SEATTLE (AP) - When last season finally ended for Washington, they needed more mental healing than anything else.

If matching the record for the worst season in school history wasn't bad enough, the miserable 2008-09 campaign was only accentuated by headline grabbing losses of 30 to California, 58 to Connecticut and a Pac-10 record 77 to Stanford.

Saying they are healed from the scars of last year's 8-22 season, the Huskies begin what they hope is a rapid turnaround on Sunday when they travel to Portland State for their season opener.

"We needed a break from the game a little bit and just find ourselves again and believe in the things that we bring to the table individually and collectively," third-year head coach Tia Jackson said. "But yeah, we needed a little bit of bandaging up."

Former athletic director Todd Turner fired successful, longtime coach June Daugherty after the 2006 season because Turner believed the program lacked "buzz," and replaced her with Jackson, a first-time head coach. Now about to enter her third year, Jackson has yet to generate the positive buzz most hoped her arrival would bring.

Yet despite last season's dismal record, Jackson claims not to feel any extra pressure entering year No. 3.

"It's the same pressures as always, making sure our team is healthy, our team is improving, continuing to stay together and continuing to build toward the ultimate goal of being dominant nationally," Jackson said.

Before being dominant, just being the best team in the state might be a good jumping off point. Gonzaga is now considered among the rising programs in the country, and Daugherty-led Washington State was picked four spots ahead of the Huskies in the preseason Pac-10 poll.

But Jackson believes she has pieces to build around, none bigger than 6-foot-3 center Regina Rogers, the former Washington Class 3A state player of the year in high school. Rogers returned to Seattle after one season at UCLA and instantly gives the Huskies a presence in the post.

"I've never played against a more physical player," guard Kristi Kingma said. "But she also has a heart for the game and when you play against someone who has such a heart for the game and wants to get after it on every possession and wants their team to be so successful and win, obviously those players can't be denied. To have her on our team now is just so exciting."

Rogers averaged 6.3 points and 4.3 rebounds as a freshman at UCLA before sitting out last year after deciding to come back to Washington. Along with Laura McClellan, the Huskies have a formidable duo on the inside that could help make up for last year when the Huskies were outrebounded by more than five boards per game.

But Washington also needs help on the perimeter. The Huskies shot just 28 percent on 3-pointers a year ago, despite hoisting 481 attempts. Sami Whitcomb led the Huskies in scoring last year at 12.8 points per game, but shot just 37 percent.

Whitcomb, Sarah Morton and Sara Mosiman will likely be the Huskies' starting backcourt for the opener, with Kingma providing a scoring punch off the bench.

Washington went to the NCAA tournament 10 straight seasons between 1985 and 1995, and went another six times between 1997 and 2007 with Daugherty as head coach. In 2001, the Huskies reached the regional finals before losing to Southwest Missouri State.

While no one is reaching that far, everyone is confident the projections that Washington would finish last in the Pac-10 will be proven wrong.

"Our team is a lot more focused on our expectations this year and not the expectations others have for us," Whitcomb said. "I don't think we expected people after the way last year played out to do any better than that. Our focus is going to be the belief that this year is bigger and better for us."