It's a simple, one-word slogan, but head coach Kenny Brooks says it sums up the way the James Madison women's basketball team is approaching the upcoming season.

"Now."

"It's just plain and simple," says Brooks. "And you can fill in the blank around it. We feel like we have a veteran basketball team enough, and kids have grown up. And we want to win a championship now."

Brooks says he and associate head coach Jackie Smith Carson came up with the slogan. It's already the theme of an online video advertisement for this year's Dukes, and Brooks says it could soon appear on team-issued T-shirts.

And players say they're on board with the message.

"I think it fits us perfectly," says junior guard Dawn Evans. "It's not about what we did last year. It's not about what we're going to do two years from now. And that's what we need to focus on."

"On a personal note, I think 'Now' is perfect for me. I mean, this is my last year, so it's now or never for me," says guard Sarah Williams, the lone senior on this year's team.

The Dukes are coming off a fourth consecutive 20-plus win season, and advanced to the second round of the WNIT, the program's fourth straight postseason appearance.

But Williams still says last year was disappointing.

"We expected to win the CAA. We were right there, a couple points off," she says, referring to the Dukes' 64-58 loss to Drexel at the Convocation Center in the conference championship. "And I think being that close made us just a little more hungry."

"We've got some new faces," says Brooks. "But more importantly, we've got some kids who went through it last year, where they almost reached their goal. So it left a bitter taste in their mouth."

"We had bigger expectations than what happened," says Williams. "So we're looking forward to starting new, starting fresh."

Evans, whose 23.8 points per game led the CAA and was second in the country last year, says that fresh start allows the program to shed the "young team" label of her first two seasons.

"We're a pretty experienced team," she says. "We're not a young team anymore, so we can't rely on that."

"It's exciting times," says Brooks, whose team opens preseason practice Friday. "We're not exactly sure what we have, but it's going to be fun for me to get back out here."