The 5-foot-8 senior guard led the Spartans to a 28-2 record and the Class 4A state championship this past season. McLaughlin averaged 25.9 points, 5.6 assists, 3.6 rebounds and 2.7 steals per game, and she knocked down 3-pointers at a 46.1 percent clip (111-of-241). McLaughlin poured in 29 points and passed for six assists in Homestead's 61-54 win over Pike High in the state final. A three-time member of the Indiana Basketball Coaches Association's Underclassmen Supreme team, she concluded her prep basketball career with 2,586 points.
McLaughlin has maintained a weighted 4.33 GPA in the classroom and represents one of the state's top academic candidates in meeting the Gatorade award's broad criteria. She has signed a national letter of intent to play basketball on scholarship at the University of Florida beginning this fall.
A motivational speaker and mentor to countless area youth sports teams, McLaughlin has volunteered locally as part of multiple community-service initiatives through her church youth group and with fundraising campaigns to benefit breast cancer research. "Karissa is the best high school girls basketball player I've seen or coached against in my 20 years as a head coach," said Eric Thornton, head coach of Norwell High. "She is the best pure shooter and can finish at the rim with great vision and balance."
