w o m e n ' s
b a s k e t b a l l
f e a t u r e :
K K
H O U S E R
Free To Be Me
Move expands senior's game
BY KYLE CHARTERS
KCharters@GoldandBlack.com
I
n Purdue's first game this season,
KK Houser caught fire with only a
couple minutes left in the first half.
The senior scored 15 straight
points in only a four-minute span —
ablaze might be a better descriptor
— helping to rally the Boilermakers
to a win over Ball State on opening
night.
The game was a
sign of things to
come for Houser.
During the summer,
Purdue moved the senior out of her primary
point guard spot, giving the
reins to sophomore April Wilson, and
shifted her away from the ball.
Why?
Freedom.
The move to the wing allows Houser, who has battled mentally her ability to blend her own mindset as a
scorer with the distribution duties of
playing the point, to find more scoring options now. And she's settled
into the role quite nicely, averaging
a career-best 14.8 points per game
through the first 10 of the season,
tied with Courtney Moses for team
high, while helping the 18th-ranked
Boilers to a 8-2 start.
"I like to score," Houser said. "I
like to shoot the
ball, but I'm taking any position that coach
wants me to
in order
to best
fit
Tom Campbell
Senior KK Houser has always played the game at a
fast pace, but now with less need to focus on point
guard duties, she has been released to do what she
does best, score.
f
Did You Know?
KK Houser will soon become the seventh member of an exclusive Purdue club
of players who totaled more than 1,000
points, 400 assists and 200 steals
during their careers. In mid-December, Houser had 1,058 points, 389
assists and 213 steals. Others in the
group are Stephanie White, Katie
Douglas, Kelly Komara, Erika Valek,
Lisa Jahner and FahKara Malone.
the team so we can be
successful this year.
"I have always
been a scoring
point guard and
I would always
just score growing up. So I think
that it is just in
my blood."
That said,
Houser can
be explosive
on the wing. The 5-foot-6 Lincoln, Neb., native has proven to
be a difficult matchup for opponents, with her ability to hit from
deep, where she's shooting 32 percent, to her quickness to the basket.
She's added a mid-range shooting
game, as well, an area she's worked
hard to improve over the years.
But equally as important, she's
not making the mistakes that have
plagued her in the past. Playing the
point last season, Houser could still
show some of the scoring acumen,
averaging 11.3 points per game, but
the added responsibility of getting
teammates involved often took its
toll. She averaged 4.2 turnovers per
game, with five games of eight or
more. The year before, she averaged
IllustrateD volume 24, issue 3
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