Karlie Samuelson’s run for an NCAA championship came to an excruciating end in the semifinal round, but the Stanford standout will have a chance to reach the pros.
On Tuesday, Stanford athletics confirmed that Samuelson signed a training camp contract with the Los Angeles Sparks. She will head to Los Angeles on Wednesday to prepare for the training camp session, which starts next Sunday.
The middle sister in a group of high-profile ball players, Samuelson was a beast from three-point range throughout her Stanford career. In her senior year, Samuelson tied Jeanette Pohlen’s school record for most triples in a season with 96 and finished second in the NCAA in three-point field goal percentage. Samuelson’s shooting splits were remarkable, hitting 48.2 percent overall, 48.5 percent from three-point range and 86.4 percent from the free throw line.
The 6-foot guard averaged 12.4 points per game in her final college season and scored 20 points or more in five games.
Of course, making the roster is a tough proposition for Samuelson, but she could give Los Angeles a little more cushion from the perimeter. Sydney Wiese, the team’s first-round draft pick, is also a capable three-point shooter. Developing such threats is a likely focal point after Kristi Toliver left for Washington on a free agent deal.
Elsewhere, the Minnesota Lynx continued to augment their training camp roster. On Tuesday evening, they announced the signing of Shao Ting, a 27-year-old forward from China. Ting is a four-year veteran of the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association, and has played alongside Lynx center Sylvia Fowles for the last two years in that league.
Ting also has experience against a few of Fowles’ Lynx teammates; China and the United States met in the group stage of last year’s Summer Olympics. Ting and her fellow Chinese players did not advance to the knockout rounds, while Fowles and her crew cruised to a gold medal finish.