LARISSA RICHARDS
6-3 • Freshman-HS • Forward
Great Bend, Kan./Great Bend High School

General: First-year player...joins the Pittsburg State program from Great Bend High School...a talented post player who is expected to immediately contend for a starting role for the Gorillas this year...has good hands and sound low block moves.

In High School: A second-team Kansas Class 5A All-State selection as a senior at Great Bend High School in 2007...averaged 14.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.0 blocked shots per game, helping the Panthers to a 17-5 record...named the Most Valuable Player of the WAC and helped lead GBHS to an unblemished 8-0 record and a league title...also earned All-League honors as a sophomore in 2005 when she averaged 12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.5 blocked shots per game...helped the Panthers to a 16-7 record, a league title and a trip to the Class 5A state tournament that year...missed the 2006 season with a knee injury...set a GPHS record by blocking 111 shots during her senior season and she set another GPHS single-season mark with a .651 field goal percentage during her sophomore campaign in 2005...also a two-time state champion in the discus in track & field.

Personal: Born August 8, 1988...daughter of Michael and Sandra Richards...a family and consumer science major.