SANTA CLARA, Calif. – With the season underway. Santa Clara women's basketball has welcomed five freshmen to the 2013-14 squad. Jo Paine, Montana Walters, Marie Bertholdt, Taylor Williams and Beth Carlson were a highly touted recruiting class and all five saw action in the two Santa Clara exhibition games. Paine and Walters started the season-opener while Bertholdt came off the bench.
"Having a big freshman class of five, and this group in particular, has been really good for us," said Santa Clara head coach Jennifer Mountain. "I think they have adapted and have been able to contribute right away in a lot of different areas. Their chemistry with the returners is really good and they complement each other really well. I'm excited because the learning curve is not going to be as deep as it is when you have a big group of freshman coming in and you have to do a lot of teaching. These kids have really caught on well. Being able to work with them in the summer has been an advantage also. We're not teaching everything from the first day of official practice because we had eight weeks with them where we have been able to do things earlier than normal. It has been a good adjustment."
Paine and Walters are both from Oregon City, Ore. and are roommates in their first seasons on the Mission campus. Bertholdt of Alameda, Calif. and Williams of Highlands Ranch, Colo. are roommates while Carlson from Everett, Wash. lives in the same dorm with them.
The team has been together since summer so they have had lots of time to adjust to college life. Check out a video of the five freshmen in their respective dorms talking about the adjustments to college life.
To watch the video, click here.