Saint Louis University basketball player Mandy Lueking was surprised with a letter she received two weeks ago. It was an invitation to the WNBA’s Detroit Shock free agent camp on April 28 and 29.

Lueking said, “I was a little surprised. I hadn’t really prepared and had surgery on my wrist after the season.”

Lueking was one of 120 other players who participated in the tryout. The first day consisted of three 20-minutes games with a running clock. Teams substituted every five minutes. The second day began with drills. Two morning sessions followed, with cuts after each session. Two more 20-minute games with running clocks followed.

In the afternoon sessions, there were official games. There were three afternoon games with each team playing one game.

The players were divided into teams before they arrived. The first team that Lueking played on consisted of three other Conference USA players, including Angela Atteberry from Southern Miss.

“We all knew what everybody liked to do and how everyone else plays. That worked out well,” Lueking said.

Detroit had been looking at Lueking since her junior year.

“One of their scouts watched me play at the conference tournament junior year. He told me he had watched the game at Marquette and had watched me play at conference again this year,” Lueking said.

Lueking averaged 14.6 points per game this season. She shot 40 percent from the field and 40.9 percent from behind the arc. She shot 85 percent from the free-throw line and averaged two rebounds per game.

Lueking finished in fourth place on the all-time career scoring list. She finished seventh on the all-time assists list. She was second on the all-time three-pointers list. She became the 11th player in SLU history to top 1,000 points in her year.

Never one to brag, Lueking thought she played well at the camp.

“I shot well. I was hindered going to my left with my wrist. It was an honor just to be invited,” Lueking said.

“I had a great support group- my dad, Kara (Wile) and Coach (Amy) Cherubini. My mom and coach (Jill) Pizzotti couldn’t make it, but they called after every session to see how things were,” Lueking said.

Lueking could learn her fate any day. Detroit can invite 18 players to training camp.

“It’s a long shot. The camp was very competitive. I’m not waiting around too much,” Lueking said.

“It was a great experience. Everyone who plays dreams of playing professional basketball,” Lueking said.