Women's Basketball add two more to squad
Joplin, Mo. -- Missouri Southern women's basketball coach Maryann Mitts has announced the signing of Larrita Gipson and Emilie Schirmer to national letters of intent to attend Southern and play basketball beginning this next season.
Gipson is a 5-6 transfer from Division I University of Toledo where she has played for the past two seasons. Gipson will have two remaining years of eligibility with the Lions.
With Toledo, Gipson played in 25 games as a freshman and 17 games as a sophomore, where she averaged 1.4 points over her career, shooting 33 percent from long range. Originally a native of Chicago, Ill., Gipson prepped at Simeon Career Academy where she starred for coach Shajaunna Jordan. She was a three-year letter winner and a four-year member of the honor roll.
As a senior, she averaged 20.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 3.0 steals per game, earning All-Conference and All-Area accolades for the Chicago Public School System. She was also named one of the "Top 50 Players" in the state. She is the daughter of Shelia Whitaker and Larry Gipson.
"Larrita brings in a lot of experience from the point guard position," Mitts said. "We believe she will help solidify that position and really bring in some strength to our three-point shooting, as well. She's a play maker and a shooter, but what really makes her special is her defensive ability. She is a lock down defender and will be able to defend any other guard in our conference."
Emilie (pronounced Amelia) Schirmer is 5-8 incoming freshman from Denmark where she played as part of the Denmark Youth National Team and a current member of the Denmark National Team. Her national team experience includes being named the MVP of both the under 16 and under 17 Danish Championship, as well as helping Denmark to the Official Nordic Championship in 2007.
A native of Copenhagen, Schirmer, prepped at Virum Gymnasium where she averaged 7.5 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 28 minutes per game. She shot 42 percent from beyond the arc. The daughter of Jens and Pia Schirmer, Emilie plans on majoring in marketing at Southern.
"Emilie is a great shooter and has experience at the point, but we expect her to be more of a shooting guard for us," Mitts said. "We needed to recruit a shooter and she will definitely help. She travelled with the Denmark national team and will step in right away. I think she will have a bright future here."
