STANFORD, Calif. – Karlie Samuelson has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Sparks and will be with the team when its regular season gets underway against the Minnesota Lynx at 2 p.m. PT on ESPN2.
Samuelson will be the fourth Stanford alumna on an opening-day roster, joining teammate Nneka Ogwumike with the Sparks, Chiney Ogwumike with the Connecticut Sun and Erica McCall with the Indiana Fever.
Samuelson had been one of the Sparks' final cuts coming out of training camp on Thursday despite putting together a stellar preseason in which she averaged 9.7 points on 68.8 percent shooting (11-of-16) and a 62.5 percent clip from behind the arc (5-of-8).
She impressed Los Angeles during camp in 2017, but the team was forced to release her because of a foot injury sustained just before the start of the regular season. She signed her second training camp contract with the club on Feb. 1, 2018.
Samuelson averaged career highs in points (12.4), rebounds (3.4) and assists (2.7) and personal bests in field goal percentage (.482) and 3-point field goal percentage (.485) as a senior at Stanford in 2016-17 in leading the Cardinal to the program's 13th Final Four appearance. She finished second in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage, a mark good for second in school single-season history and fourth in Pac-12 history.
Her 96 made 3-pointers tied Jeanette Pohlen for first in Stanford history and fifth in Pac-12 history and her 249 career 3-pointers are third in the school record books. A career 44.3 percent 3-point shooter, Samuelson is second at Stanford to Jennifer Azzi, tied for fourth in Pac-12 annals and 19th in NCAA history. She ended with the best career 3-point percentage for any Pac-12 player since 1990.
Since the WNBA's inaugural season (1997), 28 former Stanford players have appeared in a regular-season game and seven players have won a combined eight WNBA championships.