Meet Laura Hauge, the Minnesota high school basketball player who just made history
Laura Hauge scored her 459th 3-pointer during a Dec. 12 game, breaking the Minnesota record.
Courtesy of Laura Hauge
Laura Hauge, a sharpshooter on the St. Croix Lutheran Academy’s girls basketball team in West St. Paul made state high school sports history last week when she broke the Minnesota state girls high school basketball record for most made three-point shots.
She ended the game with 460 3-pointers to her name. The record was set in 2012 with 458 3-pointers. Her school celebrated her achievement Friday at its game against Hill-Murray School.
“In that moment, it just didn’t feel real,” Hauge told MPR News host Cathy Wurzer. “It was just super awesome to realize how many people love and support me.”
She said in her experience, the craft of 3-pointers is more mental than it is physical. A positive mind is key.
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Whenever she starts missing, she said in her head she can hear the voices of her coaches saying, “Don’t think, just shoot.”
Hauge said she looks up to her dad the most. He taught her how to shoot.
“He always comes to the gym and rebounds for me, and he’s made a bunch of sacrifices for me. Both of my parents have,” she said.
After she graduates in the spring, Hauge will be headed to the University of St. Thomas to play Division I basketball.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
INTERVIEWER: We're going to start. Of course, Monday, we've been talking about starting the week on a positive note. So we're going to talk next about something pretty cool that happened last week. In case you missed it, Laura Hauge, a sharpshooter on the St Croix Lutheran Academy's girls basketball team in West Saint Paul made state high school sports history last week when she broke the Minnesota State girls high school basketball record for most made three point shots.
She ended the game with 463 pointers to her name. The record was set back in 2012 with 458 three pointers. Her school celebrated her achievement at their game against Hill-Murray, Friday. And she is with us right now to talk about the record and her season. Laura, welcome to the show. Congratulations by the way.
LAURA HAUGE: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
INTERVIEWER: Oh my gosh. We, of course, have the moment that you broke the record. We're going to take a listen to that right now.
[CROWD CHEERING]
OK, take us back to the game, what happened?
LAURA HAUGE: Well, that was-- and that was on my third attempt. So I got really lucky that game. But that moment, just, it didn't feel real. But it was just super awesome to realize how many people love and support me. Then my parents got to come down on the court. So I got to give him a big hug.
INTERVIEWER: I bet it felt great.
LAURA HAUGE: Yeah.
INTERVIEWER: Yeah. You obviously have a particular knack for three pointers. And I've heard some folks say that to become a better three point shooter, you got to practice a lot and close to the basket. Is that right?
LAURA HAUGE: Yeah, you got to get the form down. If you can't make anything close, you're not going to be able to make anything further out. But I think more than the actual shooting part of it, in my experience, it's way more mental the actual act of shooting.
Because if you tell yourself, oh, I'm not shooting good, I'm not going to make a shot this game, then you probably won't. So you just got to keep positive in your mind. And just tell yourself, next one's going in. And just keep shooting.
INTERVIEWER: How about your mechanics? Do you have to adjust your mechanics at all or just keep it the same and just increase your power?
LAURA HAUGE: No, I have-- my dad, he's always watching. I'll turn my feet weird or like, I'll be too flat. So normally, I can figure that out. So yes, it is mechanic sometimes. But most of the time, it's mental in your brain.
INTERVIEWER: So you are a natural. I mean, I can't imagine you are-- it's probably pretty tough to teach an individual the mental part of this, I would think.
LAURA HAUGE: Yeah. I've just been playing since preschool. So I've had lots of practice.
INTERVIEWER: Wow, I know you got a lot of attention when you scored 11 three pointers in one game against Concordia Academy. And I think you were just in seventh grade, which was back in 2019. When did you realize you really stood out in terms of three pointers?
LAURA HAUGE: What'd you say there? You cut off.
INTERVIEWER: When did you really realize you stood out in terms of your ability to sink three pointers?
LAURA HAUGE: It was probably my seventh grade year because that's when college coaches started contacting me too. So that was pretty awesome. And I've been on really good AU teams, since fourth grade. And I've just always been the one that coaches go to, if we need to hit a shot.
So that's just always gotten my confidence up and made me realize that's what I'm best at. And that's what my college coach will want me to do. Obviously, I've gotten a lot better at the other parts of my game. But overall, shooting is my favorite part. And that's what I've been known for. And it's what I love to do.
INTERVIEWER: Can you help me out here? Because I'm a horrific basketball player. So when you're ready to take a shot and you know that you've got a shot, can you somehow paint a word picture for us? What are you thinking about? What's in your mind? What are you seeing at that moment? Can you almost see the trajectory of the ball?
