Yasen attended Purdue University and became a nine-time All-American and 10-time Big Ten Conference champion in track and field.

[2] Yasen also joined the Purdue women's basketball program, as a starter, during her final year of eligibility.

[4] She went on to play for the Sacramento Monarchs in 1997, the inaugural year of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

[1] 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.

A forensic autopsy performed by the Spokane County (Washington) coroner led to a panel of toxicology tests, which were conducted by the National Medical Services Laboratory in Willow Grove, Pennsylvania.