SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- Michelle Bento was hired as Santa Clara's new women's basketball coach on Tuesday.

Bento, a native of nearby Mountain View, was an assistant coach at Syracuse the past four seasons, recently receiving a promotion to associate head coach. Last spring, the Orangemen made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 14 years.

Bento, who has never previously been a head coach, played basketball and softball at Fresno State. She was an assistant at San Jose State and Fresno State before moving to Syracuse in 1998.

She replaces Chris Denker, who accepted the head coaching job at Colorado State two weeks ago. Denker led Santa Clara to the NCAA Tournament last season.