ERIE — The numbers add up quite nicely for Amy Achesinski.

The Butler graduate will conclude her college basketball career at Mercyhurst among the Lakers' all-time top five in points, rebounds and blocked shots.

She also leads the team with 32 steals this season.

“I came here wanting to leave my mark on this program and I feel like I'm doing that,” Achesinski said.

She wants to do one more thing before she puts away the uniform.

Play extra games.

Mercyhurst hasn't reached postseason play since 2000, when the team finished 15-12. That's also the last time the Lakers posted a winning season.

Wednesday's victory over Gannon improved Mercyhurst to 12-8 overall, 4-1 in the PSAC West.

The Lakers were 12-5 at one point last year, then lost their final nine games.

“There's a big difference in our team this year,” Achesinski said. “Last year, when we were fading, there was almost a sense that it was OK, that we're not expected to make the playoffs.

“This year, there's a will and a want with this group. I can feel it. It's time to take that step. It's been a goal of mine since I've been here.”

Achesinski and fellow senior Samantha Loadman, a guard from Bethel Park, played AAU basketball together for a year with Rock Solid before coming to Mercyhurst. Both are four-year starters with the Lakers.

“We could have our eyes closed on the court and know where each other is on the floor,” Loadman said. “With her inside game and mine outside, we feed off each other.”

Achesinski has scored 1,523 points at Mercyhurst. She scored 1,525 points as a four-year starter at Butler. Loadman recently surpassed the 1,000-point plateau.

Fourth-year Mercyhurst coach Deanna Richard took over the Lakers' program the same year Achesinski and Loadman arrived.

“Talk about timing. Its been a treat going through the past four years with those two,” Richard said. “We'd been losing, yet they stuck it out.

“I do feel like the program's turned the corner and there's the reason. Amy is our captain and a true leader. She'll be the base of this program's success for a long time.”

Achesinski has scored 10 or more points in 18 consecutive games. She leads the PSAC in shooting percentage at 61.6 and carries a 72-percent career average at the free throw line.

She has been named PSAC West Player of the Week three times this season.

“Amy talks about will and want — she's an expert at it,” Richard said. “Every team we play is geared to stop her and she maintains consistent production regardless.”

Achesinski has been kept out of double figures only once in 2010-11. She just missed that night, scoring nine points.

“I just want to give everything I have every time I put on the uniform,” Achesinski said. “I feel blessed being able to start for four years in high school and college.”

A marketing-community relations major, Achesinski will attend graduate school next year and be Richard's graduate assistant coach.

“She came into my office one day and said she wasn't sure what she wanted to do with the rest of her life yet, that she was thinking about graduate school,” Richard said. “I looked at her and said, ‘Say no more.'

“Amy is almost like another coach on the staff right now.”

Achesinski takes time to work with younger players on the team, including freshman post player Adele Campbell, a Slippery Rock High graduate averaging three minutes per game.

“She saw something wrong with my footwork during a practice one time and stayed afterward to help me correct it,” Campbell said. “I've learned so much just from watching her.”

Richard said Campbell would be seeing a lot more minutes if Achesinski wasn't there.

“But because Amy is here, Adele will be a better player. I can't wait to see what she does over the next few years,” Richard said.

Achesinski will get a chance to see what she does next year, while being seated alongside Richard.

“I'll be disappointed if we don't get to the playoffs this year because it is a goal of mine,” Achesinski said. “But either way, this program is going to keep moving forward.

“Having a hand in that is something I'm proud of.”

Butler graduate and Mercyhurst College senior forward Amy Achesinski has made her mark on the Lakers’ women’s basketball program:• Career points: 1,523, third on school’s all-time list• Career rebounds: 797, fourth on school’s all-time list• Career blocked shots: 80, sixth on school’s all-time list, 5 shy of fifth, 9 shy of fourth• This season: Has reached double-digit scoring in 18 consecutive games and posted eight double-doubles, giving her 28 double-doubles in at Mercyhurst