Before she left Leura in June to begin a basketball scholarship at a Colorado college, Ashling O'Doherty anticipated having to quickly adapt to a steep rise in the standard of play, intensity of training and the pressure of playing in front of bigger crowds.
She'd told the Gazette "hopefully I can rise to it and be an asset to the team".
Four months on and three games into her debut US Junior College Basketball season with Trinidad State Junior College, she has not only adjusted well, but is thriving.
At 1.96cm, the 19-year-old is the tallest player in the Lady Trojans' squad - something head coach Rich Holden was quick to use in the crucial pre-season training period.
A former NSW Institute of Sport scholarship holder and Waratah Championship League player for the Penrith Panthers, O'Doherty said training is much more intense than back home.
"My coach is very serious about strength and conditioning, so we do two hours of team drills and plays every day, then another hour to 90 minutes of lifting and conditioning.
"I really struggled adjusting to begin with, but I feel as though I've settled into the routine pretty well now."
Feeling stronger and fitter, O'Doherty used the pre-season games in early October to press for a place in the Lady Trojans' starting line-up ahead of the first round.
"We had four scrimmage matches and I made the starting five for three of those games," she said.
The team had a tough start to the season proper, with heavy losses in the opening three rounds away against Texan colleges South Plains and Frank Phillips and at home against Midlands.
But they fared better in their latest game against Colorado rivals Barton, leading at one stage before falling 56-45, leaving fans with hope of a turnaround.
On a personal level, O'Doherty started in most of the games and contributed strongly in attack and defence.
She was her team's highest scorer in round one with seven points, even though she was fouled off in the third quarter and in the next game scored three points and made three rebounds and a steal.
By round three her shooting percentage was in the good range of between 50 and 75 per cent but she got fouled off once again, so she knows she must continue to improve and better adapt to the nuances of the American style of play.
The Blue Mountains Grammar School graduate is also thriving off the court since commencing studies towards an Associate of Arts degree.
"I'm really enjoying living on campus, I've made some great friends and our team is really close and spends a lot of time together," she said.
"Art is one of my passions and the classes here are really interesting."
Her immediate goal is simple.
"I'd just like to be a valuable team member and help us succeed as much as possible this season by setting good screens, rebounding, blocking and making shots."
Trinidad State were due to host South Plains last night.
To keep up to speed with O'Doherty and the Lady Trojans, visit www.tsjctrojans.com.
