Young roster, new coach to challenge Pitt-Greensburg women’s basketball team

After a season in which it advanced to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference title game, the Pitt-Greensburg women’s basketball team is hoping to make another run at the top this winter. With a new coach, Darien Lantz, and a young roster, the task won’t be easy.

The 2021-22 Bobcats went 13-3 in the conference (20-6 overall) and had a number of seasoned seniors leading the way. One of the current quartet of seniors who will have to assume more responsibility is Apollo-Ridge grad Lizzie Penrose.

Penrose played a complementary role in last season’s success, appearing in all 26 games (five starts) and averaging 3.7 points and 3.5 rebounds. She will be front and center this season and already is picking up her production.

Through the Bobcats’ first seven games, she was averaging 6.0 points and 5.1 rebounds. The rebounding number is particularly eye-catching considering Penrose is a guard who stands all of 5-foot-5.

“She’s scrappy,” said Lantz, who came to UPG after serving as an assistant at Thiel. “Lizzie is very tough. When we did have those injuries, I was looking to put Lizzie on one of the strongest offensive players of our opponent. Lizzie really steps it up. … She’s just continued to grow and flourish this season.”

“Those injuries” Lantz talked about forced the Bobcats to play three games — in the span of less than a week — with only six players. One of those opponents was Division II Seton Hill, so, in that light, UPG’s 0-6 start doesn’t look quite so dire.

Point guard Sidney McCully, one of the other seniors and Penrose’s roommate, was out with a broken wrist, pressing Penrose into the role.

“I played point guard in high school, so it wasn’t that big of a deal,” Penrose said. “But I haven’t done it for a few years.”

With the roster recently returned to health — Lantz now has 10 players to work with — the Bobcats can set about working on their chemistry. That was going to take some time anyway, given all the young players and having to learn a new system under Lantz, but the injuries set the Bobcats behind where they might be otherwise.

The nonconference schedule didn’t help their record. UPG faced the likes of Mount Union, Carnegie Mellon, Seton Hill and Westminster. If nothing else, the stiff competition helped prepare the healthy players for the AMCC.

“I think it’s better that we’re playing tougher opponents now,” Penrose said. “Right now we’re still trying to figure out chemistry, how we play with each other and with the new coach. Everyone is learning new plays, new defense, all that stuff.

“Just comparing the few games we’ve had, we’ve gotten better each time. We still have a few more games before conference play (Jan. 4), so we’ll be able to figure out more issues we have.”

The Bobcats appear to be heading in that direction after a 70-58 win over Wooster on Saturday

UPG has the makings of a team that can compete. Besides having experienced seniors such as Penrose, McCully, Ashley Barker and LeeAnn Harris, the Bobcats have a proven scorer in sophomore Melina Maietta, a guard from Greensburg Central Catholic who was third on the team in scoring at 13.8 points per game last season.

Through the first seven games, Maietta was averaging 18.5 points.

“Melina is a very tough player,” Lantz said. “She can drive. She can shoot. She adds the little extra skills like a step-back shot. She’s a very creative player.”

McCully averaged 14.1 points last season and, after a 31-point outburst against Wooster, is at 19.3 for this season. Kayla Hoehler, a freshman guard from Hampton, is averaging 7.9 points per game, and Derry grad Tiana Moracco, also a freshman, is averaging 6.0 rebounds and has a team-high 11 steals.

Penrose, meanwhile, will be counted on to fill a variety of roles in the backcourt.

“We like to run where the guards can fit any role, so one through three is what Lizzie is learning,” Lantz said. “Lizzie has been very good at stepping up, taking control on the court, communicating and being that true leader on the court that the other girls definitely need.”

And, Penrose said, that leadership extends beyond the court.

“We’re huge on discipline,” she said. “Not just basketball but work outside of basketball, how your character is in the classroom and getting your schoolwork done and all those other important things in life.”

Despite the young team, Pitt-Greensburg still was picked to finish third in the AMCC in the preseason coaches’ poll. La Roche, winners of nine of the past 11 conference titles, was picked to win again. Penn State Behrend was chosen second.

There’s plenty of time for UPG to get moving in the right direction so it can be playing its best at the end of the season. Additionally, Penrose said, a few more freshmen will be ready to get on the floor after the holiday break.

For her part, she just hopes to be a steadying force as the team navigates through the bumpy early ride.

“I definitely think each year I’ve gained more confidence,” she said. “That’s something I really struggled with, even in high school. I think my goal is just to be a contributor. I want to have an impact on the team in some way, even if it’s not scoring. I want us to keep getting better each time so we have the opportunity to compete.”