SLIPPERY ROCK — Familiarity may breed winning for the Slippery Rock University women’s basketball team.

Fourth-year coach Tanya Longo hopes so. Wins have been hard to come by.

The Rock is coming off a 4-22 season — 3-19 in the PSAC West — and Longo is 13-65 in her three years here thus far. SRU has dropped 51 of 58 PSAC games in the past three seasons.

“This is a tough league to try to build a winner in,” Longo said. “We have nine games on our schedule against NCAA Tournament teams from last year.

“Five teams in our conference made the tournament last year and four of those are on our (PSAC West) side. That’s crazy. You can make the argument we play in the best Division II women’s basketball conference in the country.”

But familiar faces are producing renewed confidence.

SRU returns 10 players from last season — the most returnees in Longo’s tenure at The Rock — and the coach expects her bench to run deep this year.

“We have as many as 11 players who could see quality minutes,” she said. “We’re better right now than we were at the end of last season.

“When you have 10 players helping five newcomers absorb the system and what we’re trying to do ... That’s a lot better than me trying to teach 15 players how we want to go about doing things.”

While SRU lost leading scorer Erinne Cunningham (11.4 ppg.) from last season, four key contributors return in co-captain and sophomore point guard Erica Aiello, co-captain and senior center Jazmyne Frost, starting guard Alexas Brown and starting guard-forward D’Asia Chambers.

Brown averaged 9.4 points per game and led The Rock with 87 assists. Chambers netted 8.9 points and 6.1 rebounds per game while Frost averaged 6.9 points and 7.4 rebounds in just nine games.

“Jazmyne didn’t play after Dec. 30 last year because of a knee injury,” Longo said. “She will provide strong play down low that we didn’t have last year.

“In our exhibition with Lock Haven (81-81 tie), Jazmyne scored at least 20 points and had a bunch of rebounds. She was dominant inside.”

Aiello played in all 26 games as a freshman last season and was second on the team with 69 assists.

Sophomore guard-forward Megan Hardiman, junior guard Bridget McClure and junior forward Danielle Garroutte are other returnees who should see minutes.

Among the newcomers, freshman guards Kara Houppert (Webster, N.Y.) and Kassidy O’Keefe (Chartiers Valley) figure to crack the lineup.

The Rock is picked last in the PSAC West preseason coaches poll. Gannon, with three preseason all-conference selections, is the overwhelming favorite to win the division.

“We’re picked ninth and as disappointing as that is, we’ve done nothing to back up any higher prediction,” Longo said. “It’s up to us to get out on the court and start winning.

“We have plenty of opportunities this season to prove people wrong.”

SRU opens the regular season Nov. 9 at Ursuline (Ohio) College. The home opener is at 6 p.m. Nov. 12 against Wheeling Jesuit at Morrow Field House.

Preseason PSAC poll

Western Division

1. Gannon (6)

2. Edinboro (1)

3T. California (1)

4T. Indiana (1)

5. Seton Hill

6. Clarion

7. Mercyhurst

8. Pitt-Johnstown

9. Slippery Rock

Eastern Division

1. Millersville (2)

2. Bloomsburg (3)

3. Shippensburg (2)

4. West Chester

5. Kutztown (2)

6. East Stroudsburg

7. Lock Haven

8. Mansfield

9. Cheyney

(first-place votes in parentheses)

Preseason All-PSAC

West

Hannah Heeter (Clarion), Jen Papich (Gannon), Brittany Batts (Gannon), Nettie Blake (Gannon), Kate Seebohm (California), Lindsay Stamp (IUP)

East

Stephanie Knauer (Shippensburg), Natalya Lee (Kutztown), Brittany Sicinski (West Chester), Jessica Martin (East Stroudsburg), Catherine Noack (Bloomsburg), Sarah Strybuc (Shippensburg)