The 2008-09 season ended too soon for the Northwestern State Lady Demons as they were bounced from the Southland Conference Tournament in the semifinal round by eventual champion UTSA after finishing the season with an 18-13 mark.

But even though the year was cut short, it was still the most successful season since the 2004 Southland championship team finished 24-7.

This year's squad will be looking to build on that success as the team returns three starters and eight letterwinners to go along with five newcomers.

Heading the list of returners is junior guard Brooke Shepherd who will be the Lady Demons' top returning scorer. Shepherd averaged 8.9 points in 29 minutes a game last year while starting all 31 games.

Also at guard, senior Lyndzee Greene returns and will be counted on for her strong leadership role. Greene started 28 games and averaged 4.9 points and 1.7 assists per game.

Senior forward Sherrion Thomas, who suffered a late season knee injury last season, will return to the lineup to help out underneath. Thomas, standing at 6-foot- 1, averaged 5.9 points and 4.6 rebounds.

Another returning starter will be junior forward Jessica McPhail who averaged 8.7 points and had 55 assists in 31 games played with 28 starts.

Other returners that contributed last season are forwards Britany Kinlaw (5.6 ppg, 4.7 rpg) and Keke Goodson (2.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg) and guards Anna Cate Williams (4.3 ppg, 2.0 rpg) and Brittiany Houston (4.0 ppg).