For the second-straight year, the Iowa women’s basketball team enters the season after losing five seniors to graduation.

But unlike last year, Lisa Bluder’s squad boasts just one senior.

Because of that, as she puts it, the Hawkeyes aren’t “on top of too many people’s radar screens.”

“Anytime you lose five seniors, people are going to wonder about your team,” Bluder said at a press conference during the team’s media day on Wednesday. “And people are going to question how good you’re going to be … But, I think we have plenty of reasons to be optimistic and plenty of reasons to expect this team to be good by year’s end.”

For Bluder, the biggest three reasons are the return of sophomore Kamille Wahlin, junior Kachine Alexander, and her lone senior, JoAnn Hamlin. The trio combined for 64 appearances in Bluder’s starting lineup last season, including Alexander, who started all 32 of the team’s games.

Bluder called her “one of the most exciting players to watch in the Big Ten conference.” And rightfully so.

Last year, Alexander became the first woman in Big Ten history to record two triple-doubles in the same season. Her performance earned her a spot on the coaches’ All-Big Ten second team.

This year, she should be even better after working on diversifying her game by concentrating on her outside shot during the off-season.

“That’s what the coaches told me was stopping me from being a really amazing, unstoppable player,” she said. “It will help my team a lot. Last year, some teams sagged off me, which meant we couldn’t get it in the post. [Having the outside shot] opens it up for the inside, and then if they do start to collapse, then we can kick it out, and I’m able to shoot that shot.”

In addition to Alexander’s improved outside shot, the Hawkeyes will also enjoy the return of Wahlin’s 41.2 percent shooting from beyond the arc, among other things.

As a freshman, Wahlin played in all 32 of Iowa’s games last year. Despite her youth, she boasted a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio on her way to becoming a coaches’ All-Big Ten freshman-team honoree.

With the graduation of former teammate Kristi Smith, Wahlin will return to her natural position this season — point guard.

“I learned a lot from Kristi about how she handled being a floor general,” she said. “I’m hoping with what I learned, and my having used to play the point guard, it will just come naturally to me.”

Then there’s the squad’s only senior — Hamlin.

Hamlin, a fifth-year veteran who transferred from Kansas State following her freshman season, acknowledged the team’s loss of talent.

But that doesn’t put a damper on her expectations for this season.

“We were bigger last year. We could kind of settle down and run the slow half-court offense,” she said. “This year, we’re smaller and quicker, and we’re probably going to try to push the ball up and down — do a lot of things that are quicker that I think will be harder for the bigger teams in the Big Ten to guard.”

Once again, most predict the Hawkeyes to be on the outside looking in come March.

But Bluder is OK with that — after all, Iowa has made the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons despite low expectations.

“There’s a lot that lies between now and that point in March,” she said. “Do we have the potential to make [the NCAA Tournament]? I think we do.”