The Colorado women's basketball program went back to the future this week.

Kathy McConnell-Miller couldn't be happier for seniors Jackie McFarland and Susie Powers, who will finally have a chance to experience postseason play on Monday night against Gonzaga.

But with 13 days in between CU's loss at the Big 12 Tournament and the second-round WNIT game at the Coors Events Center, the third-year head coach took advantage of an opportunity to start preparing for the 2008-09 season on the court.

Powers returned to practice on Friday after sitting out most of the sessions with the flu. McFarland has been doing drills while getting physically and mentally healed from a bruising conference grind.

That allowed the coaching staff to work with different combinations of players who will be returning to the pro-gram next year.

"I've gotten a look at what this team is going to look like in the future," McConnell-Miller said when asked about replacing the leadership the two seniors have provided. "I don't know who is going to evolve as the leader, to be honest with you. We've got some strong personalities on this team, we've got some strong players, and it's going to be interesting who evolves as the leader."

Versatile sophomore Aija Putnina certainly has the talent to be a star at CU. The 6-foot-3 forward has averaged 7.4 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks this season.

"I have so much to learn," Putnina said. "This experience, it's kind of like practicing for next year and building our team chemistry."

Putnina scored CU's first nine points against Iowa State in Kansas City on 3-for-3 shooting. For some reason she never took another shot in the Buffs' 76-50 loss on March 11.

"I've told Aija from the first day that she's come in here that she has the ability to shoot the three, to play with her back to the basket ... I think she gives us a look and a dimension that no one else in the program does," McConnell-Miller said. "She's a pretty skilled player and she likes to play. You want players on the floor that like to play."

Brittany Spears isn't a very vocal person, at least not with the media, but will obviously lead by example next season. The 6-1 forward has average 13.5 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game.

The third current starter returning next season will be sophomore shooting guard Bianca Smith (10.0 ppg, 71 made 3-pointers).

Hannah Skildum (16 starts), Whitney Houston (four starts) and Kara Richards (three starts) also return with a lot of experience from this up-and-down 16-14 campaign.

"I've taken advantage of the practice time just to get these player rejuvenated and get a little separation from the Big 12," McConnell-Miller said. "We've been building up their confidence, challenging them on the floor, showing them how good they can be ... just reestablishing how good they are at times and trying to make them more consistent."

The Buffs will have to play at a high level to advance against the Bulldogs (25-8). Gonzaga has won three consecutive West Coast Conference regular-season titles and was snubbed by the NCAA Tournament selection committee after losing in its conference tournament title game.