PITTSBURGH — Mackenzie O’Donnell has never claimed to be big.

She just plays that way.

The 6-foot La Roche College sophomore forward and Butler graduate continues to take a beating inside on the basketball court — and continues to produce.

“She’s amazing,” Redhawks coach Kam Gissendanner said. “She’s actually on the skinny side for a post player, but she gets the job done in there.”

Despite the loss of fellow Butler graduate and outside shooter Casie Cygan — La Roche’s all-time leading scorer with 1,576 points — to graduation, O’Donnell remains a force to be reckoned with.

She is averaging 13.3 points and 6.2 rebounds per game and has blocked eight shots so far this season.

O’Donnell has been of the key cogs in La Roche getting off to a 7-4 start this year, 4-0 in the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.

She’s respected as well. O’Donnell was named a co-captain this season despite her sophomore status.

“I’m a small inside player compared to the girls I’m going up against,” O’Donnell said. “Some of them are twice the size of me.

“I’m little, but I can stand my ground.”

She will likely climb the charts at the same time.

Only eight women basketball players have scored 1,000 points at La Roche.

Barring injury, O’Donnell will join that club eventually.

Not even halfway through her sophomore season, O’Donnell has already compiled 477 points and 243 rebounds in college.

“Mackenzie started her freshman year here and we don’t have many players who have done that,” Gissendanner said. “She got a jump-start that way in terms of compiling numbers.

“She’s aggressive and she gets to the foul line often. She is averaging seven free throws per game and that’s a lot.”

Making those shots has been another story.

O’Donnell has sunk 46 free throws this season — more than any of her teammates have even attempted — but is shooting only 59 percent at the line.

She shot only 58 percent from the line last season after averaging 80 percent from the charity stripe during her senior year at Butler.

“It makes me mad,” O’Donnell said of her foul shooting woes. “I’m doing terrible there and I haven’t been able to figure out why. No doubt, that’s the biggest part of my game that has to improve right now.”

Gissendanner believes it’s a matter of focus and concentration.

“Mackenzie has a beautiful shot. The technique is there,” the coach said.”She just needs to lock in, clear everything else out.

“She’s developing a nice jumper. Our plans are to extend her range a little bit, even set her up for some 3’s. Her offensive numbers are only going to get better.”

A sociology major, O’Donnell is anxious to see how high her own numbers — and her team’s win total — can go while she’s there.

“Getting 1,000 points and having two Butler girls on that list here would be cool,” she admitted.

Since O’Donnell arrived at La Roche, the Redhawks have won 30 of 38 games overall, including 18 of 20 AMCC games.

The team won the league championship last year.

“We definitely want to win the league again,” O’Donnell said. “This program’s never gotten past the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That needs to change.”

As the team gains consistency, maybe it will.

“We beat Mount Union on their floor this year and that’s a quality, quality team,” Gissendanner said. “That shows what we’re capable of doing. When we’re good, we’re really good. But when we’ve been bad, we’ve been really bad.

“If we play more consistently, we can go a long way. Mackenzie can be a big part of that. If she shoots 75 to 80 percent at the line, she could average 20 points a game.

“Her potential is through the roof that way,” the coach added.