As the Point Park University’s Lady Pioneers begin the last half of their season, preparations are already being made for the next season.A fundamental change is being made as Head Coach Sam Kosanovich will relinquish his title, a position he has held for five years.”Kosanovich served a dual-role as the Student Center director for five years. He’s now taking over full-time,” said Kevin Taylor, director of athletic communications, in a phone interview.Kosanovich brought stability to an organization that had been inconsistent for years beforehand. He turned a young, 2-25 team into an American Mideast Conference (AMC) contender, boasting a winning record last year while keeping his team in the playoff hunt this season. Before he arrived, the Lady Pioneers had gone nine seasons without getting at least eight wins. Last year he led them to a 14-13 record, marking the first time in 16 years they ended the season over .500.Kosanovich was sure to stress that he is not overlooking these last couple of games.”This is by no means signaling a surrender flag for the rest of the season,” Kosanovich said. “We are not eliminated from the playoffs, and we intend to finish strong.”The announcement was made now because Kosanovich believed it would help this year’s batch of recruits in making a decision on where they would like to play next year. The search for a new head coach will begin at the end of the season.Coming into the year, Point Park’s Lady Pioneers were hoping to earn a playoff berth. The year started out strong, with the team flying out of the gates with a 9-3 record. However, a midseason slide dropped their record to 12-11, including a lackluster 4-8 conference record, good for eight-place in the AMC. The low point of the slide is when they dropped four consecutive conference games.If they win their final four contests, they would earn the seventh slot guaranteed, but only the top six teams get to extend their season into the playoffs. They are still alive in the chase, but those tough midseason losses will probably cost them a trip to the playoffs.”With the way we started, it’s a little disappointing,” said Ashley Henderson, a senior guard, in a phone interview. “We’re going to have to try to win these last few games.”There have been plenty of bright spots on this team this year. Henderson was named to the Academic All-District second team while leading the team with a 17.5 ppg average. Even though she will be leaving the team next year, there is a good foundation of younger players, including sophomore guard April Austin, the team’s second leading scorer, and junior center Joncelyn Peterkin, who grabbed nearly eight boards a game this year to lead the team.”We have some really talented girls here,” Henderson said.The homestretch of the season consists of the teams with the best and worst conference records in the AMC. On Feb. 12 the Lady Pioneers will play a home game against Carlow University, ranked 12th in the AMC. The season finale on Feb. 19 is also a home contest, against Daemen College ranked first in the AMC. They defeated Point Park earlier in the season. Even though a late season playoff run will be tough, it is still a possibility.In the end, this year could be considered a success to some because the odds of a winning record are good or a disappointment to others since the playoffs may elude the Lady Pioneers.