Purdue’s McLaughlin Invited to U.S. Pan American Trials
The rising junior is 1-of-36 student-athletes invited to the trials
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue women’s basketball rising junior Karissa McLaughlin has been invited to take part in the 2019 U.S. Pan American Games Women’s Basketball Team trials, scheduled for May 16-20 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. She is 1-of-36 collegiate players to accept the invitation and aims to be one of the 12 student-athletes selected to compete in Lima, Peru in August.
McLaughlin is 1-of-12 second-year players nationally to accept the invitation to the team trials and 1-of-6 student-athletes from the Big Ten Conference. Student-athletes eligible for the team must be U.S. citizens who are currently enrolled as a full-time collegiate student with remaining eligibility for 2019-20. The team will be led by USA head coach Suzy Merchant of Michigan State with assistant coaches Felisha Legette-Jack (Buffalo) and Vic Schaefer (Mississippi State).
“It’s an incredible opportunity to go out to Colorado and try out against an amazing list of student-athletes from across the country,” said McLaughlin. “I’ve always dreamed of being able to represent my country and have the chance to go compete for medals against the best players in the world, and the invitation to the trials gets me one step closer to achieving that.”
Among the 36 student-athletes selected for the trials are 12 former USA Basketball international medalists, 11 previous USA Basketball trials participants and 13 student-athletes making their first official trip to the United States Olympic Training Center. The team members selected will return to Colorado Springs for training camp from July 23 to August 5 before departing for Peru.
“I’m thrilled for Karissa to have this opportunity,” said Purdue head coach Sharon Versyp. “It’s a tribute to the type of player she is and the work she puts in, and it will only make her and our program better as she brings this experience back to our team in 2019-20.”
Versyp will attend the trials with McLaughlin to offer support and assistance to her junior point guard.
“It’ll add a sense of comfort to have Coach V there with me,” added McLaughlin. “She knows my game and what I’m capable of, so it’ll help to have her there to push me and take full advantage of this opportunity.”
McLaughlin has established herself as one of the top shooters in the NCAA over the last two seasons, combining for 163 3-point field goals, including a program-record 88 in 2018-19. She was named First Team All-Big Ten, becoming the third sophomore in Purdue history to earn the honor after leading the team in scoring at 15.0 points per game. She also led the Boilermakers in assists at 3.8 per game and is 1-of-6 players in Purdue history with at least 100 assists in each of her first two seasons.
U.S. Pan American Games Women’s Basketball Team Trials Roster
Bella Alarie, Princeton
Janelle Bailey, North Carolina
Brittany Brewer, Texas Tech
Chennedy Carter, Texas A&M
Te’a Cooper
Kathleen Doyle, Iowa
Chelsea Dungee, Arkansas
Dana Evans, Louisville
Kiah Gillespie, Florida State
Vivian Gray, Oklahoma State
Tyasha Harris, South Carolina
Ruthy Hebard, Oregon
Becca Hittner, Drake
Joyner Holmes, Texas
Stephanie Jones, Maryland
Aari McDonald, Arizona
Karissa McLaughlin, Purdue
Amber Melgoza, Washington
Ayana Mitchell, LSU
Beatrice Mompremier, Miami
Nancy Mulkey, Rice
Erica Ogwumike, Rice
Michaela Onyenwere, UCLA
Eleah Parker, Penn
Jaelynn Penn, Indiana
Destiny Pitts, Minnesota
Mikayla Pivec, Oregon State
Lindsey Pulliam, Northwestern
Kristin Scott, Iowa State
Destiny Slocum, Oregon State
Amber Smith, Missouri
Sug Sutton, Texas
Kobi Thornton, Clemson
Kiana Williams, Stanford
Peyton Williams, Kansas State
Kay Kay Wright, UCF