LAURA HAUGE: I don't think. When I start thinking, that's when it gets bad. I just-- if I see a split second of opening, I'm just launching the ball up there. Most of the time, I can tell if it's going in or not. But I'm really just not thinking.
Because whenever I start missing, I'll hear my coach just be like, don't think, just shoot. That's my trick. You got to just shoot it.
INTERVIEWER: Just launch it, and it goes up, and it goes in.
LAURA HAUGE: Most of the time, hopefully.
INTERVIEWER: Yeah. Say, do you have a mentor or somebody that you really have looked up to all these years that you've learned from?
LAURA HAUGE: Well, my dad, he's the one that-- he taught me how to shoot. He always comes to gym and rebounds for me. Yeah, he was a really good basketball player himself. So probably my dad. Mostly, I really look up to him.
He's made a bunch of sacrifices for me. Both my parents have. So yeah, probably my dad. And I'm really close with Coach Milky too. So I can talk to him about anything. They're all just-- they're both really good for me.
INTERVIEWER: So when you're with your dad, I mean, how many shots do you take a day, do you think?
LAURA HAUGE: On average, in the summer, it's probably about 500-ish, yeah.
INTERVIEWER: And even at this stage of the game because you are so good, you need to keep doing that. I mean, that's just part of the repetition.
LAURA HAUGE: Yeah, for sure.
INTERVIEWER: So there's so much pressure at the top, Laura. You're going to be D1 at Saint Thomas. Talk to me about that.
LAURA HAUGE: Oh, I'm so excited. As soon as I committed, there was pressure off my shoulder. And I just knew I was going to love it there. But I try to take some of the pressure off myself and just-- like, especially right now, just enjoying my senior year.
Because it really is just a game. So I just enjoy playing it. And so I don't really feel too much pressure, which I'm lucky. But yeah, I'm just super excited to get to Saint Thomas. I've been to a few of their games this year. And Coach San has been to a couple of mine. We're both-- we're just super excited to work together over there.
INTERVIEWER: You're going to have a great time, I'm sure. You've already had, but we should tell folks. Let's see now, you're a three time Conference Player of the year, two time all-state honorable mention. You've got three MVP awards. You were rookie of the year as a seventh grader. I mean, you got a list of awards as long as your arm. And what is your end goal for your senior year?
LAURA HAUGE: I'm just-- we had a lot of people graduate last year. So our team is, it's a lot different this year. But my goal, obviously, it's going to be to go to state. But overall, I just want to enjoy it. Not take it for granted. And just, I don't know, get better at my game and help all my teammates get better because most of them are younger.
And teach them how to lead the team. I don't know, I just want to enjoy it. Because sometimes, it gets taken out of perspective.
INTERVIEWER: Yeah. Well, I wish you well. Oh my gosh, Laura, we're going to be watching for you. Thank you so much, congratulations.
LAURA HAUGE: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
INTERVIEWER: High school basketball star, Laura Hauge right here on MPR News. This has been Minnesota Now.
She ended the game with 463 pointers to her name. The record was set back in 2012 with 458 three pointers. Her school celebrated her achievement at their game against Hill-Murray, Friday. And she is with us right now to talk about the record and her season. Laura, welcome to the show. Congratulations by the way.
LAURA HAUGE: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
INTERVIEWER: Oh my gosh. We, of course, have the moment that you broke the record. We're going to take a listen to that right now.
[CROWD CHEERING]
OK, take us back to the game, what happened?
LAURA HAUGE: Well, that was-- and that was on my third attempt. So I got really lucky that game. But that moment, just, it didn't feel real. But it was just super awesome to realize how many people love and support me. Then my parents got to come down on the court. So I got to give him a big hug.
INTERVIEWER: I bet it felt great.
LAURA HAUGE: Yeah.
INTERVIEWER: Yeah. You obviously have a particular knack for three pointers. And I've heard some folks say that to become a better three point shooter, you got to practice a lot and close to the basket. Is that right?
LAURA HAUGE: Yeah, you got to get the form down. If you can't make anything close, you're not going to be able to make anything further out. But I think more than the actual shooting part of it, in my experience, it's way more mental the actual act of shooting.
Because if you tell yourself, oh, I'm not shooting good, I'm not going to make a shot this game, then you probably won't. So you just got to keep positive in your mind. And just tell yourself, next one's going in. And just keep shooting.
INTERVIEWER: How about your mechanics? Do you have to adjust your mechanics at all or just keep it the same and just increase your power?
