GROVE CITY — Megan Gebrosky had it all figured out.

As a freshman on the Grove City College women's basketball team, she knew her opportunities would be sparse and her minutes sporadic.

"I came in thinking I'd have to prove myself as a freshman," said Gebrosky, a Seneca Valley High graduate. "Then I'd get more playing time as a sophomore."

But that perception soon changed. As the Wolverines' roster shrunk by the day, dwindling from 17 players in late summer to seven by the fall, Gebrosky was in for an big adjustment.

She would play immediately — and play a great deal.

"With only seven players on the roster, I knew I'd get a lot of playing time," Gebrosky said. "But there still was no guarantee. If I didn't work hard and prove I could play, the coaches didn't have to play me."

But Grove City coach SarahHarris is playing Gebrosky and the freshman is giving a team starved for minutes off the bench valuable playing time.

Gebrosky, a 5-foot-5 guard, is averaging 6.5 points and 23.4 minutes per game.

Her scoring punch even caught Gebrosky by surprise. As a senior at Seneca Valley, she rarely was asked to score, averaging 5.1 points per game.

These days, the Grove City bench is a lonely place. There are more coaches than players.

Game nights are rough. Practices are even more challenging. Drills are an adventure. Conditioning has been discovered early on.

"Megan Gebrosky learned the first six weeks of practice that if she is extremely exhausted during practice, I'm going to yell are her to go even harder and purposefully not give her a rest so she can push through that," Harris said. "She learned she could go harder even when she thinks she is tired."

Gebrosky found the early days doubly challenging. She was adjusting to the college game while participating in practices that were sometimes bizarre.

"After the first practice, I adjusted to it," Gebrosky said. "I got used to what it was going to be like in practice with seven people."

The team is close, partly because four starters returned and partly because of the situation.

After an 0-5 start, Grove City has gone 4-2 and has been competitive in almost every game.

"I was scared to death coming in Oct. 15, knowing the numbers and just going, 'How do you have a season with just seven players? How do you do it?'" Harris said. "Then our size — our tallest player is 5-9. How do you compete? I lost a lot of sleep asking those questions."

Gebrosky has helped the coach gets some Zs.

Gebrosky said she has grown more in the first 11 games than would have in an entire season because of the unique circumstances she and her teammates face.

"I have grown up a whole lot," Gebrosky said. "I know what I'm capable of doing and I'm proving to myself and my teammates what I am capable of doing."

It's gotten to the point now that Gebrosky welcomes the small roster size.

"I'm thinking now, 'Why would you want so many people?'" she said.