Coach: Troy Butterworth (first season)

Last year: 21-3, Mountain League Allegheny Division champions, lost to Ligonier Valley in District 6 Class AA quarterfinal

Assistant coaches: Jess Neff, Tammy Romine, Tom Poorman

Key losses: Brittany Butterworth, Maggie Meek, Anne Hoover, Ang Hewitt

Returning letterwinners: Marissa Ward, Kaitlyn Miller, Abby Gettig, Lexi Josefik, Allie Simpson, Carrie Barnyak, Chelsey Poorman, Mary Pillot

Key newcomers: Emily Butterworth, Sara Fisher, Olivia Hardy

Notes: Troy Butterworth takes over the program from Brandy Preslovich after an extremely successful campaign. Butterworth coached the junior varsity last season. ... Lady Eagles put up the best record in program history, including winning first 17 games of season. ... BEA must replace 3 of 5 starters and more than half last year’s offense from a team that averaged 58.4 points per game. ... Top returning starter is junior Marissa Ward, who averaged 11.8 ppg. ... Other starter back is senior forward Abby Gettig (8.5 ppg). ... Team also returns size in 6-foot-2 junior post Kaitlyn Miller (2.9 ppg). ... Despite graduation losses, eight letterwinners return from a team that went deep into the bench. ... Also returning to the front court is senior Carrie Barnyak. ... Returning in the back court are senior Chelsey Poorman and juniors Allie Simpson, Mary Pillot and Lexi Josefik. ... Butterworth still trying to find right combination for starting five, saying eight are all possible starters.

Coach Butterworth says: “I do feel pretty confident. There’s a lot of talent there. We have some very skilled players, some very smart players who know what to do with the basketball and they make good decisions. If they can find the right chemistry like the chemistry we had on last year’s team, that will be good.

“I think we have a good chance to repeat ... I just hope it doesn’t end the way it ended last year.”