LAURA HAUGE: No, I have-- my dad, he's always watching. I'll turn my feet weird or like, I'll be too flat. So normally, I can figure that out. So yes, it is mechanic sometimes. But most of the time, it's mental in your brain.
INTERVIEWER: So you are a natural. I mean, I can't imagine you are-- it's probably pretty tough to teach an individual the mental part of this, I would think.
LAURA HAUGE: Yeah. I've just been playing since preschool. So I've had lots of practice.
INTERVIEWER: Wow, I know you got a lot of attention when you scored 11 three pointers in one game against Concordia Academy. And I think you were just in seventh grade, which was back in 2019. When did you realize you really stood out in terms of three pointers?
LAURA HAUGE: What'd you say there? You cut off.
INTERVIEWER: When did you really realize you stood out in terms of your ability to sink three pointers?
LAURA HAUGE: It was probably my seventh grade year because that's when college coaches started contacting me too. So that was pretty awesome. And I've been on really good AU teams, since fourth grade. And I've just always been the one that coaches go to, if we need to hit a shot.
So that's just always gotten my confidence up and made me realize that's what I'm best at. And that's what my college coach will want me to do. Obviously, I've gotten a lot better at the other parts of my game. But overall, shooting is my favorite part. And that's what I've been known for. And it's what I love to do.
INTERVIEWER: Can you help me out here? Because I'm a horrific basketball player. So when you're ready to take a shot and you know that you've got a shot, can you somehow paint a word picture for us? What are you thinking about? What's in your mind? What are you seeing at that moment? Can you almost see the trajectory of the ball?
LAURA HAUGE: I don't think. When I start thinking, that's when it gets bad. I just-- if I see a split second of opening, I'm just launching the ball up there. Most of the time, I can tell if it's going in or not. But I'm really just not thinking.
Because whenever I start missing, I'll hear my coach just be like, don't think, just shoot. That's my trick. You got to just shoot it.
INTERVIEWER: Just launch it, and it goes up, and it goes in.
LAURA HAUGE: Most of the time, hopefully.
INTERVIEWER: Yeah. Say, do you have a mentor or somebody that you really have looked up to all these years that you've learned from?
LAURA HAUGE: Well, my dad, he's the one that-- he taught me how to shoot. He always comes to gym and rebounds for me. Yeah, he was a really good basketball player himself. So probably my dad. Mostly, I really look up to him.
He's made a bunch of sacrifices for me. Both my parents have. So yeah, probably my dad. And I'm really close with Coach Milky too. So I can talk to him about anything. They're all just-- they're both really good for me.
INTERVIEWER: So when you're with your dad, I mean, how many shots do you take a day, do you think?
LAURA HAUGE: On average, in the summer, it's probably about 500-ish, yeah.
INTERVIEWER: And even at this stage of the game because you are so good, you need to keep doing that. I mean, that's just part of the repetition.
LAURA HAUGE: Yeah, for sure.
INTERVIEWER: So there's so much pressure at the top, Laura. You're going to be D1 at Saint Thomas. Talk to me about that.
LAURA HAUGE: Oh, I'm so excited. As soon as I committed, there was pressure off my shoulder. And I just knew I was going to love it there. But I try to take some of the pressure off myself and just-- like, especially right now, just enjoying my senior year.
Because it really is just a game. So I just enjoy playing it. And so I don't really feel too much pressure, which I'm lucky. But yeah, I'm just super excited to get to Saint Thomas. I've been to a few of their games this year. And Coach San has been to a couple of mine. We're both-- we're just super excited to work together over there.
INTERVIEWER: You're going to have a great time, I'm sure. You've already had, but we should tell folks. Let's see now, you're a three time Conference Player of the year, two time all-state honorable mention. You've got three MVP awards. You were rookie of the year as a seventh grader. I mean, you got a list of awards as long as your arm. And what is your end goal for your senior year?
LAURA HAUGE: I'm just-- we had a lot of people graduate last year. So our team is, it's a lot different this year. But my goal, obviously, it's going to be to go to state. But overall, I just want to enjoy it. Not take it for granted. And just, I don't know, get better at my game and help all my teammates get better because most of them are younger.
And teach them how to lead the team. I don't know, I just want to enjoy it. Because sometimes, it gets taken out of perspective.
INTERVIEWER: Yeah. Well, I wish you well. Oh my gosh, Laura, we're going to be watching for you. Thank you so much, congratulations.
LAURA HAUGE: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
INTERVIEWER: High school basketball star, Laura Hauge right here on MPR News. This has been Minnesota Now.
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