In junior college basketball, roster turnover is a given.

But not this much roster turnover.

Coming off perhaps the best two-year stretch in program history, the CCRI women’s basketball team is fielding an almost entirely new roster. Nine players moved on last year. Just one player is back with experience.

That means the Lady Knights are in for some growing pains, but the emphasis will be on the growing. The program has been to nationals for six consecutive years, and no one wants to miss the trip this season.

“It’s a whole new team,” said head coach Kevin Monagle. “It shows a little bit, but the thing I like about this group is that they realize it’s a work in progress and they’re working hard. If they continue to do that, we’ll get better.”

The Lady Knights went 24-8 last season and made it to the national quarterfinals for the second straight year. Their sophomores left with a career record of 49-16.

And there were a lot of sophomores. CCRI lost its top nine scorers.

“They’re all gone,” Monagle said. “The only girl who really played significant minutes is Kaitlyn Rachiele. Even our sophomore players now were somewhere else or didn’t play that much.”

But the Lady Knights have already shown improvement – and potential. After dropping their first game of the season, they’ve won four in a row. Most recently, they beat region rival Dean 46-40 at home on Thursday before sweeping the weekend with wins over Central Maine and Southern Maine.

The victory over Dean showed flashes of the Lady Knights’ willingness to improve. They trailed at halftime 23-18 but started the second half on a 12-0 run, thanks in large part to a frenetic effort on defense. Dean didn’t score until more than nine minutes had ticked off the clock.

That was just what CCRI wanted.

“We weren’t putting pressure on their ball handlers like we wanted to,” Monagle said. “We made the adjustment at halftime. Obviously, we weren’t shooting the ball well. So what are we going to do about it? We’re going to have play defense, create some easier shots and go from there.”

The Lady Knights never completely pulled away from Dean, but they did enough to hold on. After Dean cut the lead to 33-30 around the three-minute mark, Erica Pisaturo hit a crucial jumper. After Dean trimmed the lead to two on a bucket inside and a free throw, Cassie Novicky hit the biggest shot of the game when she drilled a three-pointer with 2:07 left, making it a five-point game. Pisaturo, Noel Bullock and Novicky combined to make 4-of-5 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

Novicky, a freshman from New Milford, Conn., led the way for the Lady Knights with 12 points and seven rebounds. Freshman guards Bullock and Teighlor Clare-Kearney spear-headed the defensive effort, delivering the kind of ball-hawking style Monagle knows this team needs.

“We talked right away about speed, quickness and creating chaos,” Monagle said. “We don’t have a lot of size so we’re going to have to play defense.”

The defensive pressure was on display again over the weekend, as CCRI limited Central Maine and Southern Maine to 55 points each.

The offense kicked into gear, too. In a 75-55 victory over Central Maine, three Lady Knights scored in double figures. Clare-Kearney went 8-for-8 from the floor while Rachiele hit 3-of-4 three-pointers.

In an 80-55 win over Southern Maine, Pisaturo scored 19 points, Bullock tallied 15 and Clare-Kearney scored 14 to go with six steals and six assists.

Those offensive showings are a good sign for the Lady Knights, who are still trying to feel their way.

“We don’t have three or four years to build here,” Monagle said. “Half of your time here is one year so we have to do it quickly. We’ll get better individually with some skills, and court awareness is a big thing.”

Since most of the Lady Knights are newcomers, they’ll be learning together. The roster features six sophomores: Pisaturo, Rachiele, Katie Andrews, Lori Bergeron, Alysa O’Neill and Alexis Smith. The freshman class has eight players: Bullock, Clare-Kearney, Novicky, Ashley Fry, Lauren Gonsalves, Holly Horton, Rajvi Jarvis and Michaela Lima. Seven of the 14 players on the roster are from Rhode Island.

“These girls don’t have the pressure because they don’t know what’s expected,” Monagle said. “Last year’s team had to get back to nationals to equal their success. This year’s team has no idea about that. They’re just out there trying to get better.”

Ultimately, though, the goal remains the same.

“I’d love to see us continue on with what we’ve done here for the last six years, making it to nationals,” Monagle said. “It’ll be a very big challenge with this group, but why not keep that streak going?”