Any time your team loses a season-opening game on a buzzer beater, bouncing back is tough.

But this year, head coach Tia Jackson doesn’t have eight newcomers like she did in 2008. Instead, Jackson returns 12 players who have the experience needed to be able to rebound from a loss like the 67-66 heartbreaker at Portland State Saturday.

“I think, for the most part, that initial hit — losing on a buzzer beater — that’s a tough one,” Jackson said of the loss, which was PSU’s first victory over the UW since 1980. “But I think the recovery was really good.”

The Huskies returned to Seattle and didn’t miss a step. On Monday, Jackson said that practice was “tremendous” and competition “awesome.”

“The attention and detail in practice yesterday was exceptional,” Jackson said. “Coming off of that game to see that response — that was impressive.”

The UW (0-1) will play its home opener tonight against BYU (1-0). The Cougars are coming off a 73-51 win over Utah Valley University, and they feature an impressive transition game with a full-court press that the Huskies have been prepping for.

“We have a really good challenge ahead of us with BYU,” Jackson said. “They have some pretty good freshman post players that are going to be a handful for us, but I think we’ve got a pretty exciting bunch right now.”

Sophomore transfer Regina Rogers will start in her first home game as a Husky. Through two exhibition games and the Portland State game, the UCLA transfer and Seattle native has been plagued by foul trouble and has yet to make a big impact for the Huskies.

Despite this, Rogers has still opened up jump shots for the guards simply because of her presence on the court. Jackson said it’s too early to expect any instant gratification from any of her players yet this season. The third-year head coach still wants Rogers to improve her endurance and speed on the court.

“Regina has responded pretty well to the up-and-down pace of the game,” Jackson said. ”We really monitor her time out there, but the more we get up and down in practice, [and] the more we make sure she’s sustaining the reps in practice, the better return we’re going to see in the game.”

The loss at Portland State has provided extra energy for tonight’s home opener, Jackson said. Losing in that fashion was a tough way to start the season, especially after enduring an eight-win season last year.

“We’re excited to see how we bounce back after this past weekend,” Jackson said.

This will be the first time Husky fans will be able to see the new-look Huskies on the hardwood. Jackson and her players are ready to show the home fans how much they’ve evolved since last year.

“It’ll be nice in front of our fans to really show how much growth we’ve had,” Jackson said.

The last time the two teams met was in 1999, when BYU beat the UW 82-65 in Seattle.

Reach reporter Taylor Soper at sports@dailyuw.com.