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Kathy Hittle battles for a rebound.

The Wittenberg women's basketball program has had a year to put the pieces back together following the loss of four starters from the 2003-04 team that set a new standard for the program with 24 wins and a berth in the NCAA Division III Sweet Sixteen. The expectations are now as high as ever for the Tigers after finishing the 2004-05 season with a 17-10 overall record and tied for second place in the North Coast Athletic Conference, which broke a three-year run atop the standings.

Wittenberg returns 11 letterwinners, including seven players who started at least one game a year ago, in hopes of heading back to the top of the NCAC heap in 2005-06. The Tigers return seven of the eight players to average five points or more last year, led by junior post Kathy Hittle (Noblesville, Ind./Noblesville), a first-team All-NCAC honoree in 2005 who has become a fixture in the paint after an up-and-down freshman campaign. She topped the team in points and rebounds a year ago with averages of 9.2 and 7.3 respectively. She also set a school record with five blocks in a key late-season win over rival Ohio Wesleyan.

The Tigers figure to be strong in the post again in 2005-06, as Hittle will be joined down low by sophomores Ali Rohlfs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) and Katie Gregorevich (Northfield, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit). Rohlfs started 15 games and averaged 7.7 points and 4.2 rebounds per outing, while Gregorevich started five times and averaged 7.1 points and 4.3 boards per contest. Both went through hot and cold streaks through the season, as Rohlfs had eight games in double figures for points and Gregorevich had seven, including a 22-point effort against eventual NCAC regular season champion Kenyon.

The perimeter positions are perhaps of most concern to Head Coach Pam Smith entering her 20th season leading the Tigers. The Tigers lost second-team all-conference guard Emilie Schmid, the team's second-leading scorer and rebounder in 2004-05, and two-year starting guard Alison Nahrup to graduation, while senior guard Carrie Jones (Greenville, Ohio/Greenville) is still recovering from a knee injury suffered at the end of the 2004-05 season.

The only returning starter in the backcourt is senior Brittany Landreth (Mantua, Ohio/Valparaiso (Ind.)), who averaged three points and two assists per game while finishing with an equal number of assists and turnovers in her first year of steady action at the point. Landreth, who led the Tigers and ranked among the conference leaders with 59 steals, split time evenly with junior Andrea Hackett (Springfield, Ohio/Catholic Central), who hit for 2.8 points per game and finished with 37 assists against 40 turnovers on the campaign.

Junior wing Megan Miller (Lancaster, Ohio/Lancaster) is a long-range shooting threat who averaged 7.5 points per game a year ago, junior wing Rachel Clark-Haggy (Springfield, Ohio/Southeastern) is a versatile performer who made seven starts and averaged 3.5 points and 3.3 rebounds per contest in 2004-05, and sophomore wing Ellie Stonecash (Springboro, Ohio/Middletown Fenwick) came off the bench to provide 5.5 points per game in her first collegiate campaign.

Junior point guard Tosha Johnson (Cincinnati, Ohio/North College Hill) and sophomore wing Jill Budde (Cincinnati, Ohio/McNicholas) round out the list of returning letterwinners after both received limited playing time off the bench a year ago. The Tigers figure will be bolstered by a strong recruiting class in 2005-06, including several newcomers who are likely to break into the lineup immediately.