SLIPPERY ROCK— Her career numbers don't exactly come screaming off the stat sheet.

They barely make a squeak, in fact.

Kara Spagnola doesn't care. The Seneca Valley graduate has overcome her own size — at 5-foot-2, she is the smallest player on the team — and knee surgery that caused her to miss all of last season.

She averaged 13 minutes per game for the Slippery Rock University women's basketball team this season.

"Kara worked her way into our rotation this year,"SRUcoach Laurel Heilman said. "She's the best point guard we have in terms of running the game.

"She distributes the ball. She knows when to play fast-paced, she knows when to slow things down and she knows how to do both."

Spagnola scored 22 points this season. The junior's career-high for points in a game is five, accomplished against Cheyney on Jan. 7. She scored all of two points her sophomore year after transferring to The Rock from Division IIIJohn Carroll, where she never saw the court.

At Seneca Valley, Spagnola barely averaged 10 points per game her senior year — but still was recruited by colleges.

"I've been a point guard since fourth grade and have always played the game the same way,"she said. "I look for somebody else's shot before my own shot."

Ashland (Ohio), Saint Louis University and the University of Chicago were a few schools interested in Spagnola's services coming out of high school.

"I didn't put as much time into deciding where to go as I should have,"she admitted. "When I decided to leave John Carroll, I was either transferring to Pitt or to Slippery Rock.

"If I went to Pitt, my basketball career was going to be over. I wasn't ready for that."

So she transferred to SRUand walked on the women's basketball squad. She made the team, but was an end-of-the-bench player.

Heilman didn't think that would ever change.

"Kara has worked so hard on her game,"the coach said. "You could see how badly she wanted to play. If we had the type of team where we had four scorers on the floor with her, she'd probably be a starter.

"She would definitely get more minutes. But we're not that type of team."

Going into the season finale at Clarion, Amanda Nero led SRUin scoring with 9.5 points per game.

Spagnola carries a 3.2 grade point average as a business finance major. She is scheduled to graduate in December and already has landed a job as a financial adviser in Pittsburgh.

Rather than forego her senior season, Spagnola plans to pick up an additional minor next winter and return to The Rock.

SRUfinished 9-17 overall and dead last in the PSACWest with a 3-9 record. The team lost eight games by eight points or fewer.

"I don't care if I start or not,"she said. "My goal is to get solid minutes, keep my spot in the rotation and enjoy my final year of basketball.

"We spent this year getting to know each other and coming together as a team. We've got some talent and our players are maturing. Next year will be fun."

Spagnola won't get any taller. That doesn't bother her, either.

"I've never been afraid to go against taller girls," she said. "I use my speed and agility to make up for the lack of size."

And her heart to make up for everything else.

"There's no measuring tool for that,"Heilman said.