Madison, Wis.--University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, the defending conference co-champion, is favored to win the 2005 Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) women's basketball championship, according to the league's sports information directors.

The Pointers, who have qualified for the NCAA Division III Tournament in two of the last three seasons and are ranked No. 4 nationally in the D3hoops.com preseason poll, received six first-place votes in the conference survey.

UW-Oshkosh, which shared last year's title with UW-Stevens Point, is ranked No. 16 in the D3hoops.com preseason selections. The Titans captured the remaining three first-place votes and are expected to finish second in the nine-team conference derby.

UW-Eau Claire is predicted to finish third, while UW-Stout is pegged for fourth in the league standings.

The 2004-05 season also welcomes a new head coach into the league as Tina Kuhle assumes the reigns at UW-Platteville.

Following is a brief preview of each WIAC women's basketball team, listed in alphabetical order, with its 2004 overall and conference record in parenthesis.

UW-Eau Claire (21-6, 12-4 WIAC)

Head coach Tonja Englund enters her fifth year at UW-Eau Claire with 11 returning letterwinners and a solid group of newcomers looking to improve upon last season's results. The Blugolds have compiled 20 or more wins in three of Englund's four seasons.

Three-year starter Katie Murphy returns at point guard and has started all 86 games she has played in a Blugold uniform. She earned all-WIAC honorable mention accolades a year ago after ranking third in the conference in three-point field goal percentage (.416) and eighth in assists (2.89 per game) and steals (2.26 per game).

Joanna Leafblad and Emilee Planert also return for their senior seasons. Leafblad played in 25 contests last year and compiled 5.8 points per game, while Planert chipped in 4.0 points in 27 games.

Additional returnees include senior Jessica Dickey, juniors Rachel Becker, Becca Carstensen, Megan Hanson and Liz VanDrasek, sophomores Amanda Eisold, Ashley Fall, Liz Krieg and Molly Menard and redshirt freshman Angie Foschi.

The Blugolds will need to fill the shoes of Becca Spaeth, a two-time all-WIAC first team choice and Brooke Wozniak-Schmidt, who earned all-WIAC first team honors last season and led the league in rebounding each of the last two years.

UW-La Crosse (9-16, 3-13)

UW-La Crosse returns four of its top six scorers from last season and brings in a talented group of newcomers in 2004-05. Sixth-year head coach Lois Heeren welcomes back a strong group of perimeter players, including senior Jana Merchlewitz, who earned all-WIAC honorable mention recognition last season.

Merchlewitz started all 25 games last year, leading the Eagles and finishing 11th in the conference in scoring at 11.2 points per game, while placing third on the team with 4.5 rebounds per contest. She scored in double figures in 16 games and set or tied single-game career-highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals, three-point field goals and blocks.

Junior Shawna Koss was limited to 16 games a year ago due to injuries, but averaged 7.4 points and 3.5 rebounds per game. Sophomores Karrie Lamers and Nicole Palmer also return at guard. Lamers played in eight games last season, while Palmer saw action in 24 contests.

Junior Leslie Matson and sophomores Katie Searing and Abby Johnson lead the charge on the inside for the Eagles. Matson played in 18 games despite injuries and averaged 6.7 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. Searing started all 25 contests as a freshman and led the Eagles with 7.8 rebounds per game, while averaging 6.6 points and registering three double-doubles. Johnson appeared in all 25 games, averaging 7.2 points and 5.1 rebounds per contest and leading the team with 13 blocks.

UW-Oshkosh (21-6, 13-3)

UW-Oshkosh enters the 2004-05 season with a good combination of factors working in their favor.

Those factors include an experienced squad that is extremely hungry for another highly successful campaign. That hunger is fueled by the fact that despite winning a seventh WIAC title in the past 11 seasons and posting 20-plus victories for the 10th time in 11 years last winter, UW-Oshkosh missed out on its annual goal of making it to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Titans enter their 34th intercollegiate season with 11 returning players and three talented newcomers. There is a sense that this year's squad knows the kind of hard work and dedication it will take to capture another WIAC title and return to NCAA Division III postseason play.

