Bria Hartley



Bria Nicole Hartley (born September 30, 1992) is an American basketball player who played point guard for the UConn women's basketball team, and won back to back national championships in 2013 and 2014. She was drafted by the Seattle Storm with the 7th overall pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft and immediately traded to the Washington Mystics.

Early years
Hartley was born to Dennis and Simone Hartley. She started playing basketball at a very young age, and honed her game in her driveway, playing against two older brothers. They pushed her around, but she credits that for making her tougher.

High School
Hartley played her high school basketball at North Babylon High in North Babylon, New York, United States. As a senior, she had five triple doubles, and averaged 27 points per game. She won the Gatorade Player of the Year awards for the state of New York for the second year in a row.

As a junior, she was named to the Parade All-America list.

Before her final season began at North Babylon High School, Hartley committed to the University of Connecticut over offers from Duke University, University of Kentucky, University of Tennessee, Georgetown University, University of North Carolina, and the University of Louisville. Stanford University also expressed strong interest.

As a senior, Hartley's high school team played in the New York State AA tournament. The team made it all the way to the title game, where Hartley poured in 51 points, but it wasn't enough to overcome a balanced attack by Sachem East.

Hartley was named a WBCA All-American. She participated in the 2010 WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored nineteen points. Hartley was selected to the McDonald's All-America team and participated in the All-Star game, scoring 17 points for the East team.

Freshman year
Freshmen rarely start at UConn, but Caroline Doty, expected to be a starting guard for the team, suffered an ACL injury in August 2010 which kept her out of the lineup for the entire season. With limited options, Hartley started and played a total of 1,209 minutes, the most ever by a UConn freshman. She was named the Big East Freshman of the year, and earned a spot on the Big East all tournament team.

Sophomore year
Bria Hartley continued her stellar play in sophomore year. Hartley played and started all 38 game in 2011-2012 season. She was second in assists with 3.7 per game, third in scoring with 14 points per game and third in steals with 70 while shooting 46.5 percent from the field. During her sophomore year she became known for performing well aganist top teams in the country. She tallied 28 double-figure performances and five 20-plus games on the season including two 25 points game aganist top seeds Baylor and Notre Dame. Hartley was named to the BIG EAST All-Tournament after turning in 18 points and seven grabs against Notre Dame in the BIG EAST Final. Hartley earned her spot on the Huskies wall of fame by being one of 10 candidates named to the WBCA/State Farm All American team.

Junior year
Hartley struggled in her junior year at UConn. She missed the first two games of the season due to an ankle injury. She had career lows in mintues played, points, rebounds, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage. During the NCAA tournament she performed a lot better by scoring in double-figures in all of UConn's final three games, including a 15-point, four-assist performance in the National Semifinal win over Notre Dame. Hartley helped her team win the 2013 National Championship, and was named to the 2013 NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team.

Senior year
In her final year at UCONN, she had an amazing senior year as she was a candidate for the Nancy Lieberman award as the nation best point guard. She played and started in all 40 games, scoring in double-figures in all but four contests, second on the team at 16.2 points per game and 4.3 assists per game. Hartley scored at least 20 points 12 times and notched a season-high 30 points on 11-15 shooting, including 6-8 from deep, in the win at Rutgers. Hartley was named to American Athletic All-Conference Tournament team in 2014. Hartley joined UCONN guards Diana Taurasi and Maya Moore as the only players with 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists, and 200 steals. Hartley helped lead her team to an undefeated 40-0 season and won the 2014 National Championship, and was named to the 2014 NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team and was later inducted into the Huskies of Honor on senior night.

USA Basketball
Hartley was named to the USA Basketball U18 team. The USA team was one of eight teams from North, South and Central America, along with the Caribbean, invited to participate in the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship For Women, held at the U.S. Olympic Training Center, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The top finishing team qualify for the 2011 FIBA U19 Women's World Championship. The team was coached by Jennifer Rizzotti, a former point guard for Connecticut, who helped teach Hartley how to "be a leader". Rizzotti noted her improvement over the course of the event, especially in decision-making.

USA U18 2010
The opening exhibition match was against Canada, won by the USA team 58–39. Hartley had ten points, three assists and four steals. In the opening round game against Argentina, Hartley was a double digit scorer, helping the USA to a 91–32 victory. In the next game against Brazil, Hartley played a role setting the opening tempo, as she scored eight points as part of a 13–2 early run. Hartley would end up with 14 points, second leading scorer in the victory over Brazil. The USA won the following game easily against Puerto Rico 108–44, then beat Chile in the semi-final match up 98–28. The gold medal game was a rematch against Brazil, which the USA won 81–38. Hartley was the second leading scorer for the team with 10.6 points per game.

2013 World University Games - Russia
Hartley, along with teammate Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis, were two of the twelve players selected to be on the team representing the USA at the World University Games held in Kazan, Russia in July 2013. The team, coached by Sherri Coale, won the opening four games easily, scoring in triple digits in each game, and winning by 30 or more points in each case. After winning the quarterfinal game against Sweden, they faced Australia in the semifinal. The USA team opened up as much as a 17 point in the fourth quarter of the game but the Australian team fought back and took a one point lead in the final minute. Crystal Bradford scored a basket with 134 seconds left in the game to secure a 79–78 victory. The gold medal opponent was Russia, but the USA team never trailed, and won 90–71 to win the gold medal and the World University games Championship. Hartley was the leading scorer for the team, averaging 13.5 points per game. She had 20 assists and nine steals, both second only to Odyssey Sims.

WNBA
Hartley was drafted seventh overall in the 2014 WNBA Draft by Seattle Storm then later traded to the Washington Mystics who drafted UCONN teammate Stefanie Dolson. Hartley started in her second game of her WNBA career where she scored 15 points and 5 assists in a win over Indiana Fever on May 23, 2014.

Awards and honors

 * 2009—Gatorade Player of the Year New York
 * 2009—Parade All-American


 * 2010—Gatorade Player of the Year New York
 * 2010—USA Today's All-USA second team
 * 2010—ESPN Rise All-America first team
 * 2010—Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-America team
 * 2010—New York Newsday's Long Island Player of the Year


 * 2011—Big East Freshman of the Year
 * 2011—Big East Tournament All Tournament team


 * 2013—NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team.


 * 2014—ESPNW Second Team All-American
 * 2014—USBWA All-American team
 * 2014—AP All-American Second Team