PUWBB: Karissa McLaughlin OUT For 2020-21 Season

Some devastating news broke this morning for the Purdue Women’s Basketball team as it was announced that senior to be Karissa McLaughlin will miss the entire 2020-2021 season as she plans to have surgery this month on her ankle.

This is a huge blow for Sharon Versyp’s team as McLaughlin was set to be the main option offensively as she was the team’s leading returning scorer from this past season when she put up 13.1 points per game. She was also Purdue’s main ball handler and quarterback of the offense.

This leaves Purdue in a bit of a bind as they will be without their best player in addition to also losing two key starters and All-B1G performers Ae’Rianna Harris and Dominique Oden to graduation.

Coach Versyp will now need to lean on the younger girls on the team to carry more of the load than previously expected. The good news is two studs will be making their debut seasons in West Lafayette later this year in guard Madison Layden and forward Ra’Shaya Kyle. Both were ranked in the Top 100 in the class of 2020 by ESPN.

Looking at the returning players who will need to make a leap to compensate for McLaughlin’s injury are Cassidy Hardin and Kayana Traylor. Hardin is more of a sharpshooter who can fill it up from behind the arc while Traylor has a well-rounded game and can step into the starting point guard position this season.

Largely forgotten by some, forwards Tamara Farquhar and Rickie Woltman will both be given larger roles after their own injury issues this past year. Farquhar is now arguably the squad’s best player and was having a solid season before going down with a torn ACL in December.

This is obviously news that nobody wants to hear, but the Boilermakers have their work cut out for them heading into next season.

Wishing a speedy recovery to Karissa!