(CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky.) -The Thomas More College women’s basketball team is ready to continue the success it experienced last season.

A year ago, Head Coach Brian Neal’s team finished 29-1 overall and won the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) regular season and PAC Tournament titles and advanced to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division III National Tournament. This year, Neal and the Saints are looking to build on what they accomplished during the 2007-2008 campaign.

“Last season was rewarding because of the great things we accomplished as a team, but it was also a little disappointing the way it ended in the (NCAA) tournament,” said Neal, who enters the campaign with an 87-23 record in his four years at Thomas More. “Hopefully, we can use both of those experiences to help us grow as a team this year.”

Neal won’t have to look hard for experience with nine letterwinners returning, including four starters from last season’s team. Headlining the list of returners is 5-7 senior first team All-PAC guard Jayme Thiem (Cold Spring, Ky./Newport Central Catholic), who averaged 14.1 points and 4.7 rebounds per game and had 23 blocks, 88 assists and a team-leading 97 steals.

Joining Thiem as a returning starter is 6-0 sophomore second team All-PAC center Nicole Dickman (Park Hills, Ky./Notre Dame Academy), 5-6 senior honorable mention All-PAC guard Alex Gee (Cincinnati, Ohio/Glen Este) and 5-4 honorable mention All-PAC point guard Gabby Johnson (McCordsville, Ind./Mt. Vernon). Dickman scored 10.1 ppg., grabbed a team-high 7.2 rpg. and blocked 28 shots and had 37 steals. Gee scored 7.3 ppg. and dished out 40 assists, while Johnson scored 4.2 ppg. and dished out a team-high 102 assists.

“I’m very excited about the potential of this team,” said Neal. “We have both something new and something old, in terms of experience and youth. We have several key veterans, who have proven themselves in the past and we also have a bit of a youth movement with some talented newcomers. It should be exciting watching it unfold.”

Other returning players to look for are 5-7 junior guard Sarah Yeiser (Paris, Ky./Paris), 6-2 junior center Claire Noltemeyer (Louisville, Ky./Assumption) and 5-7 junior guard Carrie Fay (Union, Ky./Ryle) all to be better with two years of collegiate experience. Yeiser averaged 3.2 ppg., Noltemeyer averaged 2.9 ppg. and Fay averaged 1.8 ppg. and had eight steals. In addition to the veterans and a solid recruiting class, Neal has the pieces for another run for a PAC title and a berth in the NCAA Division III national tournament.

“Our goals haven’t changed over the last five years,” said Neal. “When we take the floor, our goal is simply to be the best team we can be. Obviously, we want to win the PAC, advance to the NCAA National Tournament and ultimately win a national championship. But those are not things we focus on. We focus on playing hard, playing together and getting better everyday.”

Thomas More opens the season on Friday and Saturday, November 21-22 when it travels to Danville, Kentucky for the Centre College Tip-Off Classic.