Wednesday night's season opener against a Bendigo Braves team - which incidentally has not lost a game in 18 months - always looked a bridge too far, particularly when you factor in the Miners were missing three genuine starting five players.

But while there were plenty of excuses, it still didn't make for easy viewing for the 1000-strong crowd which packed into Selkirk Stadium.

The Miners showed plenty early, opening up a 13-8 lead early in the first quarter, but from that point it was all one-way traffic for the visitors who ran away with the contest, winning 88-46.

Try as they may, the Miners had no answer to Amy Atwell, with the Bendigo forward almost taking it upon herself to lift her side out of the early funk.

Atwell sent down consecutive three pointers after an early time-out to give her side the lead for the first time and then continued to shoot the lights out all night, finishing with 25 points in a clear best-on-court showing.

Normally when the Miners play the Braves, it's centre Megan McKay who does most of the damage and while she was solid enough with 21 points and 13 rebounds, the Miners were able to keep her mostly in check, mainly due to an excellent defensive game from recruit Alex Bunton.

Bunton, a 6ft 5 centre, in her first game for the club was the clear stand-out for the home side. It was no coincidence that when she sat down for a breather in the first quarter, that was when the Braves got their first run of momentum.

Bunton will provide a presence inside that the Miners of recent years have not had. She finished the night with 14 points and 16 rebounds.

The Miners went into the contest without recruits Chloe Bibby, who despite warming up with the team, was unable to get her clearance through on time to play, while Mehryn Kraker is another still to arrive.

It meant early season opportunities for the likes of youngsters Layla Iglesias and Ruby Murphy who saw some limited court time.

Of the other recruits who made their debuts, Micah Simpson and Ella Gordon were both quiet, while Abbey Wehrung had a night to forget, shooting at just 14 per cent from the field.

While there is plenty to work with for the Miners, and on paper the team looks infinitely better than last season, they know they start the season 42 points adrift of the best team going around. Whether they have the time to make up that ground when the cavalry arrives is the question still be answered.

Ballarat Miners 46 (A Bunton 14, J Amoore 7) def by Bendigo Braves 88 (A Atwell 25, M McKay 21)