When Mike McGoff took over the Penn State New Kensington women’s basketball team before this season, he, naturally, wanted to help the program get more wins. In the previous three seasons combined, the Lady Lions had only three wins.

But more than that, McGoff wanted respect for his program.

Not only had the Lions been doing a lot of losing, many of those losses were of the lopsided variety. McGoff felt many foes in the Penn State University Athletic Conference would chalk up PSNK as an easy win.

So McGoff has been trying to instill a sense of confidence in his small roster. In the early stages of the season, it is working.

As of the holiday break, the Lady Lions had won twice — and lost another game in overtime — to double their overall win total from a year ago. The two wins came in back-to-back games to close out December: 59-51 over Penn State Scranton and 64-57 in overtime against PS Wilkes-Barre.

“For what our goals are, I think the season is going pretty well for us,” said McGoff, whose only other head coaching experience was a year as the interim at Penn State Scranton. “Our biggest goal coming into the year kind of revolves around one word, and that’s ‘respect.’ At the end of the year, I want this to be a respectful program.

“Whether (opponents) come in here and beat us, I wanted them leaving knowing that they faced a competitive team, and we weren’t a pushover.”

The team easily could have hung its collective head early in the season when senior point guard Deshaya Chavis was lost for the season because of a knee injury. Instead, the Lady Lions (2-7, 2-6 PSUAC), comprising only six healthy players, pressed forward.

“It’s definitely amazing to see the progress,” said Burrell grad Sarah Usko, a sophomore forward. “On the court, you can tell we’re putting a lot more effort and giving 100%. It definitely has to do with the connection of the team, the way we play together and trust each other.”

Chavis remains an integral part of the team. McGoff said she serves as a de facto assistant coach and provides support and encouragement for the players.

On the court, Destiny Batiste has stepped into Chavis’ point guard role. McGoff acknowledged he has heaped a lot of responsibility on the sophomore transfer, but she has responded with a team-best 15.6 points and 2.3 assists per game.

Najah Perryman ranks second on the team at 14.0 points per game. Shaylynne Boitnott, a senior returning starter, is averaging 11.6 points. At 5-foot-10, she brings an inside presence (5.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game) and also can step out and hit a medium-range shot.

Another program newcomer has been, perhaps, the nicest surprise. Esther Cole, a 5-7 forward, began the season as the first player off the bench — “I loved the energy she brought off the bench,” McGoff said — but injuries have thrust her into the starting lineup.

Cole, a native of Brooklyn, has responded in a big way. In the Lions’ two victories, she had double-doubles: 23 points, 12 rebounds against Scranton and 18 and 10 against Wilkes-Barre. In all games, she is averaging 11.7 points and 9.2 rebounds, and in PSUAC games, she is at 12.0 and 10.0.

Usko and sophomore Dorian Walker also contribute to the effort. Each has had her moments: Usko had an eight-rebound game against PS Hazelton. Walker, who had scored only once in the previous seven games, had four points in both of the wins.

“It’s fantastic to win,” Usko said. “We put in so much work in practice and want it so bad after last year. It’s awesome to be able to celebrate with your team.”

As the players’ level of enjoyment has increased, so, too, has their confidence. McGoff said the team now goes into games expecting to win, and adversity is shrugged off.

In the season’s fifth game, PSNK lost in overtime to PS DuBois. Rather than be discouraged, McGoff said, the players immediately adopted the attitude that they were going to go out and win the next one.

That “next one” didn’t come for a couple of games, but the team never wavered.

With play resuming this weekend, the Lady Lions are hoping to add a few more notches to the win column. McGoff said he believes it can be done, and his expectations go even higher.

“One of my goals for the beginning of the year, I want to beat a team that we shouldn’t have beaten or haven’t beaten in previous years,” he said. “I want to see that continued progression that we get that one victory we shouldn’t have, beat the teams we should and, when it comes right down to it, I think cap to the season would be a playoff victory.

“I’m a realistic type of person. I love my team, but do we have the ability to win a championship? That’s a tough ask. … But to win a playoff game? Definitely.”

Usko said what the program is doing now will help it grow in the near future.

“The next step is just to continue what we’re doing,” she said. “We, obviously, want to build our program. We’re short on players, which doesn’t help us, so we’d love to see a lot of support from the community, support from teammates, get some more people in.

“I definitely think if we had a couple more numbers that it would definitely affect our season. But we’re working with what we’ve got, and we’re building stronger every day.”

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