WEST LONG BRANCH — Freshman Chevannah Paalvast of the Monmouth University women's basketball team saw snow for the first time a few weeks ago.

When freshman Erin Rooney asked her teammates if they were going out for "tea" no one had a clue as to what she was talking about.

It seems they don't get any snow; and "tea" is an invitation to dinner in the homeland of Paalvast and Rooney, Monmouth's New Zealand connection.

"At first I kind of liked it," said Paalvast of the white stuff. "Now I'm kind of not liking it as much. It's a bit cold."

Rooney's reference to tea drew a chuckle from her teammates. "It's funny because we can laugh about it," Rooney said. "They were like, 'Cup of tea? "

The 5-foot-11 Paalvast, a guard/forward, arrived from Auckland for the start of Monmouth's second semester. She is sitting out the remainder of 2009-2010 and will have freshman eligibility in the fall.

Paalvast played for New Zealand in the Under-19 World Qualifying Series and was selected for the Under-21 Emerging Tall Fern Team to play in the FIBA Oceania Tournament in June 2009 in Saipan (Mariana Islands).

Her father played for Larry Brown at the University of Kansas.

Rooney, a 5-foot-8 guard from Christchurch, has been at Monmouth since September. She is averaging 6.5 points a game with seven double-figure games for the freshman-laden Hawks (12-11, 7-5 Northeast Conference).

She was named the Most Valuable Player of the Under-19 New Zealand National Tournament in 2008.

Monmouth coach Stephanie Gaitley said she learned of Paalvast and Rooney through two former New Zealanders who played for her during her 10 years at St. Joseph's.

In the fall of 2008 Gaitley made the 17-hour flight from Philadelphia, with one stop in Los Angeles, to meet with the Paalvast's and Rooney's families.

"I saw lots of in flight movies," Gaitley said.

Both young players have yearned for home.

"At first I was not very happy, I was homesick," Paalvast said. "But I've gotten into it now. I enjoy the basketball."

"The first day she wanted to go home and run back to her mom and her boyfriend," Gaitley said. "And ever since then she has adjusted and is getting acclimated. She has a good sense of humor."

"Obviously I have the thought of going home, very often, but I don't think I could leave this," Rooney said. "I wish I didn't get homesick. I love what I'm doing here. if I didn't it would be so hard not to just run home. But this is what I want to do. So I've got to battle through it."

"They both have outstanding work ethics," Gaitley said. "They're coachable, hungry to learn, they're sponges.

"They want to get better and I think they're going to be impact players in our program."