UW-Oshkosh returns a solid group of veterans that will play a big hand in keeping the Titans focused on a winning attitude game in and game out. These veterans include four players who started at least 18 games and four others who averaged at least eight minutes of playing time per contest.

Starters returning for the Titans are senior forward Abby Holler, junior guard Kelly O'Keef and senior guards Michele Rosicky and Laurie Turtenwald. Turtenwald received all-WIAC first team honors last year after averaging 8.8 points, 3.3 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game, while shooting 47.1 percent from behind the three-point line and 88.1 percent from the free throw line. Holler averaged 8.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game to gain all-WIAC honorable mention recognition a year ago.

UW-Platteville (14-12, 8-8)

UW-Platteville will have a new look in 2004-05, as former assistant coach Tina Kuhle takes over the head coaching position and fields a team that will be without three players who were multiple all-conference selections.

Kuhle was an assistant for two years, and the Pioneers were 27-23 during her tenure with a pair of 8-8 WIAC records. Prior to UW-Platteville, she compiled an 84-59 record at Clarke (Iowa) and guided the squad to three Northern Illinois-Iowa Conference championships in her six years.

Even though the Pioneers lost three-time all-WIAC forward Tiff Flesch and two-time all-league guards Angie Sisson and Katie Freis, the team still returns plenty of experience thanks to a strong junior class.

Center Shannon Boatman is the lone senior, coming off a season of averaging 8.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game, while shooting 51.2 percent from the field. Junior Emily Adrian (3.7 points per game) started all 26 games at the point guard position, while teammates Holly Kaiser (6.9), Rachel Korth (4.9), Michelle Hardyman (4.6), Stacy Carlson (3.6) and Abby Lalko (0.9) played in every contest. Liz Tesch, Kelly Laschinger and Emily Fritz gained valuable experience during their first year.

UW-River Falls (13-13, 4-12)

UW-River Falls has a veteran group of players back for the 2004-05 season, a year in which the Falcons have the talent and skill to make a move up the WIAC standings. Just one player graduated from last year's team and eight Falcons that played in at least 16 games last year return.

Senior forward Erin Effle, who earned all-WIAC first team honors in 2004, led the team and ranked fifth in the conference with 13.6 points per game, while finishing second on the squad with 5.8 rebounds per contest.

Senior guard Darcy Olsen and sophomore forward Traci Reimann started every game for the Falcons a year ago. Olsen finished second on the team with 9.8 points per game and dished out 46 assists, while Reimann contributed 9.1 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest, along with a team-leading 52 assists.

Sophomore guard Melanie Preiner played in every game and averaged 4.2 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, while adding 50 assists. Junior guard Chantele Melgaard averaged 8.0 points and 2.9 rebounds per contest, while sophomore forward Megan Lindman chipped in 8.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Gina Astedt played in 23 games and averaged 2.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per contest, while dishing out 43 assists.

UW-Stevens Point (28-5, 13-3)

Having made national semifinal appearances two of the past three seasons, the pieces appear to be in place once again for another successful run for UW-Stevens Point. The Pointers are coming off their first WIAC title since 1987 before claiming their first WIAC tournament crown and advancing to the NCAA semifinals.

UW-Stevens Point lost three starters from that squad, but return a pair of all-WIAC post players in seniors Amanda Nechuta and Amy Scott. Nechuta was the WIAC Player of the Year and a Kodak first team All-American while leading the league in scoring for the second straight year with a school-record 617 points (18.7 ppg). She also ranked third in the league in steals and was named to the all-defensive team. Scott
scored 13.5 points per game and ranked second in the league with a 55.6 field goal percentage.

Junior Cassandra Schultz started nearly the entire postseason at point guard and averaged 16.7 points in her seven starts, including 28 in the WIAC title game. Sophomore Nathalie Lechault is the team's other
top returnee, ranking third in the WIAC in blocks as a freshman. The other starting spots will be battled upon by incoming freshmen and returning players.

