James Madison women’s basketball coach Sean O’Regan is about to find out if his team, full of fresh faces, is up for a challenge.

The Dukes are set to open up the 2020-21 season -- O’Regan’s fifth as head coach and JMU’s first inside the $140 million Atlantic Union Bank Center -- Wednesday at 4 p.m. against Mount St. Mary’s. JMU, picked to finish first in the Colonial Athletic Association, has games against ACC and Big 12 opponents looming in the coming weeks as the Dukes attempt to build an NCAA Tournament resume in the oddest of pandemic-shortened seasons.

But a shorthanded JMU squad with eight available players shouldn’t sleep on The Mount.

“I’m really just excited to play a game and get one on the board here,” O’Regan said. “Not crying about it, but an exhibition scrimmage would have told me a lot about this team. We don’t have that, and that is OK, but we have to learn on the fly. I’ve told our coaches we have to be ready to coach our tails off and adjust.”

Admittedly, the Dukes have had little trouble with such opponents recently. Over JMU’s past 25 regular season home games against mid-major opponents, the Dukes have won by an average of 22.4 points. Eight times they’ve topped the visitors by at least 30 and only twice has such a game been decided by single digits.

And while this JMU squad doesn’t lack for talent -- four high-major transfers and one of the program’s highest-rated recruiting classes ever bolster the roster alongside returners such as junior point guard Madison Green and sophomore duo Kiki Jefferson and Rayne Tucker -- the Dukes are blending seven newcomers into the lineup and will be shorthanded with four players in isolation for COVID-19 reasons.

Plus they are facing a rising mid-major power.

Maria Marchesano is entering her fourth season as head coach of the Mountaineers, and quickly turned a downtrodden program into one to watch. Last season, The Mount won 20 games for the first time since 2000 and this year is picked to win the Northeastern Conference title.

Mount St. Mary’s will arrive in Harrisonburg with a balanced roster that can light it up from 3-point range. The Mount hit 34 percent of its 3-point attempts last season with six players who averaged between 7.1 and 12.6 points per game last season.

“We have so many people who can put the ball in the hole, but especially from the 3-point line,” Marchesano said. “We had multiple times where we had four, five or six players in double figures, which I had never experienced before. It’s awesome because if you are scouting against us, which kid do you key on?”

After going 14-4 with a second-place finish in the NEC last season, The Mount brings nearly everyone back, including all-conference guard Michaela Harrison, who averaged 12.6 points and 2.8 assists last season. Also returning is 5-10 forward Kendall Bresee. The daughter of former JMU offensive lineman Rich Bresee and sister of Clemson defensive end Bryan Bresee, Kendall averaged 11.3 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists last season after transferring from George Washington.

“They are a good basketball team,” O’Regan said. “That’s fine with me. They will bring a high level of experience and they will bring a ton of intensity. Watching them on film, they play really hard. I think that is great for us. It’s going to be a challenge for us to be able to play this game without a full roster.”