The Lafayette College women's basketball team may not have had a dream season, but it was good enough to fulfill the dreams of a young girl battling a life-threatening disease.

Ten-year-old Kasey Keenan, a passionate fan of the Leopards, had the honor of serving as junior captain this season -- completing her duties even as she fought leukemia.

"She's such an inspiration to us. We're struggling as a team, but we keep fighting and that's what Kasey is all about, she's a fighter," said head coach Tammy Smith.

Kasey, a fourth grader from Belvidere, New Jersey, has been attending Lafayette women's basketball games in Easton, Pennsylvania, with her family since she was 6. Last summer, she and her younger sister even attended the Leopards' basketball camp.

It was after camp last August that Kasey was diagnosed with leukemia.

Smith said she was contacted by Kasey's teacher and father asking if there was anything the team could do to help lift the young girl's spirits. Smith, who had previously met Kasey at basketball camp and at a birthday party Kasey had at a Lafayette game, did much more than sign an autograph or two -- she and the players made her a member of the team.

"They just jumped in...and the next thing we knew they were coming to visit," said Christine Keenan, Kasey's mother. "Colleen Fitzpatrick, Kasey's favorite player, was shooting hoops in the back yard with her and asked her to be their junior captain and it was just amazing. We were so pleased."

Keenan said the invitation came about three months after Kasey was diagnosed, while she was being home-tutored because she couldn't attend school, and it gave her daughter so much to look forward to.

Kasey said she was surprised to open her door and find her favorite player standing there.

"I just thought, like, wow 'cause they came to my house to invite me there," she said of being asked to serve as junior captain.

Kasey also was presented with season passes, schedules, posters, a ball signed by Fitzpatrick and Fitzpatrick's practice uniform. She also was given a yearbook that each player had signed. Keenan said her daughter sleeps with that yearbook under her pillow and has memorized facts about each player.

Kasey attended every home game this season, and her family, which includes three younger siblings, has even traveled to a few away games.

"It's been really great," Fitzpatrick said of having Kasey on the bench at games. "She's truly an inspiration to everyone. We've really cherished having her there and appreciate everything she's done for us."

And at games, Kasey, who has her own team uniform, doesn't just sit on the bench; she's truly a part of the team. She comes in the locker room before and after games and during halftime, she takes part in the team huddle, she's at the end of the line when the team runs on the court and she cheers everyone on.

"She follows every play," Fitzpatrick said. "She'll say, 'Keep your head up, keep going, guys.' "

Keenan said the family tries to sit in the stands across from the players' bench so they can watch their daughter and sister in action.

"It's just amazing. The first couple of games she was very quiet and sat on the end by herself, but she had a little, tiny smirk on, you could tell she was happy to be there," Keenan said. "By now, she's chatting with the players and high-fiving them. It's a thrill to be there as a parent to see her dream come true.

"I wish every kid that was going through the treatment that she's going through had something that would keep them so motivated."

Kasey's prognosis is good, her mother said, but she must go through chemotherapy treatment for more than two years. Kasey's doctors have worked hospitalizations around her junior captain responsibilities, and everyone around her has made it a priority that Kasey be able to attend games, Keenan said.

Kasey is taking daily, oral chemotherapy medicine at home now and also takes a new treatment every other weekend that consists of 40 pills over a 24-hour period. Keenan said that sometimes Kasey will leave to take her pills and come right back to the bench.

"She's just so willing to do all of the things she needs to do because she knows she has to stay healthy to get to the game," Keenan said. "I could not imagine how we would have made it through some of the hospitalizations because she knew she had to eat, had to stay hydrated, she had to do all of these things in order to get to the next basketball game."

Smith said though the team ended its regular season with a poor won-lost record, they continued to be inspired by Kasey.

"She just comes in every day with a smile on her face," said Smith. "That put a lot of things in perspective for our players."

Kasey, who plays basketball herself and considers herself a good point guard, said she hopes to someday play for Lafayette. Asked what her favorite part of serving as junior captain was, she said, "Seeing how much the teammates support one another."

After all, it's that kind of support that's helped Kasey face her own challenges.