UW-Stout (18-9, 10-6)

UW-Stout returns three starters and three of their top four starters off the bench from last season for head coach Mark Thomas' 18th season at the helm of the squad. Returning starters include senior forward Lindsey Erichsen, senior guard Erin Churchill and junior guard Molly Hendricks.

Erichsen is a two-time all-WIAC honorable mention selection, who averaged 9.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per contest last season. Churchill also earned all-WIAC honorable mention honors after averaging 10.1 points per game, along with the league's second-best mark at 3.9 assists per game a year ago. Hendricks averaged 8.6 points and stuck her nose under the basket for 3.8 rebounds.

Additional regulars returning include senior Jenny Philipsky, juniors Sarah Knutson and Steffanie Nemitz and sophomores Amanda Geissler, Jenny McDermid and Savanah Oeltjen.

A solid freshman class, as well as the addition of sophomore Kelsey Duoss, a 6-foot, 2-inch transfer from NCAA Division I Illinois-Chicago will give UW-Stout added depth.

The Blue Devils have a rugged schedule that includes NCAA Division II schools North Dakota State and St. Cloud State (Minn.). UW-Stout also opens their schedule with four of the first five games on the road.

UW-Superior (10-16, 4-12)

Last year's overall won-loss record marked the best record in head coach Sandy Eilertsen's eight seasons with the Yellowjackets, and the squad looks to improve on those numbers in the 2004-05 campaign.

The Yellowjackets return seven seniors, including two-time all-WIAC honorable mention pick Lindsey Anderson, who averaged 10.6 points and 3.8 rebounds per game last season. Forward Stephanie Janigo also earned all-WIAC honorable mention accolades after leading the team and ranking seventh in the league with 12.7 points per contest. She also added 6.4 rebounds per game and a team-leading 23 blocks.

Twin sisters Shawna and Shannon Johannes each played in all 26 games a year ago, averaging 9.8 and 4.7 points, respectively. Abby Glawe played in 23 contests, while Melissa Dreger saw limited action in nine games. Kati Galovich started 25 games and averaged 8.2 points, while dishing out a team-leading 89 assists.

Additional returning letterwinners for the Yellowjackets include: Kristina Higgins, Lanee' Lyons, Katie Moench, Molly Ray and Diana Schoenborn.

Lost from last year's squad is two-time all-WIAC honorable mention selection Heidi McKay, along with Jodi Johnson and Kelly Krieg. McKay averaged 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds per game a season ago.

UW-Whitewater (9-17, 5-11)

Head coach Keri Carollo enters her third season at UW-Whitewater with a squad that includes 13 of 19 players that she has brought into the program in the last two years.

Leading the returnees this season are senior post players Nya Geschke and Jamie Carollo, who both started 20 games last season and saw action in all 26 contests. Geschke captured all-WIAC honorable mention accolades after registering 11.6 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, while shooting 81.8 percent from the free throw line a year ago. Carollo contributed 7.0 points and 4.7 rebounds per contest last season

Senior Julie Nommensen and sophomores Megan Baker and Jessica Wendt will provide depth in the post for the Warhawks this season. Nommensen averaged 7.1 points per game, while Baker added 8.7 points and Wendt chipped in 4.8 points per contest.

Sara Immel returns after participating in all 26 games last year with 18 starts, along with senior Leah Thyne, who averaged 6.0 points per game and Amy Morris' 6.6 points per contest.

Also returning from the 2003-04 squad are sophomores Chelley Hahn, Emily Kingsley, Shannon Moore and Christy Walker.

2004-05 Preseason Predictions (Voted on by WIAC Sports Information Directors)
1. Stevens Point (6)
2. Oshkosh (3)
3. Eau Claire
4. Stout
5. Whitewater
6. River Falls
7. Platteville
8. La Crosse
9. Superior

( )--First-place votes

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