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WHEELING - Wheeling Jesuit's men's and women's basketball teams are off to a good start in proving the pundits wrong.

With the book closed on the pre-holiday West Virginia Conference schedule, the Cardinals men and women stand at 3-0 in league play. That's after being selected to finish seventh and 10th in the conference, respectively, in the coaches' preseason poll.

''I'm happy we were picked 10th,'' said WJU's Katie Hine, who in her first full season as women's head coach.

Hine relishes the underdog role. So far the Cardinals (4-1 overall) have defeated Pitt-Johnstown, Shepherd and Seton Hill, all teams rated higher in the preseason rankings.

Hine's team is tied atop the WVC standings with traditional powers Glenville State, Fairmont State and Concord.

''The players are starting to realize they can be a really good team. Right now, I think we're just a good team. But if we keep working as hard as we've been working I think by the end of the season we could be considered a really good team.''

And team is the perfect word to describe the 2009-10 Cardinals.

''I think one of the biggest surprises for me so far is we can go 10-to-12 players deep, as opposed to the past couple of seasons when we could only go six-to-eight deep,'' Hine said.

Heading into Wednesday's non-conference road test at Mercyhurst, Wheeling Jesuit has two double-figure scorers among the Top 30 in the conference - sophomore Kourtney Booth (3rd, 18.2 ppg.) and senior Kim Mueller (12 ppg.).

Freshman guard Chrissy Pavlik has scored 10.4 ppg., while sophomore guard Cassy Sanderson has registered 10.3 ppg.

Next on the list is freshman guard, and former Wheeling Central standout Kara DeSantis, who has added 6.8 ppg. and a spark.

''She's really given us an athletic edge,'' Hine said of the former all-stater who scored 14 points in an 83-74 victory at Seton Hill on Saturday.

With just one senior, Hine is expecting great things from her younger players. But she knows there will be roadbumps en route to WVC supremacy. And one of those came in the Cardinals' season-opening Tipoff Classic when Findlay thumped them, 101-62.

''We just looked at that loss as a learning experience,'' Hine said.

''We tried to turn it into a positive.''

Wheeling Jesuit rebounded well, topping Pitt-Johnstown in the conference opener, 68-67, on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Booth.

Booth, a Fort Frye graduate, leads the Cardinals in scoring and leads the WVC in 3-point field goals made with 22.

The Cardinals are second in the conference in 3-pointers made (49), but Hine said success from the outside isn't her top ingredient in her recipe.

''We're not getting away from our defense,'' Hine said. ''I would like to focus on that more. That's what it's going to come down to in the conference. Whomever plays the best defense is going to win the most games.''

Wheeling Jesuit men's coach Danny Sancomb has always hung his hat on defense. And so far, his Cardinals are holding opponents to a conference-best 38.6 percent shooting from the field.

''That's something we pride ourselves on,'' Sancomb said, as he continued preparations for tonight's road test at No. 8-ranked Indiana (Pa.)

''If we're going to win games, we're going to rely on our defense to help do that. If we get stops on defense, we'll have a chance.''

The Cardinals have made plenty of stops in getting out of the gate 4-1 and are tied for the WVC's top spot with West Liberty, W.Va. State and Charleston. WJU has posted overtime victories against Bethany and Pitt-Johnstown and a three-point triumph at Shepherd.

Sancomb said victories in close games have given his young squad confidence.

''We're still putting things together, but our young guys have really stepped up,'' he said.

Of the Cardinals' four double-figure scorers, two are freshmen - Andre Harris (15 ppg.) and guard Recardo Gaddy (12.6 ppg.).

''He's a talented player, but he still has a long way to go,'' Sancomb said of Harris, who played for Coach Scott Aronhalt at Zanesville High School. ''He has the ability to score and put the ball on the floor. He has a scorer's mentality.''

Sancomb's young squad recently received a boost with the return of junior forward Joe Suchy, who is coming off a torn ACL. Suchy has played sparingly in the last two games.

He played 2 minutes against Shepherd and 14 against Seton Hill.

Sophomore Steve Catich leads the Cardinals with 16.5 ppg., while another sophomore, Obi Ukwuoma, checks in at 11.8 ppg.

''The best thing about us right now is our chemistry,'' Sancomb said. ''We don't have guys who come off the floor after a game looking to see how many points they scored or how many rebounds they had. They are working toward a common goal and it's been fun to coach them.''