By Brad Byrne ('23)
GoMason.com Staff Writer

FAIRFAX, Va. – Imagine being thousands of miles away from your home country to play basketball for a university right outside the capital of the United States. This is the reality for four student-athletes on the George Mason women's basketball team. From Finland to Lithuania, Mason strives itself on recruiting players from overseas. 
 
The reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Year, Nicole Cardaño-Hillary, came to the United States when she was 12 years old, moving from Spain to Georgetown, Texas. Now a junior, she comes back after playing for the Spanish National Team this past summer, "It was an incredible experience and I will truly never forget it. I got to meet so many new people as well as athletes that play here in the [United] States. It was interesting to get their opinions on what they thought was different between playing in Europe compared to the United States." said Cardaño-Hillary. 
            
Cardaño-Hillary recounts what she's experienced here in the last two years at Mason, "It's been great, [I've] had a lot of great experiences and have [experienced] cultures from all over the world." 
 
A successful product of the Mason recruitment process, Cardaño-Hillary explains how she ended up at Mason, "I was recruited throughout my high school career, and when I visited George Mason for the first time, I really liked the people, the coaches and the area. That's what made me chose Mason."
 
Cardaño-Hillary also notices the difference between basketball here than overseas, "It's a completely different game and I've noticed that much more since I went back and played with the Spanish National Team. It's a lot more physical overseas, even the shot clock is different. In the end, it's still basketball and it's still a great sport." 
 
Fellow junior Marika Korpinen also reigns from overseas, coming from Turku, Finland. The guard played high school ball her junior and senior years at Long Island Lutheran High School in New York.

Like Cardaño-Hillary, Korpinen has experience playing for her national team. She served as captain for Finland's U16 team. She was also named Baltic Sea Cup Most Valuable Player for her performances.
 
The junior pair has played in every game for the Green & Gold since the 2017-18 season. In 2018-19, Cardaño-Hillary started all 30 games while Korpinen started 25 contests. So far this season, Cardaño-Hillary is averaging 17.8 points per game while Korpinen adds 4.7 points per game.
 
Sophomore Livija Kaktaite came to Mason for the 2018-19 season and is originally from Sveksna, Lithuania. She had played for the U16 Lithuanian National team in 2015, winning a gold medal with the squad, while also playing for the U18 Lithuanian National Team in both 2016 and 2017. She came to the United States to play for Long Island Lutheran High School in New York and led to them to the New York state semifinals her senior year. 
 
Kaktaite chose Mason not only for the basketball, but for other reasons as well, "I chose Mason because it gives me a great opportunity to pursue my academics, while also pursuing basketball at the same time." Kaktaite notes that playing basketball in the United States is a lot different than overseas, "Basketball overseas is a lot more physical than it is over here, with fouls being called more often. In Europe, it's a much more physical game with less fouls called. Another thing is the shot clock, which is 24 seconds in Europe compared to 32 seconds here."
 
Kaktaite has faced many challenges coming from another country almost halfway across the world, but one in particular has trumped her the most, "The language barrier has been the hardest thing for me to get used to, English is a tough language to learn." She likes to keep herself busy to not think about home and getting homesick, stating that "If I feel homesick, it's because I'm not busy enough."  
 
In her freshman year, Vita Stam joins Mason from Utrecht, Netherlands. She played for the Vrouwen Basketball League, a prominent basketball league in the Netherlands. She has also been a member of the U16 and U18 National Teams the past two summers. 

Stam will look to bring a depth to Mason's lower post play. With the Dutch U18 National team, she recorded two double-doubles in last year's championships – 14 points and 17 rebounds against Austria and 16 points and 10 rebounds against teammate Korpinen's home country of Finland.
 
After missing the first month of the season, Stam made her Patriot debut against Bucknell on Dec. 4. Her impact was immediately felt as she tallied six points and six rebounds against the Bison. In her first action of the game, she grabbed an offensive board and hit a turnaround jump shot for her first career basket.  

The impact of its international student-athletes can be seen in Mason's recent success over the past few seasons. The Patriots continued their steady rise within the Atlantic 10 during a successful 2018-19 campaign. Mason captured 16 regular season wins, including eight Atlantic 10 victories. Mason earned the No. 7 seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament and hosted a game for the second-consecutive season. 
 
The Green & Gold also fielded the A-10 Player of the Year for the second-straight campaign in Madrid, Spain native Cardaño-Hillary. The Patriots posted back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 15 years. The 40 wins over the last two years are also the most in a two-year stretch in program history.

Head coach Nyla Milleson commented on how it's paying off on the court, "Our international student-athletes play a different style of basketball which brings a new skill level to our team. The international flavor that we have at George Mason University has been a great fit for our international recruiting."

After its two-week break from action, Mason resumes non-conference play against Navy on Thursday, Dec. 19. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. in Annapolis, Md.