blocks; nearly 3,000 points and over 1,500 rebounds; and more than 10,000 minutes of experience.

After going 54-9 over the past two seasons en route to consecutive Southland Conference tournament championships and splitting the 2017 Southland regular season championship with Abilene Christian, the Sugar Bears are looking for similar results this season – but will have to do so with a decidedly different look.

Just five players who saw action last season return as Central Arkansas is set to open its 2017-18 season on Friday night in the Farris Center against crosstown foe Hendrix. Of those five, only two started more than half the team's games; only two scored more than 2.5 points per game; only one averaged more than 20.3 minutes per game.

Fortunately, while they are without many of the parts that made up the championship teams of the last two seasons, they are not without talent. The Sugar Bears welcome back one of the best duos in the Southland Conference in senior forwards Taylor Baudoin and Kierra Jordan, both preseason all-conference selections who combined to average 25.3 points and 12.8 rebounds per game a year ago while shooting a combined 55.1 percent from the floor.

Sophomore Taylor Sells started 17 games as a freshman and was second on the team in assists at 2.5 per game. Senior Angel Williams has 79 games and nearly 900 minutes of playing experience in the system and was the team's leading free throw shooter at 91.7 percent and second-leading 3-point shooter at 38.5 percent last season. Sophomore Maddie Goodner played in 22 games a year ago and was 3rd on the team in 3-pointers made and 5th in blocks.

Redshirt sophomore Tieraney Paylor, who played just 64 minutes as a freshman in 2015-16, missed all of last season due to injury.

Everybody else is new.

"Nothing takes the place of experience," said head coach Sandra Rushing, who enters her 6th season leading the Sugar Bears with a record of 104-50 (.675) at Central Arkansas and more than 500 wins in all during her career. "Our biggest thing is that we have to go get some experience in games. We have talent, we just don't have a lot of experience. The one thing I don't want people to do, and I have asked our players not to do, is to compare this team with last year's team – especially this team early with where last year's team was late. That was a veteran team that had been through the battles. We haven't done that with this group yet. Do I think they can achieve all the things they want? Yes, absolutely. But it comes down to grinding it out, spending time putting in the extra work, and when they fully commit and buy in, and we get some experience, we should be OK."

The experience starts on Friday against Division III Hendrix College, then picks up in a hurry when they follow with a trip to No. 3 Baylor next Tuesday, the first of three ranked opponents in the non-conference slate – all with national championships to their credit – as No. 14 Tennessee and No. 20 Texas A&M also await.

"It's going to be a challenge from the beginning," Rushing said. "We start right off with a team playing a crosstown rival from a higher division, and they're a veteran team that had a great season last year and won their conference. We're coming in with a bunch of new guards against their team that has played together. Anything can happen. Then we go and play the big dogs. But every game is going to give us an opportunity to learn something. We're going to be working to figure out which combinations work and what our strengths and weaknesses are as a team as we prepare for conference. But right now we don't know a whole lot – we're still trying to figure out who is going to take the ball out. For the last four years that was Bri Mullins or Maggie Proffitt. We were spoiled. Now I truly don't know. We haven't had them out there in true pressure situations yet, so we will see starting Friday how they react."

With a host of newcomers, practice has often gone too slow – and the game too fast.

"In practice you're having to do a lot of teaching and it's been slow – trying to get people to buy in on the defensive end is always a challenge," Rushing said. "And right now the game is too fast for our freshmen. But that'll come with experience and playing time. We've had freshman groups before like that, and they turned out to be all-conference players. They're a good group talent-wise, I love their skill and that they want to please, but I want them to get tougher and they've got to adjust to the speed of the game."

In addition to an increase in production, Rushing is looking to her small returning group to also provide an increase in leadership – an area that has also come slower than she'd hoped throughout the preseason.

"I think our returners have gone a good job of trying to lead, however when you have more new players than returners, it's a challenge for them on the floor trying to help the newcomers understand what we're doing and the expectations," she said. "At this point, we're still looking for a true leader on this team. That's really our major weakness right now is a lack of leadership. They're still adjusting to being in that role. But even if you're not a vocal leader, lead by example. Get in the gym. I'm not asking for two or three hours, but get in there for 20, 30 minutes and work on your weaknesses. That's how championship teams are made. You can't get everything you want in during practice time, especially with so many new players. Somebody in that locker room has to say 'we need to do this, this, and this' – that's what I'm looking for right now."

Among the newcomers are a freshman group of 6-foot-1 center Hannah Langhi out of Benton, Ky. and 6-foot forward Mekaylan Hicks who played for former Sugar Bear point guard and assistant coach Destinee Rogers at El Dorado, along with 5-8 guard Savannah Lowe, who played under former Sugar Bear Ashley (Hutchcraft) Nance at Conway High.

"Hannah can shoot the 15 footer, even the 3 a little, so she brings some versatility – she just has to get stronger," Rushing said. "MK is going to be able to rebound for us and she is skilled offensively and can score. Savannah, without a doubt, is really a great shooter who is going to be a defensive specialist for us once she figures everything out. The game is just a little fast for them right now, but I am excited to watch them grow and mature throughout the year."

The Sugar Bears also have a trio of transfers at their disposal this season in former Little Rock Central star Kamry Orr, who began her collegiate career at Sam Houston State; 5-10 guard Antonija Bozic from Croatia by way of Jacksonville College; and 5-9 guard Alanie Fisher from Coffeyville Community College, who is rehabbing from injury and won't be available until mid-season. Wright State transfer center Alexyse Thomas will sit out the season due to NCAA transfer rules.

"Kamry''s done a tremendous job so far and is quick as a cat," Rushing said. "She's going to have to run the show for us, and she probably doesn't feel entirely comfortable in that role just yet, but she will. That takes time. She's a great defensive player and has the ability to score. Antonija is a tremendous shooter and we're going to need that outside presence, but she needs to get a little tougher. Alanie will not be released until late December, and then she will have to get into game shape, so we don't know for sure yet when she will be able to help us, but we knew that when we signed her and she's a talented player we're looking forward to getting back out on the court at some point during the conference season."

It's that conference season where all of the Sugar Bears' goals await as they seek another regular season crown and look to 3-peat in the tournament and make another trip to the NCAAs – where they would like to get over the hump and take the next step with a win in the first round. But those are the big goals, and are all months away. For now, Rushing's focus is on smaller goals.

"Going into Friday night, and as we start the non-conference schedule, what I want to see is how much we've retained from practice and what we can carry over into games," she said. "We can do drills great in practice, but I want carryover when we're out there against somebody else. That includes communicating with each other, understanding floor spacing, shot selection, all of those things. We know what we want to accomplish by the end of the season, but at the beginning we need to celebrate the little success as we go, improve on something every game, and that to me is what's going to help us down the road."