WINONA, Minn. — The Saint Mary’s University women’s basketball team has played in each of the last three Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournaments.

And, unfortunately for the Cardinals, each appearance has been short-lived — lasting no longer than the opening round.

This year, just getting to the MIAC’s post-season isn’t enough.

The Cardinals want more — much more.

“I don’t think there’s any question that one of our goals is to get past that first round,” admitted SMU coach Dan Messmann. “But, doing that isn’t going to be easy. The league is so tough again this year — the big four teams (St. Thomas, St. Benedict, Carleton and Gustavus) all remain pretty much in tact, while St. Catherine didn’t lose anyone, Concordia only lost one, Hamline’s gotten much better …

“You can go right down the line,” Messmann continued. “I think we have the potential to close the gap (on the top four teams in the conference), but we need to have everything go our way.”

And, while Messmann seems a little guarded in his optimism, there’s no denying the fact that the Cardinals have the potential to be good — very good — this year.

After all, Messmann has the luxury of returning nearly his entire starting lineup — including standout forward Jamie Rattunde (Rollingstone, Minn.).

As a freshman, Rattunde was named to the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's All-Freshman and All-Defensive teams, while last year, the Cardinal sharpshooter doubled up again, as she was named First-Team All-MIAC, while also making a return appearance on the all-defensive team.

“I think our biggest advantage starting out this year over last year, is everyone has had a year to understand my coaching philosophy, and I’ve had a year to understand where (the players) are coming from,” said Messmann, who is entering his second season as the Cardinals’ head coach. “We layed the foundation last year, and with everyone returning, we are able to just pick up where we left off.”

Where they left off was a disappointing 74-59 loss to St. Thomas in the MIAC Tournament.

“That was a tough way to end what was otherwise a very successful season,” said Messmann, whose team finished fifth in the MIAC with an 11-11 record, and closed out their season with an 11-15 overall record. “We accomplished a lot of our goals a year ago, and hopefully, that was just a sign of things to come this year.”

If the Cardinals are going to make any kind of an attempt at cracking into the MIAC’s top four, they are going to need another stellar season from Rattunde, who led the team in both scoring and rebounding — averaging 15.0 ppg and 8.6 rpg.

Yet, as much as Messmann would love to have his Cardinals hop on Rattunde’s broad shoulders and let the junior carry the team, he knows that that can’t happen if his team is going to be successful — Rattunde will certainly do her part, but she can’t do it alone.

“We need everyone playing at the top of their game every night,” he said. “I look at our team right now, and with the things they learned last year, we are far ahead of where we we at this time a year ago.

“But we have to keep improving — if we are going to reach our goals, we have to keep striving to get better every day,” Messmann continued. “I honestly believe we have the talent to play with anyone. It’s going to come down to the little things that define our season.”

Like shot selection — and shot execution.

“Last year, we did a nice job of getting good looks at the basket — but we didn’t knock down the shots when we had them,” said Messmann, noting that SMU shot just 39 percent from the field a year ago. “The bottom line is, we can have all the talent in the world, but if we don’t make the shots when we get them … .”