Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our sports newsletter here

After her final year with Syracuse, fifth-year point guard Tiana Mangakahia was named an All-American honorable mention by the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association on Monday.

While Mangakahia’s scoring average decreased to 11.4 points per game after she was sidelined during the 2019-20 season with breast cancer, the veteran led the nation — for the second season — with 7.2 assists per game.

“She’s just a really tough kid, every reason to quit, and she didn’t quit. She came back and gave it everything she had,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said of Mangakahia after Syracuse’s second-round loss in the NCAA Tournament to UConn. “I told her, 60% of her is better than 100% of the rest of the country.”

Syracuse relied on Mangakahia to run its offense both in half-court sets and in transition. Hillsman trusted Mangakahia to run set plays or penetrate to the basket. Early in the season, Mangakahia would often drive to the rim, either scoring on a layup or finding an open teammate in the paint or on the wing. 

Before the season began, Mangakahia was named a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award, given to the top point guard in the country. After typically playing fewer than 30 minutes per game to start the season as she returned to playing shape, Mangakahia hit her stride once Atlantic Coast Conference play began.

Mangakahia recorded her first double-digit assist game of the season against Miami on Jan. 17, and from there, she recorded at least 10 assists in six of the next nine games. 

She was also one of the most consistent scorers on the team, finishing in double figures in eight of her last 10 games played in Orange. 

“There’s a lot of days she didn’t feel good, but she didn’t make any excuses,” Hillsman said. “Toughest kid I ever coached.”

Published on April 5, 2021 at 4:02 pm

Contact Thomas: tgshults@syr.edu | @ThomasShults_