As of Sunday, the temperature difference between Athens, Greece and Prince George was 15 degrees Celsius.
Athens was a balmy plus-15 degrees, while Prince George hovered around zero.
For Eleni Steriopoulou, that's quite the shock to the system. But she doesn't mind.
"It's cold, but I like it," she said Saturday at the Northern Sport Centre.
Steriopoulou is the newest face on UNBC's women's basketball squad, after head coach Sergei Shchepotkin recruited the 18-year-old five-foot-seven guard in the first half of the season.
She arrived in Prince George on Dec. 17 and has seen playing time in all four games of the Timberwolves' second half of the season in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport Explorer Division.
UNBC lost 75-53 to Thompson Rivers University Saturday at the Northern Sport Centre.
"We're still building our program and making a good base for the team for the future," said Shchepotkin. "I used my international connections, the same ones I used to find Vasiliki [Louka, the Timberwolves' 18-year-old six-foot-three freshman post player]. Vasiliki's mom helped me find Eleni. She can shoot and she's fast."
In high school, Steriopoulou played on under-18 and 18-and-over women's club teams.
She was intrigued with the idea of earning a post-secondary education - she's a first-year health sciences student at UNBC - while playing basketball at the same time.
"It's a more professional system in Greece and the university system is different there," she said. "The game is faster here and I want to be more aggressive. I believe I can help my teammates. It's been good."
To help ease the transition into the Canadian university game as well as Prince George, Steriopoulou is living with Louka and her brother Vaggelis, a freshman forward on UNBC's men's basketball side.
"It helps having Vasiliki here, it really helps a lot," said Steriopoulou.
Saturday's loss to the TRU WolfPack means the Timberwolves are now 1-11 and are in last place in the Explorer Division, while TRU improves to 11-1.
Vasiliki Louka led UNBC with 16 points and four rebounds in the annual Shoot for the Cure game which raised funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation.
On the men's side, TRU rebounded from an 83-81 loss on Friday to defeat UNBC 81-71 Saturday.
Devin McMurtry led the Timberwolves with a double-double - 18 points and 14 rebounds. Fourth-year guard Billy Cheng chipped in 12 points and three assists.
Josh Wolfram was the WolfPack's top scorer with 29 points and 16 rebounds.
TRU improves to 7-5 to sit in second place in the Explorer Division, while UNBC falls to 5-7 and are in fourth place in the division.
UNBC men's and women's squads travel to Calgary for tilts against the Mount Royal Cougars on Jan. 23 and 24.
