Three solid returning players. Several new impact players. An improved offense. Team unity. Those are just four reasons Pennsylvania College of Technology women’s basketball coach Britni Mohney believes her Wildcats are ready to reach new heights.

Penn College is scheduled to open its season at home in Bardo Gymnasium against Penn State Altoona at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

“Practices have been extremely competitive this year,” Mohney said. “Each year, we look to bring in a first-year class that will make immediate impacts to continue to grow our program, and this class has brought it day in and day out. Their intensity and energy have pushed our returners to step up their games to the next level, which collectively has already made our program better. 

“Because we have a veteran class and a strong incoming class, we’ve been able to put in more offensive sets and have pushed ourselves to a higher defensive standard with more full-court pressure options. If you would watch our practice, it would be hard not to catch their energy and feel like you are a part of this program.”

The veteran returnees are 5-foot-9-inch junior guard Rachel Teats, of Middleburg; 5-9 junior forward Emily Pardee, of Williamsport; and 5-6 sophomore guard Lexi Troup, of Huntingdon.

A year ago, when the Wildcats finished 10-16 overall, 9-8 in all United East games after reaching the playoffs for the first time since the 2012-13 season, Lexi Troup shot 76.6% from the free-throw line and led the Wildcats with 249 points while being named the college’s Female Newcomer of the Year; Teats, a 78% free-throw shooter, was second in scoring with 245 points, led the team with 173 rebounds, 74 assists, 46 steals and was a second-team all-conference honoree; and Pardee scored 166 points, averaging 7.8 points per game on a 42.9 shooting percentage.

Teats enters the season with 547 career points.

Among the newcomers that the fourth-year coach has high hopes for are 5-9 sophomore combination guard Mia Patterson, of Loyalsock Township, a transfer from DeSales University who, while in high school, was named a Williamsport Sun-Gazette and Pennsylvania Heartland Athletic Conference first-teamer; 5-3 freshman point guard Kenni Galbreath, of Shrewsburg, a York-Adams Interscholastic Athletic Association Division 2 honorable mention and senior league all-star; and 6-foot freshman forward Keeley Baker, of Lewisburg, who was on the Heartland Conference second team and a Sunbury Daily Item D-I All-Star honorable mention, according to Mohney.

“Returning our top three scorers from last season provides a huge momentum swing for us after making our first United East playoff appearance last season. We have a strong returning cast that has played substantial minutes together over the last couple of years. Adding depth with our incoming class, we look forward to adding more of an offensive presence this year to build off our continuous defensive threats. We’ve seen our offense already improve in our first two scrimmages, with us averaging 63 points per game in the two scrimmages, compared to last season where we averaged 53 per game,” Mohney said.

“Our strengths have been and always will be our unity as a team on and off the floor,” the coach continued. “The chemistry this team has off the floor provides opportunities for our team to succeed on the floor because we act as a family. Through the good times and the hard times, we celebrate our individual and team successes, but at the same time, we speak hard truths and hold each other accountable. 

“We are going to rely heavily on our quickness and height. We have 5-foot-7-inch to 5-foot-10-inch guards and three players who are over 6 feet, and they all move extremely well. So, our transition offense is going to be a huge part of our success. The quickness with our guards will allow our defense to apply more pressure on the perimeter and give our forwards the opportunity to make big stops on the inside. 

“We have a lot of threats on our team; if you are going to double our forwards, then our shooters will be ready to knock down shots. And vice versa, if you want to pressure our guards to pass, then our forwards will terrorize the paint. Opponents can throw any defense at us, and we will have offensive threats in every aspect to counter their attack.”

Team play is essential, Mohney stressed.

“We’ve already seen improvement from our first scrimmage to our second in this area and that is our half-court offense. It took us almost our entire nonconference gameplay to figure it out last season. We play our best ball when our assists are 15-plus, and that is what we continue to preach. Team basketball is fun to watch, and understanding our individual strengths to create better team play will be substantial for our success this season,” the coach said.

Looking at her schedule, Mohney said, “We are looking to add more wins from nonconference games this season. We need those wins to help build momentum entering United East Conference play earlier this season (Nov. 28). We don’t make our nonconference games easy; we like to play tough competition so that there are no surprises for conference play. It will be a battle, but our team does not shy away from adversity.  

“The United East Volt Division is going to be extremely competitive this year as a lot of programs are returning key players. Penn State Harrisburg and St. Mary’s College of Maryland were both very competitive in their play last season and also were playoff contenders, and we look to get our first wins against these top programs this year. Making playoffs is the standard of our program now, and it’s time to take it to the next step this year by advancing in the playoff bracket.”

As a result of the merger over the summer of the United East and Colonial States Athletic conferences, the Wildcats will compete in the Volt Division with Penn State Abington, defending champ Penn State Harrisburg, Penn State Berks, Lancaster Bible College, St. Mary’s (Md.) College and Gallaudet University.

Teams in the UE’s Skye Division are St. Elizabeth University, Bryn Athyn College, University of Valley Forge, Keystone College, Clarks Summit University, defending champ Notre Dame (Md.) University, Wilson College, Rosemont College, Cedar Crest and Cairn University.

Teams will play each other twice in conference divisional games, with six of the seven in each division entering the playoffs.

The key to reaching those goals, Mohney said, is to “remain positive and always chase excellence. 

“Basketball is a long season, and the game of basketball is a flow of peaks and valleys. It’s our job to control what we can control and stay consistent with our style of play. 

“We hold ourselves to a higher standard because we understand how special this program is and how far it has come. It’s honoring the women who came before us by working hard in every aspect of our game to make them, our athletic department, Penn College and our community proud.”

Schedule/Series History

Wednesday, Nov. 8 — host Penn State Altoona (PS Altoona leads 3-0), 5 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 11 — at Elmira College Tipoff Tournament vs. Curry College (first-time opponent), 4 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 12 — at Elmira College Tipoff Tournament with Elmira and SUNY Delhi, noon consolation and 2 p.m. championship

Saturday, Nov. 18 — at Susquehanna University Tipoff Tournament vs. Susquehanna (Susquehanna leads 1-0), 6 p.m.

Sunday, Nov. 19 — at Susquehanna University Tipoff Tournament with DeSales and St. Elizabeth, 1 p.m. consolation and 3 p.m. championship

For more about the United East, visit the conference website.

For additional information, visit the Wildcats Athletics website.