Following a 15-1 record in the Colonial League in 2012-13, the Northwestern girls' basketball team finished its conference run last season with 15 more victories, including a 24-2 overall mark to end the year.

The biggest difference between the two seasons was the Lady Tigers' Colonial League championship in 2014, after downing Southern Lehigh in the championship game for their first league crown since 2007.

One of the biggest pieces to last season's success was Trista Cunningham, a Colonial League First-Team All-Star who is now playing at Moravian College. But while the Lady Tigers' leading scorer and rebounder from last year has graduated, Northwestern returns four starters, led by Colonial League Second-Team selections Sabrina Mertz and Sarah Segan.

"We don't have one person that is going to replace her [Cunningham]," head coach Chris Deutsch said. "If you think about it, the year before we had a Sara Jones graduate, who was the player of the year in the Colonial League. A lot of people said how are you going to replace her? Last year, we had more wins than we did the year before."

Mertz (10.9 points per game) and Segan (9.3 points per game), both seniors, have been playing quality varsity minutes in every season of their high school careers. Their leadership speaks for itself, as they'll be asked to lead a squad that has just three seniors. Lauren Anderson is the other returning 12th-grader.

Mertz has been one of the top guards in the league over her career, possessing a unique mix of speed and acceleration to go along with her ability to slow it down when necessary. Segan, on the other hand, is quick in her own right. But her versatility to play nearly every position on the court makes her a coveted commodity.

"Segan is going to run multiple spots," Deutsch said. "We can run her at a guard spot or a forward spot. We can play her inside, or we can play her outside. We're going to use her all over the place.

"I think our guard play is as good as anybody in the area. I'll match up Mertz and Segan with anybody."

While the team's success may start with Mertz and Segan, that's not where it ends. Juniors Erika Thomas and Megan Landrigan both started last season and are stepping back into familiar roles this season. Thomas finished right behind Mertz and Segan by scoring 9.2 points per game in 2014, while Landrigan scored just over five per contest.

"We're an up-tempo type of team," Deutsch said. "We want to push the ball. This year we're trying a system where we play as fast as we ever played in the 12 years I've been here at Northwestern."

With one of the biggest question marks being the Lady Tigers' size, or lack thereof, Deutsch understands that it will take all five girls on the court to replace a talent like Cunningham, who averaged 6.5 rebounds per game last year.

"That's probably one of my biggest concerns going into the season," Deutsch said. "Are we going to be able to rebound the ball, because we're not really big? Size-wise we are small, but we're quick and athletic."

Juniors McKenzi Divers and Mikaela Koenig could help replace some of the rebounds lost to graduation.

In addition to a group of seven experienced players from last year, Deutsch possesses a number of newcomers that have raised his eyebrows thus far. Of the five freshmen that made the junior varsity squad (Abby Chisdak, Jessica Williamson, Gabby Sevrain, Leighanna Lister and Maya Hambrick), Deutsch believes some will see varsity time this season.

"We have five freshmen that have made the JV team this year," Deutsch said. "Some of them could suit up varsity, too. We're not sure yet, but we like some of our freshmen girls."

The top priority is getting back to that league championship level once again, a spot the Lady Tigers have been in in the last two years. Northwestern has been one of the top four teams in the league in each of the past three seasons, resulting in a postseason berth.

After that, the Lady Tigers are looking to put together another strong run in the District 11 Class AAA tournament. A year ago, Northwestern advanced to the semifinals before coming up short against Allentown Central Catholic.