Corissa Lee Yasen (December 5, 1973 – May 12, 2001) was an American collegiate and professional athlete. She was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and attended high school in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Yasen attended Purdue University and became a nine-time All-American and 10-time Big Ten Conference champion in track and field. She was Purdue's Female Athlete-of-the-Year as a junior and senior and was a Big Ten Medal of Honor winner, as well as Big Ten Athlete of the Year. She also won the NCAA

heptathlon A heptathlon is a track and field combined events contest made up of seven events. The name derives from the Greek επτά (hepta, meaning "seven") and ἄθλος (áthlos, or ἄθλον, áthlon, meaning "competition"). A competitor in a hept ...

title in 1996. Yasen also joined the Purdue women's basketball program, as a starter, during her final year of eligibility. She graduated in 1997 with a degree in

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

. She went on to play for the Sacramento Monarchs in 1997, the inaugural year of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). During the WNBA offseason, Yasen served as an assistant coach for a high school girls' basketball team in West Lafayette, Indiana when they won the state championship in 1998. On May 12, 2001, she was found dead in her apartment in Coeur d'Alene. She had been working at a pharmacy in Hayden, Idaho. Her death was ruled as a

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...

by an "acute multidrug overdose." A forensic

autopsy An autopsy (post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death or to evaluate any di ...

performed by the

Spokane County (Washington) Spokane County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, its population was 539,339, making it the fourth-most populous county in Washington. The largest city and county seat is Spokane, the second largest cit ...

coroner led to a panel of toxicology tests, which were conducted by the National Medical Services Laboratory in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. High levels of diazepam, hydrocodone, lorazepam,

fluoxetine Fluoxetine, sold under the brand names Prozac and Sarafem, among others, is an antidepressant of the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class. It is used for the treatment of major depressive disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorde ...

and other drugs were found in the toxicology analysis. Investigators also recovered substantial quantities of various

intravenous Intravenous therapy (abbreviated as IV therapy) is a medical technique that administers fluids, medications and nutrients directly into a person's vein. The intravenous route of administration is commonly used for rehydration or to provide nutrie ...

drugs and narcotics in Yasen's residence.

Career statistics

College

Source , - , 1996-97 ,

Purdue Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, 28 , 28 , 34.7 , .461 , – , .596 , 6.2 , 1.5 , 2.4 , 0.6 , 2.4 , 11.4

WNBA

Source

Regular season

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1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

, style="text-align:left;", Sacramento , 19 , , 0 , , 9.9 , , .404 , , .000 , , .500 , , 1.1 , , .3 , , .9 , , .1 , , .8 , , 2.7

External links

Rivals.com obituary

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yasen, Corissa 1973 births 2001 deaths 20th-century American women 2001 suicides American women's basketball coaches American women's basketball players Basketball players from Omaha, Nebraska Drug-related suicides in Idaho High school basketball coaches in the United States Purdue Boilermakers women's basketball players Sacramento Monarchs players Small forwards NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships winners Purdue Boilermakers women's track and field athletes