SLIPPERY ROCK — Bobby McGraw is shooting for the stars.

“There's no reason why we can't bring a PSAC championship to this school,” the Mars resident and Slippery Rock University women's basketball coach said. “This is a tremendous location, a beautiful campus and there's plenty of talent in the region to draw from.

“We want to win a PSAC title.”

Before McGraw took over, the program rarely won any games.

In the five years preceding McGraw taking the reins of SRU women's basketball in 2014, the program lost 106 of 131 games.

While the turnaround hasn't completely happened yet, it may be on its way. SRU reached the PSAC tournament for the first time in nine years in 2014-15. Last year, the team won 13 games, its highest total in 11 seasons.

SRU was 9-10 through 19 games this season, knocking on the door for another conference tourney bid while sporting the PSAC's top player in senior point guard Lexi Carpenter. McGraw brought her in as a transfer from the University of Dayton two years ago.

He's put together a young supporting cast around her.

“I wish I had another three years to play ball with those girls,” said Carpenter, the PSAC scoring leader at 20.6 points per game. “They listen, they work hard in practice, they want to get better and will get better.

“This program is well on its way.”

Most of SRU's roster is comprised of talent from this region. WPIAL recruits include junior forward C.C. Dixon of Steel Valley, who transferred in from California (Pa.), junior guard Krista Pietropola of Plum, who transferred from Youngstown State, junior guard/forward Mallory Heinle of St. Joseph, freshman center Carly Lutz of Baldwin, freshman forward Alyssia Heath of Obama Academy and sophomore forward Morgan Henderson of Seton-LaSalle.

Freshman guard Brooke Hinderliter is from Redbank Valley and has already been a three-time PSAC West Freshman of the Week selection. Freshman forward LeeAnn Gibson is from Karns City.

Alexis Deyarmin, a freshman forward, is a Grove City High School graduate. Butler graduate Julia Baxter, who has scored 1,000 points in two years at Butler County Community College, will be joining The Rock next year as a forward.

“I'd much rather recruit locally,” McGraw said. “In Butler County, the KSAC, the WPIAL ... There are more girls basketball prospects around here than boys. I want to keep the local talent right here.”

McGraw is animated on the bench during games, pacing back and forth, at times screaming in the huddle during timeouts.

“It's all good,” Gibson said. “He's making us better. He's making us tougher. I love being a young player on this team.

“We're all growing together. We're learning from Lexi and feeding off our coach's passion.”

Carpenter enjoys McGraw's fiery approach as well.

“I love it,” she said. “He lights the spark. You want a coach to be fired up, to not be afraid to get in your face. He cares.

“If you have a soft coach, you get soft as a team. Coach (McGraw) will never let that happen here.”

Hinderliter and Gibson were teammates with the Indiana Wildcats in AAU basketball.

“We've known each other since junior high,” Hinderliter said. “We want to accomplish big things here. Coach McGraw helps keep us focused that way.

“He's a good coach. He has us playing together and as we learn more, we'll win more.”

One of the biggest wins of the McGraw era occurred last Saturday, when SRU's 69-58 triumph over Edinboro snapped the Fighting Scots' 16-game winning streak.

“There hasn't been a league championship in women's basketball here since 1985,” McGraw said. “We just beat the best team in this league.

“We can play with any team in the PSAC when we play the game right, with heart, aggressiveness and passion. We proved that with this win.”