BUTLER TWP— Asked about her team's goals for the remainder of the season, Liz Burgard pointed toward the banners.

"We want to put a number on that wall," the Knoch graduate said.

Burgard, a sophomore guard on the Butler County Community College women's basketball team, was pointing at the Region XXchampionship banners draped on a wall in the BC3 Field House.

The number she has in mind is 2007, and the Pioneers are well on their way to putting it there.

BC3 is 9-2 through 11 games this season, the losses coming at Jamestown (N.Y.)Community College, a nationally ranked NJCAADivision IIteam, at home Tuesday to the Mount Union College junior varsity.

The Pioneers' nine wins have come by an average margin of 30 points, including wins of 56-21 over Franciscan, 81-40 over CCAC-Boyce, 75-45 over Jamestown-Olean and 71-39 over CCAC-South.

These scores are coming from a program that posted records of 3-13, 2-12 and 6-12 before putting together a 12-8 record last year.

What's the difference?

"Better talent," coach Sean Carroll said. "We've gotten lucky with some of the girls who have come into the program."

Carroll can hardly recruit — Division IIIprograms offer no scholarship money — but he does talk to every girls basketball coach in Butler County every year and has developed a working rapport with them.

And posting a 12-8 record last year didn't hurt.

"People know we're here now and that we're an option,"Carroll said. "Coaches tell me what players we have a shot at and we go talk to them.

"Former players serve as great ambassadors for the program, too. They'll go out and spread the word that it's a good experience playing here. There are plenty of quality girls basketball players in Butler County. If we get a few of them each year, we should be able to sustain what we're doing."

The Pioneers have only seven players. Five of them — Samantha Karns, Ashley Nocera and Michelle Ritchey of Butler, Jessica Fry of Slippery Rock and Burgard — are from Butler County.

Brittany Beatty of Saegertown leads the team in scoring with 16.8 points per game. The other six players average between 5.0 and 8.6 points per game.

Nocera leads the team with 15 3-pointers. Burgard has 14, Onderko had 10 and Beatty has nine treys.

"We've had five different players lead us in scoring in a game this year,"Carroll said. "And we have a bunch of good shooters."

Shannon Onderko of Franklin leads the squad in assists and steals. Burgard is second on the team in scoring, assists and steals.

"Three of us, myself, Brittany and Shannon, played here last year,"Burgard said. "The three Butler girls were all high school teammates last year.

"When you're that familiar with each other on the floor, that's a big advantage at this level."

Good rebounding doesn't hurt, either, as Fry and Karns combine for 12.3 rebounds per game. Neither was here last year.

"We got beat up on the boards pretty good last season,"said BC3assistant coach John Osborne. "We didn't have any players taller than 5-foot-7.

"We'd get one shot each trip and the opposition would get two or three. That hasn't been the case this year."

Osborne, a 1999 Slippery Rock High School and 2003 Slippery Rock University graduate, is assistant director of student life at BC3. He played football and soccer in high school, but never basketball.

"I've tried coaching youth football and soccer at the Prospect Boys and Girls Club, but I'm much better at basketball," he said. "I have no pre-conceived notions as a player, and that's been a plus."

Carroll said having seven players in a game is fine. Having seven players for practice is tough.

"I'd rather have seven quality players to work into a game than 11 mediocre ones,"Carroll said. "It's easier to keep everyone happy in terms of playing time.

"We do a lot of 3-on-3 drills in practice, individual shooting and rebounding work. ... You miss not being able to fully scrimmage with each other."

Here are the statisticial leaders of the Butler County Community College women's basketball team through 10 games:• <B>Scoring: </B>Brittany Beatty 16.8 points per game.• <B>Rebounds: </B>Jessica Fry 6.3 per game• <B>Field goal percentage: </B>Brittany Beatty 52.4 percent• F<B>ree throw percentage: </B>Ashley Nocera 100 percent• <B>Assists: </B>Shannon Onderko 6.1 per game• <B>Steals: </B>Shannon Onderko 4.5 per game