When the University of Denver women’s basketball team was down to seven players in early December they looked for someone from down under to help them fill the void.

Coach Pam Tanner found her help in 5-foot-9-inches guard Samantha Winter from Brisbane, Queensland, in Australia.

Brisbane is in the eastern part of Australia north of Sydney.

“I had no clue I would be playing in Denver, Denver has everything I want,” said Winter.

“I really like the coaching staff and have an Australian friend that went through here that made the transition a lot easier,” explained the new Pioneer.

With freshman Jenna Cole and junior Tyesha Lowery both injured at the beginning of the season and sophomore’s Kaitlyn King and Louise Gronemann leaving the school, Tanner found herself in a very rare and unwanted situation.

Having recruited Winter over the summer, she called her up and hoped that she might consider joining the team.

“When talking to Coach Tanner she told me I would have to come in and play some minutes, and with having so many freshmen on the team she told us we have to cut out the mistakes and play like sophomores,” said Winter.

Winter swam, ran and played basketball as a kid, but when things became more serious she was asked to make a choice between the three.

She chose her love, basketball.

After playing on the Queensland junior team, she was the only player taken to join the Australian Basketball Association this past year.

Not only was she playing in a professional league last year, but she was also finishing her senior year of high school, which she finished just over a month ago before coming here.

Winter left her family and friends and joined the Pioneers in the middle of December after finishing high school.

She was cleared to play by the NCAA clearing house in late December and made her first appearance at Eastern Washington, playing three minutes and scoring one point off of a free-throw.

Since then Winter has made a strong contribution to the team, scoring 16 points, tallying four assists, seven steals and nine rebounds in seven games this season.

“The speed and strength of girls here is a lot different, defensively there are a lot of different principles, and the NCAA uses a different ball,” said Winter.

“One of the main reasons I came to Denver was pre-med and the coaching staff and my friend who has been here for 10 years,” said Winter.

Winter added, “I just think it is the most amazing place and I am so glad I came here.”

“All the players have been very welcoming and given time I think we are going to have a fantastic team with great team dynamics,” she said.

With the middle of December usually meaning summer break for Samantha, this year was a little different as she quickly packed up her things and left for Denver.

“I miss going to the beach, surfing, hanging out with my friends and clubbing,” said Winter.

The Pioneers could not be happier that Winter decided to come to Denver.

Look forward to a very bright future for her and the team.