Being so close to winning a state championship a season before gives a team motivation heading into the next season.

For the Fresno City College women’s basketball team, they hope to do just that—repeat their success while winning a championship in the process.

The 2016 campaign kicks off on Nov. 10 against Merced College.

The women’s basketball team finished the 2015-2016 season with a 29-3 record, reaching the final four in the state championships before falling to Mount San Antonio College in the semifinals.

Leading the charge for the Rams is head coach Brian Tessler, who has been the Rams’ head coach for five years. His philosophy is that fundamentals are the key to any team’s success.

He said that keeping to their system of play has brought them success in the past and in the “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” mentality.

“You never really know what the season ahead of you is going to be like,” Tessler said. “We just play our game the way we have before, sticking to the same system that we have and hope that it produces similar results.”

Team chemistry is what drives a team to perform throughout a season. Knowing how to run their playbook, while trusting each other to know each other’s responsibilities and execute it flawlessly also helps.

Sophomore Forward Julia LoCastro is sure that the preparation for the season has helped the newer and older players come together to build that bond and trust she feels is needed to do well this season.

“We have meshed together good, working hard in our drills, making sure that we all know the offensive system that way we can all be on the same page,” LoCastro said.

The Rams will enter the season with a motion-style offense, calling designed plays that allow the ball to move on the opposite side of the court while opening up holes on the opponent’s defense, resulting in quick scores.

Sophomore guard Heaven Holmes is confident that they have a great system in place that will allow them to perform well on the scoreboard while keeping the opponent’s defense on their toes.

“I think we have a good system in place to help us win games and get to where we want to be. We just need to sharpen edges a bit to limit our mistakes, allowing us to play at the top of our potential,” said Holmes.

Everything that the Rams have done during the course of the offseason is to get them to where they want to be—in the state finals at the end of the season.

The Rams are hoping that they can have the same success as they did last season while building upon it to reach the California state finals.

Sophomore guard Julia Cuellar feels that they have a great roster to get them back to the state championships and win it.

“We have a great team, and knowing what kind of team we have, I expect us to get back to the state championships and win it.”