Elina Arike had quite a bit to overcome when she got off the plane from Helsinki, Finland two and a half years ago to begin her UTEP basketball career.
Starting college as an athlete and student 5,500 miles from home in the time of COVID, quarantines and online classes would be tough for anyone. In the summer of 2020 it was especially difficult for Arike, who at that point wasn't much of a talker in any language.
"When she got here she was probably the quietest person I'd ever met in my whole life, she probably never said two words," her older-by-one-year teammate Avery Crouse said.