The women's basketball program is still in its infancy at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. But, coach Kurt Mattern and assistant coach Vince Capozzi are looking for continued improvement in the Lady Roaring Lions' third season.

Mattern has been the head coach since the program's inception, and is joined by Capozzi, who is also the campus athletic director.

The two men have roughly 55 years of combined coaching experience, going back several decades to when Mattern coached the boys team at Ligonier Valley High School, and Capozzi coached the girls team at LVHS.

The Lady Roaring Lions won five games in the program's first season and won six games in 2008-2009.

"We have a really good mix this year," Mattern said. "These are nice kids. I've never had a group of kids who work harder than this group. They work hard every night."

The only senior on the roster is guard/forward Beth Novotny, the only player who has been a part of each of the program's three seasons.

Also back are sophomore forwards Susie Kimmel and Denise Hillen, and sophomore guard/forward Jennifer Thomas.

The freshman class includes guard Kasey Ruble (Albert Gallatin), Morgan Waugh (Laurel Valley), Nicole Garrity (Conemaugh Township), Kaitlyn Novak (Mapletown), Nicole Lovett (Albert Gallatin), and Kayla Hatfield (Trinity).

Waugh is presently recovering from a shoulder injury and is expected to return once she recovers. Freshman Allanha Kurtz (Ligonier Valley) will join the roster after Christmas, upon the completion of her duties with the Army Reserves.

Mattern said that Ruble, Garrity, and Halfhill, "have been everything we thought they'd be when we recruited them." He said that Kurtz would help out on defense because she is "a great defender."

As with the men's team at Penn State Fayette, the Lady Roaring Lions play a brutal preseason schedule.

"We play several Division II colleges with scholarship players," Mattern said. "Point Park had four Division I transfers on their roster."

The Lady Roaring Lions are 0-4 through Saturday's game with Southern Virginia, with losses to Carlow (71-55), Mercyhurst Northeast (66-44), Point Park (79-36), and Apprentice School (81-39).

"The hard part is that we don't want them to become pressed," said Mattern. "We tell them that the reason we play a tough preseason schedule is so that we'll be ready when the conference (schedule) starts.

"We've worked hard to find the right kids, and we'll be looking for the freshmen to step up. This is a diverse group of small town kids, farm kids, and city kids."