RALPH WILSON/Sun-Gazette Correspondent Penn College's Breana Valentine (22) brings the ball downcourt around PS Altoona's Lanie Wilt (24) during a college basketball game at Bardo Gym on Monday.

Penn College has had talented teams over the past years in women’s basketball but this year’s team has done something that no other Wildcat team has and that’s start the year 5-0, the best start in Penn College history since the Wildcats joined the NCAA-era.

On Monday at Bardo Gymnasium, Penn College rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit to beat Penn State Altoona, 68-61, and move to 5-0.

“Just keeping it up. This is our first (5-0) start in history, so we just want to keep that going,” Penn College sophomore Breana Valentine said after Monday’s win.

For sixth-year coach Britni Mohney, the key has been being together as a team and playing as a family.

“I think just really believing in each other. These girls, it’s funny because one of the things we always talk about is how they always love a team huddle,” Mohney said. “They’ll be first to say we need to bring it together and these are things we need to fix and fix them. To have that accountability across the board, have that family love across the board; I think is what is taking us to that next level. We’re really playing for each other.”

Offensively, the Wildcats have been superb. Valentine (19.8 points per game), Neumann graduate Gigi Parlante (17.5) and Lexi Troup (10.6) are a combination that all average double digits this year and both Valentine and Parlante average nearly double-digit rebounds per game as well with 8.6 and 8.3, respectively.

“I think we know each other’s strengths, so I think it comes out when we play,” Valentine said. “We look for each other.”

“It’s crazy because you have those three and you have RaeAnna (Andreas), you have Mia (Patterson), you have Kenni (Galbreath). They can give you seven to 10 points on any given night. To have those numbers isn’t something we’ve had in the past,” Mohney said. “We had to rely solely on our defense and hope we could get some scoring in. Now that we have some scoring threats across the board with Lexi, who has been a veteran; Bre, who’s new to this conference; and Gigi, who was our Rookie of the Year, we’re shaping up to be a pretty tough team.”

That they are.

Penn College has showed it can win tight games as well. The Wildcats beat Alfred State on the road in the season opener by just nine points, edged Keuka in the second game of the year by seven and earned a seven-point win on Monday over Penn State Altoona.

In the past, Penn College’s players may have gotten a little rattled in a tight game and nervous, but this year’s team doesn’t give Mohney any jitters or nerves during games.

“It’s crazy as a coach with this team this year, I don’t have those jitters on the sideline where it’s like I don’t know what we’re about to do,” Mohney said. “I know I can trust the five that are going to be out there at any given time that they’re going to make the right decisions to pull out that win for us.”

Parlante was the United East Rookie of the Year last season and has continued to show why she was among the league’s best so far into this year. The former Golden Knight is a huge presence in the paint and can score and grab rebounds constantly.

And Mohney knew what she would get out of senior guard Troup.

An unknown, however, was Valentine, who came from Mary Washington in the offseason. Valentine has shown through five games that she’s a versatile, talented player who can do just about anything.

Score from inside or outside? Can do.

Dish out assists? She does it easily.

Dive for loose balls and crash the boards? Check.

After graduating 1,000-point scorer Rachel Teats last year, a Midd-West graduate, Mohney noted that Valentine is picking up where Teats left off.

“She’s the person where if she gets the rebound, she can get it up the floor and she has the ‘i’m going to the hoop and I’m going to score’ mentality. She is such a good basketball player if people are zoning in on her, she can make that half-court pass. She can make that pass to the weak side where we are going to get that layup,” Mohney said. “You see her averaging five assists per game while putting up 23. She’s a sound, smart basketball player and that brings our IQ basketball wise up another notch. So her being on the floor and being able to dictate is helping us become smarter basketball players overall.”

On Monday, Valentine scored a team-high 23 points, grabbed nine rebounds — behind only Parlante’s 10 — had a team-high four steals, had three assists — behind only Andreas’ five — and had a block.

“She really does it all. She’s a special player and she’s even more special off the court. She’s so genuine. In our last game she was close to a double-double and I said you’re one rebound away, she said ‘no, let my other teammates play, I want them to have that opportunity too,'” Mohney said. “She’s so selfless in how she plays that you just have to respect every part of her game.”