| Hill Receives New Four-Year Contract |
| Thursday, October 13 2005 |
| Courtesy of: |
| Youngstown, Ohio -- Youngstown State Executive Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Ron Strollo announced on Thursday that women’s basketball Head Coach Tisha Hill signed a new four-year contract that covers the 2005-06 season through the 2008-09 campaign. "Coach Hill is well-deserving of this new contract," Strollo said. "Not only has she improved our program’s competitiveness in a short period of time, she has worked diligently to lay the groundwork for future successes for the Youngstown State women’s basketball program." Hill, who inherited a team that went 6-22 during the 2002-03 campaign, guided the Penguins to an eight-win improvement with a 12-16 overall record in 2004-05 after going 4-24 in her first season. "Coaching at Youngstown State has been a wonderful experience and I’m grateful to the administration for the opportunity to continue be the head coach at YSU for the next four years," Hill said. "I’m very proud of my players and staff and happy to be able to continue to lead this program." Predicted to finish in last place in the Horizon League in 2004-05, Hill led the Penguins to a sixth-place finish with a 6-10 Horizon League record. Senior Jen Perugini became the first Penguin named to the All-Horizon League First-Team and freshman Lauren Branson was selected to the Horizon League All-Newcomer Team. Perugini was also named to the ESPN the Magazine/CoSIDA Academic All-District IV First-Team. YSU ended the season ranked 24th nationally with a 36.3 3-point percentage and 39th with 6.1 3-pointers made per game. YSU was also 20th in the country with a 75.2 free throw percentage. The Penguins also improved their offensive production in 2004-05, averaging 8.7 points per game more than 2003-04. Hill came to Youngstown State after spending two seasons as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator at Ball State. While with the Cardinals, Hill made an immediate impact, helping guide Ball State to two straight 20-win seasons, including a school-record 24-8 mark in 2001-02, and two straight Women’s National Invitational Tournament second-round appearances in 2002 and 2003. At Ball State, Hill also worked with the Cardinal post players, including 2003 Mid-American Conference Player of the Year and Honorable Mention All-American Tamara Bowie, who was selected in the third round of the 2003 WNBA Draft by the Washington Mystics. Prior to joining the Ball State staff, Hill spent four seasons at Virginia Tech, where she helped the Hokies to four straight postseason appearances, including trips to the NCAA second round in 2001 and the NCAA Sweet 16 in 1999. Hill, a native of Cleveland Heights, Ohio, also spent two seasons as an assistant coach at Horizon League-member UW-Green Bay and two years on the staff at Indiana. While at UWGB, Hill helped the Phoenix to an overall record of 38-20, including a Midwestern Collegiate Conference championship in 1996. During her tenure at Indiana, the Hoosiers made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament in 1994 and 1995 and finished with a two-year record of 38-19. She was also a four-year letterwinner at Indiana and still holds the Hoosiers’ all-time assists and steals records. |