This week, the Review sat down with women’s basketball players and housemates senior Christina Marquette and junior Lindsey Bernhardt to discuss their season kickoff, their hopes for the 2014–2015 season and spending Winter Term on campus.

How has the preseason been going so far?

Lindsey Bernhardt: It’s been going well so far. The freshmen have really stepped up and played a nice role on our team, and we are looking good this year.

Christina Marquette: I think that we look pretty good. We are really, really young, and so we are making expected mistakes in that sense. We are talented, so that’s good.

How are the first-years transitioning into playing basketball at the collegiate level?

LB: They were nervous at first, especially about conditioning, but they have really stepped up and are doing their part for the team.

CM: I would definitely say college basketball is more physical and faster, so it’s just something that they have just had to get used to, but they’ve adjusted pretty quickly.

What do you think are the major differences between how you finished last season and how you look going into this year?

LB: Last year, we had a lot of almost-wins that ended up being losses. This year we are looking to change that since we have the ability to play with the teams. We are looking to finish and get the “W.”

CM: I think that last year we got consistent toward the end of the year, and so we have begun the year that way, whereas last year it took months to get to the point where we are now. We have energy every day, and we aren’t always moving backward, unlike last year when it felt like we took one step forward and two steps back.

How do you stay motivated over Winter Term? What are the most challenging parts?

CM: It’s a grind. It’s a really, really, really long season. Your body starts to hurt and you don’t always want to come to practice everyday, so you have to feed off of each other’s energy and take care of yourself. We have suffered from injuries every year that I’ve been here, and we’ve never been able to move past that.

LB: Winter Term is my favorite time of the year because we don’t have to focus on school. All we focus on is basketball. We have basketball, then we hang out and play basketball again.

CM: All of our Winter Term projects are involving the team. They’re all interactive.

What are the best and worst parts of being on the women’s basketball team?

LB: The best part for me is that our team is like a second family and we are all best friends; three of us live together. The worst part is the losing. I come from a winning team in high school, but the positive part is that we are growing and creating talented kids and getting better, which is pretty evident.

CM: Coming to Oberlin as a freshman, it’s really hard to lose. There have been times when we play so well and we just weren’t as good as the other teams. And then there are times when your team just doesn’t play as hard, which is really frustrating. I think one of the best parts of being on the team is seeing us grow into a team that now cares about losing, cares about coming out and playing hard, and comes out and plays hard and takes pride in being a part of the team. Everyone wants to make this team good.

Who is your biggest conference rival?

CM: DePauw [University] is the best team in the country and we play them really close, and so I want to beat them, but they’re not really our rival. [The College of] Wooster is probably our rival because we are comparable to them talent-wise.

LB: Obviously I want to beat DePauw also. We lost to them by five points last year when they were the best team in the country. I would say our biggest rival is [Ohio Wesleyan University] because we have almost beat them so many times, and they really suck, and we should beat them every time, but we haven’t done it yet.

What is the best part of living together?

LB: Well, we all do work downstairs in the living room while watching TV.

CM: Gilmore Girls. Also, because we live together, we have the team over a lot.

What are you both studying and do you have plans for after school?

CM: I am studying Biology and Environmental Studies, so obviously that would tell you that I want to be a coach. I am looking at continuing to be a part of basketball for a while and seeing if I like the coaching aspect of that or if I should pursue a career in the sciences.

LB: I am a Biology major, and I plan to apply to medical school right after I graduate.