Darcie Vincent's resume is impressive enough, but it could get even better.

The former Slippery Rock University women's basketball coach enters her sixth year at California (Pa.) having won 138 of 163 games there, including four PSAC West titles, three PSAC playoff crowns, two NCAA regional championships and one national title.

The Vulcans have to replace all-conference forward Sara McKinney (18 ppg., 10.5 rpg.), but they return four starters in senior guards Lisa Gottuso and Megan Storck, junior guard Dani Mills and sophomore forward and Butler graduate Kim Nowakowski.

Combined, that quartet averaged 35.5 points, 16.9 rebounds, scored 74 3-point goals, tallied 377 assists, 33 blocked shots and 182 steals for the Vulcans (26-6, 11-1) last year.

No wonder California is picked first in the PSAC West coaches preseason poll for the fifth consecutive year.

"Replacing Sara is no small task," Vincent said. "You're talking about somebody who scored 1,000 points and had 1,000 rebounds in her career."

Enter Nowakowski, who averaged 9.9 points, 5.7 rebounds last year and was a four-time PSAC West Rookie of the Week.

"Thirty percent of what we work on in preseason is mental training," Vincent said. "Kim doesn't realize how good she can be. The sky's the limit for her.

"Her best games last year were her most aggressive games. We've added some talented newcomers in the post, so she'll be pushed."

Vincent said the development of the Vulcans' post play will be the key to their season.

"There are a lot of good guards in this league," she said. "We have some players filling new roles in the post, so it should be interesting."

The Fighting Scots (18-10, 5-7 last year) return the conference leader in assists with 225, steals with 91 in point guard Callie Iorfido. Team scoring leader Kelly Calderone (16.1 ppg.) joins her in the backcourt.Injuries depressed senior Maria Divecchio's numbers last year, but she averaged 14 points per game as a sophomore."Rebounding was a problem last year, so we went out and recruited some size," coach Stan Swank said.Newcomers include 6-4 Kim Mardis, 6-3 Agnes Michalow and 6-4 Jessica Trotter.Swank has 307 wins in 18 years at Edinboro.

The Red Raiders (17-10, 8-4) return two starters in center Shanna Oaddams (12.0 ppg., 10.1 rpg.) and PSAC West Rookie of the Year Megan Fogel (12.0 ppg.) at guard.Shippensburg has reached the PSAC Tournament for 11 consecutive years."We've got some solid newcomers to fill in spots," seventh-year coach Kristy Trn said. "Samantha Ramus is a transfer from West Virginia Wesleyan who's showing good leadership."

The Golden Eagles (23-7, 10-2) must overcome the loss of three starters who provided 66 percent of the team's scoring and rebounding."Our guards are back and that's pretty much it," veteran coach Gie Parsons said. "We're going to need contributions from freshmen and sophomores."Melba Melton (11.8 ppg., 4.7 apg.) and Ashley Grimm (5.7 ppg., 4.2 apg.) will comprise the backcourt. Parsons has 249 wins in 16 years at Clarion.

Cindy Martin, an assistant coach at West Virginia University the past four years, takes the reins at IUP (9-18, 2-10). Three starting guards return in seniors Kara Taylor (9.9 ppg.), Mame Brumbaugh (9.4 ppg.) and junior Katie Glaws (9.6 ppg.).Nina Jackson, a transfer from Western Michigan, will bolster the frontcourt."I don't know who's going to play or who our starters are going to be, but the effort is definitely there and these girls want to win," Martin said.

The Bald Eagles (4-23) struggled under first-year coach Valerie Curtis last year, but return four junior starters in forwards Ginger Williams (8.4 ppg.) and Shameka Lee (7.1 ppg.), guards Candace Sillers (7.8 ppg.) and Elizabeth Gabrielle (7.6 ppg.)."We should be bigger, stronger and faster than last year," Curtis said. "We're returning good numbers and a lot of starters."