PROVO — For the first time in his eight years at the helm of the BYU women's basketball program, coach Jeff Judkins has post players who can score inside and outside the paint.

That's one of the reasons why Judkins is optimistic as his team prepares to open the 2009-10 season against Utah Valley University Friday (3:30) at the Marriott Center.

"Now I've got some centers who drive in and shoot it from the outside," Judkins said.

Leading the way is redshirt freshman Alexis Kaufusi.

"She's Karl Malone Jr. That's how she plays. She runs the floor, she's physical, she can score," Judkins explained. "She's a really good player. Last year, she would have helped us a lot. But as you look at it now, it was a blessing to be able to redshirt her because she's playing with a lot of confidence. She's a force inside and she can score in so many different ways. That's going to be a plus for us."

Returning to the lineup are guards Mindy Nielson, who led the Cougars in scoring last season, averaging 10.4 points per game, and Jazmine Forman. Plus, Haley Hall will make her third comeback attempt after suffering season-ending ACL knee injuries the past three seasons.

While BYU has only one senior on the roster — guard Jaime Judkins — coach Judkins likes the leadership and experience on this team.

"I'm used to having more than one senior," Judkins said. "But we have a lot of juniors that played a lot of minutes as freshmen. We have a good upperclass, which is a real positive for us. We've also got some good young players who have worked really hard. We have a lot of depth. We have a lot of firepower. We have great inside presence and we have outside players who can score."

One key to success will be playing better at home.

"We lost more games at home than we did on the road," said Judkins. "I'm going to challenge our team to see if we can go undefeated. We don't have UConn on our home schedule, so we can honestly do it. We're going to push for that."

After finishing 18-11 overall and 8-8 in the Mountain West Conference (a tie for fifth), the Cougars are eager to improve.

"It's been a long off-season," said Foreman. "We're anxious to get back on the court and show what we got."

BYU was picked to finish sixth in the preseason MWC poll.

"Personally, I think we're better than sixth," Judkins said.

BYU vs. Utah Valley

Today, 3:30 p.m.

TV: None

Radio: None

e-mail: jeffc@desnews.com