"I love the tools that we have to work with," she said. "We have great athleticism and length."

Specketer also knows some of them are negative.

"We don't have a lot of experience," she said. "Even the sophomores that we have didn't get a whole lot of playing time last year as far as quality, crunch time minutes."

Specketer used the Salt Lake Tournament, held last week, to learn about her team. In Salt Lake's three games, Specketer had three distinctly different opportunities to find out what type of team she is coaching this season.

The Bruins took on Ohlone College on Nov. 13 and found a way to win a tight game. In its first home game of the young season, SLCC survived a late push by Ohlone to win 70-65. After a back-and-forth, mistake-prone first half for both teams, SLCC was seemingly pulling away in the second half. With about four minutes left to play Ohlone made a run and took the lead.. But the way that Salt Lake responded in the final minutes encouraged Specketer.

"We got a couple of stops and got to the foul line," she said. "I thought that was huge for this team to go behind and still hang on."

Salt Lake's game Nov. 14 didn't go as well. With just over a minute to go, SLCC found itself in position to win against No. 6 Midland College with a four-point lead. But the Bruins crumbled. They turned the ball over twice, which led to Midland scores. Salt Lake did have two opportunities to score in the final minute but couldn't cash in. Midland escaped with a 56-55 victory.

On Nov. 15, No. 2 Central Arizona forced its will upon Salt Lake, claiming victory by an 88-57 count. The game was never in doubt as Central Arizona cruised to victory. But not all was lost in defeat for Salt Lake. The decisive loss allowed Specketer to get more players court time and see what potential they have to help the team.

"Central Arizona is just a notch above everybody," Specketer said. "They're ranked second in the nation for a reason."

Even though Salt Lake went 1-2 in the tournament, Specketer was happy with the effort of her players and knows that every game is a learning experience for an inexperienced team. Right now, she is mainly concerned with figuring out what lineups work the best in what situations and guiding the team to improvement before the post-season arrives in March.

Sophomore Marquina Gilliam-Hicks is one player Specketer figures to be a large part of any success Salt Lake eventually enjoys this season. Gilliam-Hicks propelled Salt Lake against Ohlone with 14 points, four rebounds and four steals. She followed up that performance with a strong 11-point 6-rebound effort against Midland.

Sophomore Nicole Brady is also proving her worth on the court so far this season, both as a scorer and rebounder. Her 12 first-half points anchored SLCC against Ohlone when others struggled to find their scoring touch. She finished the game with 20 points and 14 rebounds.

The sophomores aren't the only players stepping up for the Bruins so far. Freshmen Mina Jovanovic and Kelsey Sparkman have been welcome signs of fresh talent and depth for the Bruins. Jovanovic led the Bruins in scoring against both Ohlone and Central Arizona. Sparkman has been SLCC's top rebounder in 5 out of 7 games through Nov. 15 and has also provided supplemental scoring.

"I think Sparkman, for a freshman, did an outstanding job [during the Salt Lake Tournament]," Specketer said. "She really has some promise."

Whether it's by wins or losses, the Bruins are getting more games in the rearview mirror, which means less will surprise them as they try to reach nationals again after not qualifying in 2007-2008.