Munster senior Lia Sotiropoulos knows her calling card.
The 5-foot-5 Sotiropoulos was a point guard earlier in her career, but she shifted off the ball during her sophomore season.
“Shooting, that’s what I do best on the court,” she said. “I just really try to get up shots whenever I can.”
Not that shooting is all Sotiropoulos does.
“No matter what you’re doing, hustle doing it, just run as fast as you can,” she said. “If you can’t score, if you play defense, you’re fine.”
But Sotiropoulos, who averages 6.1 points this season, has connected on her fair share of shots for the Mustangs. She set a program record for 3-pointers in a game on Dec. 22, 2023, going 7 of 11 for a career-high 23 points. She eclipsed the previous mark of six 3-pointers.
“I remember when I was 12 and I saw that record, I was like, ‘That’s the one I want,’” Sotiropoulos said. “That’s a goal I had for myself by the end of high school, and I desperately wanted it. So when I got it, it was surreal.
“When I got the seventh, everyone was screaming. You get filled with adrenaline. After the game, you still can’t really process it.”
Munster (14-9) will play Lake Central (16-7) in a Class 4A Crown Point Sectional semifinal on Friday night. The Mustangs dropped the teams’ regular-season meeting Dec. 3 and have lost to the Indians in sectional games in each of the past two seasons.
Munster coach DeAndre Williams quipped about Sotiropoulos’ potential role in this edition of the rivalry game.
“I’m hoping she gets eight Friday,” he said.
Williams described Sotiropoulos’ overall impact.
“She’s a great shooter,” he said. “She’s a great leader. We look to her to shoot the ball as much as possible Friday night. I told her any room you get, let it go, let it fly.
“I tell them, ‘This is win or go home, so there’s no holding back. If you’re going to go out, let’s go out with a bang. Let’s leave everything on the floor Friday night.’ So I told her to go out there, she’s a great shooter, and if she gets open looks, let it go.”
Sotiropoulos, who moved into the starting lineup this season for the first time after star Gracyn Gilliard transferred to Center Grove, has been dealing with abdominal pain throughout the season. She started experiencing it in April.
“I woke up one day, and it felt like someone was stabbing me in the stomach, and it wouldn’t go away,” Sotiropoulos said. “I had these days where my stomach would be in constant pain.”
Multiple visits to doctors and tests didn’t reveal much.
“Nobody could tell me what was going on,” Sotiropoulos said. “We still really can’t pinpoint what’s going on. But I’ve been able to control it better lately, and I know when it’s coming, and I can feel when it’s going to start acting up again. It’s been better lately.”
Williams appreciates how Sotiropoulos has pushed forward.
“She’s been battling for most of the season,” he said. “Sometimes she gets a little fatigued, but she’s a warrior. She’s overcome it. She didn’t let it stop her. She comes to practice every single day. She’s been fighting all season long.
“She’s just a wonderful young lady to have in this program. I’m extremely proud of her.”
Sotiropoulos will be joining the National Guard, with basic training likely at Fort Jackson in South Carolina and job training in military intelligence in Arizona. She intends to start attending Indiana for the second semester and study forensic psychology there.
Sotiropoulos has cultivated a productive mindset this season.
“I started being more confident,” she said. “Senior year, it’s your last chance. The fear you had when you were a junior and a sophomore, it goes away. You don’t have another chance at it. If you don’t do it now, you’re not going to have another chance.”
