Men's, Women's Basketball Picked To Finish Second In North Coast Athletic Conference
The Wittenberg University men's and women's basketball teams both were picked to finish second in the North Coast Athletic Conference media and coaches polls announced as part of the NCAC Basketball Media Day conference call.
Jack Hemenway (40) is among five seniors on the 2006-07 Wittenberg men's basketball team.
SPRINGFIELD, Ohio — The Wittenberg University men's and women's basketball teams both were picked to finish second in the North Coast Athletic Conference media and coaches polls announced as part of the NCAC Basketball Media Day conference call.
The Wittenberg programs, which have the highest winning percentages in NCAC history, are always considered contenders for the conference crowns. The Tiger teams earned a great deal of respect again in 2006-07, thanks to a combination of banner 2005-06 seasons - even by Wittenberg standards - and outstanding prospects for a season now just two weeks away.
The men's balloting among both coaches and media members put the Tigers, who are coming off a 2005-06 season that included an NCAC Tournament title and a run all the way to the NCAA Division III Championship game, in the second position, matching their finish of a year ago. Wooster, which returns four starters and is ranked second in the preseason d3hoops.com poll, was put atop the rankings with 99 of a possible 100 points from the coaches and 267 of a possible 270 points from the media.
Wittenberg, which has won three of the last six NCAC regular season titles and the last two NCAC Tournament crowns, earned one of 10 first-place votes from the coaches and finished with 87 total points. The Tigers, ranked 10th nationally in the d3hoops.com preseason poll, gained one first-place nod from the media and a total of 234 points. Ohio Wesleyan, which also returns four starters, was picked third in both polls.
The Wittenberg women's basketball team hopes for more celebratory moments like this one during the 2005-06 season.
The women's balloting favored two-time NCAC Tournament champion Denison over 2006 NCAC regular season medalist Wittenberg by a slim margin. Wittenberg, which has an NCAC-best 11 regular season titles in 16 years as a conference member, received two of the nine first-place votes from the coaches and six of the 22 from the media. With 72 votes in the coaches poll and 177 points in media balloting, Wittenberg was second in both polls, comfortably ahead of Allegheny in each listing.
In other preseason poll news Thursday, the Tigers were the top vote-getter in the "Others Receiving Votes" category of the d3hoops.com poll. The poll lists a total of 25 teams. Wittenberg is the highest-rated NCAC squad.
The Tiger men, led for a 14th year by Head Coach Bill Brown, Wittenberg class of 1973 , open the season at No. 10 in the preseason poll for a second consecutive year. Wittenberg returns six letterwinners in 2006-07, including two starters in post Dane Borchers, class of 2007 from Russia, Ohio, and point guard Pat Denbow, class of 2007 from Louisville, Ky. Borchers was a second-team All-NCAC honoree each of the last two years and garnered NCAC Tournament MVP honors in 2006.
Wittenberg 's 2006-07 men's basketball season starts with a trip to Philadelphia, Pa., for the season-opening Equinox Classic, hosted jointly by Haverford College and Swarthmore College. The Tigers will face Swarthmore at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 17, at Haverford. The next day, Wittenberg squares off against Haverford at 1 p.m. at Swarthmore.
The Tiger women, led for a 21st straight year by Head Coach Pam Smith, Wittenberg class of 1982, return 13 letterwinners, including four starters in post Kathy Hittle, class of 2007 from Noblesville, Ind., post Ali Rohlfs, class of 2008 from Cincinnati, Ohio, wing Rachel Clark-Haggy, class of 2007 from South Charleston, Ohio, and wing Megan Miller, class of 2007 from Lancaster, Ohio. Hittle led the Tigers in scoring and rebounding for a second consecutive season in 2005-06, and her efforts were recognized by the conference's coaches with NCAC Player of the Year honors.
Wittenberg 's 2006-07 women's basketball season starts with a trip to Chicago, Ill., for a season-opening tournament hosted by the University of Chicago. The Tigers will face the Buena Vista University in the tournament opener at 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 18.
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