Grace Elizabeth Berger (born June 3, 1999) is an American

professional basketball In professional sports, as opposed to amateur sports, participants receive payment for their performance. Professionalism in sport has come to the fore through a combination of developments. Mass media and increased leisure have brought larg ...

player for the

Indiana Fever The Indiana Fever are an American professional basketball team based in Indianapolis, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded before the 2000 season began. The team is owned ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA).

High school career

Berger played basketball for Sacred Heart Academy in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. In her junior season, she averaged 14.5 points, 8.6 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, helping her team win the Seventh Region title and reach the state finals. As a senior, Berger earned ''

Courier-Journal ''The Courier-Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), is the highest circulation newspaper in Kentucky. It is owned by Gannett and billed as "Part of the ''USA Today'' Ne ...

'' Athlete of the Year, Kentucky All-Star and Seventh Region Player of the Year honors after averaging 15.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists and leading Sacred Heart back to the regional final. She was a three-time All-State selection in high school. Rated a five-star

recruit __NOTOC__ Recruit can refer to: Military * Military recruitment * Recruit training, in the military * '' Rekrut'' (English: Recruit), a military recruit or low rank in German-speaking countries * Seaman recruit Books *''Le Réquisitionnaire'' (E ...

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

, Berger committed to play college basketball for

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

over offers from Kentucky, Louisville and Michigan.

College career

As a freshman at Indiana, Berger averaged 5.5 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. In her sophomore season, she averaged 13.1 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game, leading her team to a program-record 24 wins. She was a first-team All-Big Ten selection. On November 25, 2020, in her junior season debut, Berger recorded the first

triple-double In basketball, a double-double is a single-game performance in which a player accumulates ten or more in two of the following five statistical categories: points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocked shots. The first "double" in the term ...

in program history, with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 100–51 win against

Eastern Kentucky Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways * Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 * Eastern Air ...

. She led the

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

with three triple-doubles during the season. Berger averaged 15.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists per game and was named first-team All-Big Ten. At the 2021 NCAA tournament, she led Indiana to its first-ever

Elite Eight In the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship or the NCAA Women's Division I Basketball Championship, the "Elite Eight" comprises the final eight teams, representing the regional finals, or national quarterfinals. In Division I and Divis ...

appearance. On February 12, 2022, Berger scored a career-high 29 points in a 76–58 win over

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

. As a senior, she averaged 16.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game and was named first-team All-Big Ten for a third straight season. Berger opted to return for a fifth year of eligibility, granted due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

National team career

Berger represented the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at the

2021 FIBA AmeriCup The 2022 FIBA AmeriCup was the 19th edition of the FIBA AmeriCup, the main tournament for senior men's basketball national teams of the FIBA Americas. The tournament was played in Recife, Brazil, as Brasília was dropped as a second host city mont ...

. She averaged 6.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, helping her team win the gold medal.

References

External links

*
Indiana Hoosiers bioUSA Basketball bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Grace Living people 1999 births American women's basketball players Basketball players from Louisville, Kentucky Point guards Indiana Fever draft picks Indiana Fever players Indiana Hoosiers women's basketball players Sacred Heart Academy (Louisville) alumni United States women's national basketball team players