The experience of winning the Western Athletic Conference tournament title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament provided plenty of experience but not a lot of attention for the California Baptist University women’s basketball team, and that’s fine with head coach Jarrod Olson.

Now in his 12th season at CBU, Olson has built a culture of development that builds trust more effectively than any banner or national tournament appearance.

“The thing that we do well is lean on our culture and our value structure, and that’s what has made our team special,” said Olson, the Western Athletic Conference coach of the year. “They’re all in. The players believe in it and they believe in what we’re doing.”

Grace Schmidt, the 2023 WAC freshman of the year, returns after missing last season due to injury as the Lancers open the 2024-25 NCAA Division I season at Oregon on Monday at 4 p.m.

“I think we’re wanting to challenge ourselves a little bit,” Olson said. “We’ll definitely find out where we are as a team right away.”

An unblemished 14-0 mark at the Dale E. and Sarah Ann Fowler Events Center last season underscored a brilliant 18-2 conference record and 28-4 overall finish, but a new year means a new team.

“We lost three great players and added a few with some great potential,” Olson said. “That’s the exciting part.”

Graduating one of the program’s all-time great players — Chloe Webb — is not a new problem for Olson, who has already won more than 100 Division I games and now sees player graduations and departures as an opportunity to create new solutions.

“We have some experience with that because we’ve had a lot of really good players come through here and they all end up leaving at some point,” Olson said. “The biggest thing we can do is realize that one person is not going to step in and replace Chloe Webb, but maybe we can do it with several people.”

It may be tougher to replace Nae Nae Calhoun and Kinsley Barrington, Olson said, because of their leadership, toughness and on-court chemistry.

“Those two were the heartbeat of our team last year,” Olson said. “Calhoun, in particular, is one the best leaders we’ve ever had here.”

Senior guards Anaiyah Tu’ua and Nhug Bosch Duran, both on the court at the end of CBU’s 84-55 first-round loss to UCLA in the NCAA Tournament, have assumed larger leadership roles this season.

“They’re both super tough and have great perspectives but they know they have big shoes to fill,” Olson said.

Schmidt, who led all WAC freshmen in points and rebounds in 2022-23 but was out last year with a knee injury, has had a full summer of practice and will be ready to go on Monday night.

“She had a really good offseason, no restrictions, and we’re happy to have her back. She’s a great player,” Olson said. “She’s worked really hard to put herself in a position where she can play well.”

Emma Johansson, a 6-foot-3 center transfer from South Florida who represented Sweden at the 2023 U-20 FIBA Women’s European Championship, will give the Lancers a low post threat and a shot blocker.

“Everybody is on board with two feet in,” Olson said. “We believe in each other and we’re going to use that belief to guide us.”