Women's basketball is not big on the radar of most New Zealanders, according to Portland State's 6-foot-3 junior center Alicia Carline, but because she was already tall, her mom, Angela, got her into the game at the club level when she was four or five.
 
The sport grew on her and she played prep basketball for Frayburg High School in Palmerston North, a community of nearly 90,000 on New Zealand's north island.
 
When it was time for college, there were three universities in the town, but no university scholarships in the sport. Even though she had physical tools, "I didn't have the connections to be recruited. In fact, I really hadn't thought about it … hadn't tried to get recruited. Then, my friend got a contact."
 
Her friend approached a junior college coach who didn't have any room for another player. She was, though, referred to Gillette Community College in Gillette, WY, a natural resources-based community of about 20,000 in rural Wyoming.
 
"When she went, she asked if she could mention me to the coach and I said 'sure,'" recalled Carline.  "The next thing I knew, there was a call from the Gillette basketball coach." Plane tickets and bittersweet goodbyes followed and Carline found herself in the US Wild West.
 
"I really didn't mind going so far from home because I was with one of my best friends. I really didn't think about. It seemed like an adventure," she said.
 
And an adventure, it certainly was!
 
What is it like going from a relatively sophisticated New Zealand community with three universities to a community that had grown by 48 percent in 10 years because it is rich in energy resources … in one of the least populated states in America?
 
"It was a massive culture shock. The first time a saw a gun, it really took me by (she rolls her eyes and searches for a word) … surprise."
 
There were other general culture differences, too.
 
"The food was so processed and the portions were so big. Things were so inexpensive. Consumerism is so obvious here … the television ads … it is all about more, more, more. It can be overwhelming," Carline said.
 
The upside was that after three or four months acclimatizing, "I developed so many great friends. There were lots of great people. It's a small community and everyone is close, like a family," Carline said.
 
For Gillette basketball, the tall New Zealander definitely was a presence. Carline averaged 14.2 points and 9.8 rebounds while shooting 54.3 percent as a sophomore. She scored in double figures 21 times and scored 20-plus points five times as a sophomore, including 37 points in 35 minutes with eight rebounds against Utah State University-College of Eastern Utah.
 
That was enough to get her on the radar of Division I coaches.
 
PSU head coach Sherri Murrell knew Carline's coach at Gillette and saw her play in a tournament.
 
"She had all the tools and a great academic record," said Murrell, who hastened to get her to the PSU campus at the beginning of the early signing period last year.
 
When she came for her visit, it was a weekend and she didn't have a chance to talk much with her future teammates. "But, I spent time with the coaches and l really loved he coaches. I liked what they were trying to do with the program. I liked the discipline they demanded and the idea that everybody works hard as a team."
 
Carline signed early as a Viking.  And a good thing, too.  As early as Murrell got to her, she had already heard from BYU and Alaska.
 
Even over her visitation weekend, she felt more at home in Portland.
 
Comparing Wyoming and Portland "is like comparing two extremes of the spectrum. The culture in Portland is much closer to New Zealand. The food is different from Wyoming, more varied, there's a lot more to do here. I can do things. I can walk places. In Gillette, no one walks anywhere. The environment (here) is close to New Zealand."
 
As comfortable as she felt with the Portland State community, Carline got off to a rocky start on the basketball court, breaking a finger in the Vikings' first exhibition game against George Fox. It was her first injury and left her frustrated.
 
"I looked at that as temporary. I was thinking about the future. It wasn't going to keep me from doing what I love," she said. "I had faith in the bigger picture. There are things you can learn from being injured. You are growing and learning how to deal with being frustrated."
 
Her absence was missed, said Murrell. "She's our starting center and we've had some losses we wouldn't have had with her playing."
 
Carline missed the first four games of the season due to the finger injury. Since coming back, she is averaging 8.3 points and 6.7 rebounds per game for the Vikings. She also posted double-doubles in each of her first two games for Portland State.
 
The Vikings have missed someone with Carline's big presence over the last couple of years.
 
"She has an all-around game. She's not the fastest, but she's pretty smart. She has all the tools … a great open shot and can hit from 15-16 feet. A drawback? She tends to get into foul trouble. She needs to learn to use her size, to be big, but not come down and try to block shots every time," Murrell added.
 
And that sounds as if it will take some work because the physicality of the game is one of the things Carline likes about basketball.
 
"I really like everything about the game … the physicality, running, dribbling, there are so many facets to this game and so many things that make it unique. I like to go in and be physical," she said.
 
Despite that, she describes herself as a "very relaxed person. I don't like to complicate things," said Carline.
 
A Criminology major, she wants to be involved in law enforcement in New Zealand, where she will return after college because "being away from my mom and sister (five-year-old Hanna) has been the most difficult thing about being here."
 
She likes being around people. "Having a positive influence on people, that's my real passion. We all have struggles and I like to be around people and help them. In law enforcement, you see the bad, but you also see the best in people. I want to be a person of authority and to be just. I want to see change happen and help that to happen."
 
And, from what Murrell said, people like being around her.
 
"She's a lovely person. She's been through a lot. She's mature and she cares about people. Alicia is adored by her teammates," said Murrell.