Katie Lou Samuelson

Senior, G/F, 6-3 Preseason AP First Team All-American; Preseason American Athletic Conference Player of the Year

2017-18 stats:

17.4 PPG, 4.5 RPG, 3.8 ASG, .530 FG percentage

ACCOLADES:

Two-time AP First Team All-American; Two-time American Athletic Conference Player of the Year; 2017 AAC Tournament Most Outstanding Player; 2016 espnW National Freshman of the Year

QUOTABLE:

“Hearing her talk about her team, she’s like one of the few moms now. She’s very, very into making sure everyone is kind of doing their job; making sure everyone is in a good place and kind of knows what they should be doing and how they should be doing it.” — Bonnie, sister, on Katie Lou taking on a leadership role.

them,” Auriemma said, speaking about seniors in general. “Sometimes it’s more subtle than that, too. You might not notice the huge improvement from junior year to senior year in a kid. I think that’s where Lou and (forward Napheesa Collier) are right now … where whatever is going to be happening on the court, it’s going to be kind of subtle. How much can their numbers can go up?

“I mean, Lou, especially, what’s she going to shoot 65 percent from the 3-point line?”

Make no mistake, Auriemma still expects Samuelson, a preseason AP first team All-American, to leave her imprint on games. How she goes about doing so just might not be as noticeable to the casual fan.

“Where does she have to go? Where can she go?,” Auriemma asked rhetorically. “Going to a place where every time down the floor, I can get pretty much any shot I want. I’m not going to be limited to, well, ‘Lou gets that shot. That’s where she goes to get her shot’ — like freshman year.”

Samuelson, who was highly touted coming out of Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, California, had her share of highs and lows. There were nights when she looked like a budding star — she scored in double-figures 22 times, including a 21-point effort in a Sweet 16 victory over Mississippi State — and others — she took only one shot and committed four fouls over 22 minutes in a 66-54 win against No. 2 South Carolina — when it seemed like she’d rather be anywhere but Storrs.

When looking at the big picture, she had played well enough to be named espnW Freshman of the Year — averaging 11.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game — but it wasn’t all rosy for Samuelson.

“It was super tough for her,” Jon

dbonjour@ctpost.com; @DougBonjour