USF Athletic Hall of Fame
An electrifying scorer and notable scholar-athlete who helped lead the women’s basketball program to three NCAA Tournament appearances, Laksa twice earned All-America recognition and was on pace to become the program’s all-time leading scorer before a knee injury cost most of her senior season.
She finished with 1,764 points to rank sixth all-time and a 17.8 points per game scoring average that ranks third all-time. She shot 39.1 percent from three (second all-time) and a record 89.6 percent from the free throw line, including leading the NCAA in free throw percentage with a 96.5 percent mark in 2017-18 when she missed just four times in 115 attempts. Laksa led USF in scoring in two seasons, posting 21.1 points per game in 2017-18 and 19.2 ppg in 2016-17, and set USF scoring marks for a junior (717 points) and sophomore (634 points) which rank as the second and fifth-highest season totals overall.
Twice earning WBCA All-America Honorable Mention (2017 and 2018) and selected for All-American Athletic Conference honors three times (first team in 2017 and 2018; second team in 2016), Laksa was also named to the 2016 AAC All-Freshman Team and earned recognition as the 2018 AAC Scholar-Athlete of the Year. In 2018, she also earned national recognition among the Ann Meyers Drysdale Award Final 5.
The second-fastest player to reach 1,000 career points (63 games) in program history, she posted a program record 13 games with 30 or more points and is the only Bull to log two 40-point games, posting 41 vs. Ohio State (2018) and 40 vs. Southern (2017). She also set the USF freshman scoring record, and then AAC freshman record, with 38 points vs. SMU in 2016. She did this while helping USF go 93-43 (45-21 in AAC play) over her career and earn three NCAA Tournament bids and one NIT appearance as the Bulls won 20 or more games three times and reached the NCAA second round in 2015-16.
A Latvian National Team player who averaged 19.3 ppg in a six-game FIBA EuroBasket qualifier in 2025, she was selected 11th overall in the 2020 WNBA Draft by the Seattle Storm. She has played professionally in Latvia, Italy and Turkey, including being a member of the 2024 EuroLeague champion Fenerbahce.
Laksa was inducted into the USF Athletic Hall of Fame in the Class of 2025.
