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Laurie Koehn is not very big, fast or athletic. But the 5-8 guard is in the WNBA because she does one thing well -- shoot the three ball.
And though there have always been "three-point specialists" in pro basketball, the Washington Mystics sharpshooter gives new meaning to the term.
Of the 94 shots the second-year pro out of Kansas State has taken during her brief career, 89 have been from behind the arc -- an unheard of 93.6%. And 43 of the 46 shots she has made have been three-pointers.
"My role on this team is to be an outside threat," explains Koehn, who is shooting 61.5% (8-for-13) from three-point range and 1-for-2 from inside the arc this season. "Someone who can come in and extend defenses and knock down open shots."
Ann Meyers, ESPN analyst and Hall of Famer, says Koehn has all the things to be successful at her craft.
"Her range is incredible," Meyers says. "She can get herself open. She's not intimidated and has no conscience. And she has a coach who gives her the green light and teammates who believe in her. No shot outside the three-point line is out of her range." The league's three-point line is at 20 feet, 61/4 inches.
Koehn says she is not as athletic as most of her opponents and needs to improve defensively and expand her offensive arsenal. But for now, it's bombs away.
"I want to keep getting better in all aspects of the game," says Koehn, who says she tries to shoot at least 300 shots a day. "But at the same time, not try to do anything outside of my game, take shots I know I can make."
When Koehn enters the game, opponents yell "shooter" to alert one another of her presence. And Mystics general manager Linda Hargrove says Koehn doesn't even have to take a shot to affect the game.
"She's got her little niche, and it's pretty good," Hargrove says. "Teams try to keep the ball out of her hands, and when that happens, it opens up other things.
"One game she got in for about 30 seconds. I said, 'You impacted the game because they had to get out of the zone and we wanted to play against man. You did your job.' Just by stepping on the court, she never had to touch the ball, and they changed their defense."
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