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Tiffany Hayes

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American-Azerbaijani basketball player (born 1989)

Tiffany Hayes
Hayes in September 2009
No. 15 – Las Vegas Aces
PositionShooting guard
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1989-09-20) September 20, 1989 (age 35)
Polk County, Florida, U.S.
NationalityAmerican / Azerbaijani
Listed height5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Listed weight155 lb (70 kg)
Career information
High schoolWinter Haven
(Winter Haven, Florida)
CollegeUConn (2008–2012)
WNBA draft2012: 2nd round, 14th overall pick
Selected by the Atlanta Dream
Playing career2012–present
Career history
2012–2022Atlanta Dream
2012–2013Hapoel Rishon LeZion
2013–2014Beşiktaş JK
2014America de Recife
2015–2016Yakın Doğu Üniversitesi
2016–2017Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyespor
2017–2018Maccabi Bnot Ashdod
2019–2021Perfumerías Avenida
2021–2022Çukurova Basketbol
2023Connecticut Sun
2023–2024Shanghai Swordfish
2024–presentLas Vegas Aces
2025–presentPhantom BC
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Medals
Women's Basketball
Representing  United States
World University Games
Gold medal – first place 2009 Belgrade Team Competition

Tiffany Kiara Hayes (born September 20, 1989) is an American-Azerbaijani professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Hayes played college basketball for the Connecticut Huskies, playing for the 2009 and 2010 NCAA National Champions.

Early life

Hayes was born September 20, 1989, in Winter Haven, a city in Central Florida, to Dorothy and Renard Hayes.

Hayes played basketball for Winter Haven High School in Winter Haven, Florida. The team compiled a 117–9 record during her career, and won the state championship in 2004 and 2007. She was the leading scorer on her team, scoring an average of 18.3 points per game.

Hayes helped lead the AAU team Essence to the 2007 National Championship.

Hayes was invited to the 2007 Youth Development Festival, a USA Basketball sponsored event for elite sophomores and juniors in high school, biennially at the U.S. Olympic Training Center. The 2007 event featured three teams from the US and a team representing Brazil. Hayes was leading scorer of the White USA team, which won five of its games to clinch the gold medal. Hoopgulrz.com named Hayes the outstanding player of the Festival.

Hayes participated in the 2008 Nike SPARQ Training 'My Better' Championship event. She finished the preliminary round as one of the top twenty-two out of the 3,000 high school athletes competing. The top finishers were flown to Nike World Headquarters for the finals. Hayes finished second among all females competing.

College career

Hayes played for the University of Connecticut Huskies. She knew about the program when she was a little girl, and had interest in UConn since childhood. UConn became interested in Hayes in 2006, when an assistant coach, Tonya Cardoza, saw her playing AAU ball. Despite heavy recruitment by many other schools, UConn made an offer when Hayes was a junior, and Hayes committed to attend Connecticut.

She asked to wear number 3, the number most recently worn by UConn legend Diana Taurasi. Hayes was not a starter at the beginning of the season, but after teammate Caroline Doty was injured, she stepped into the starting line-up. Her career high scoring game was against California in the regional semifinal of the NCAA Championship. Connecticut won every game of the season by double digits, but found itself in the unusual position of being eight points behind in the California game. Hayes scored 28 points to help lead the team to a victory.

Hayes was invited to the tryouts for the USA Women's World University Games Team. She made the team, as the youngest player on the team, and the only freshman. She helped the team to a 7–0 record and a gold medal in Belgrade, Serbia.

On the fifth of February 2011, the Connecticut Huskies beat DePaul 89–66. This game was the 100th win in Hayes' college career, and occurred in her 101st game, making her the fastest player in NCAA basketball history to reach 100 wins. Hayes scored 35 points against Syracuse on January 26, setting a career high, and followed that up with 33 points against South Florida, two days later. The 68 combined points in back-to-back games is the highest point total in consecutive game by any Connecticut player in history.

Professional career

WNBA

Hayes was selected by the Atlanta Dream as the second pick in the second round, the 14th overall pick of the 2012 WNBA draft. In her rookie season, Hayes played 34 games with 17 starts while averaging 8.6 PPG as a reserve on the Dream's roster. She was named to the WNBA All-Rookie team.

In her second season, Hayes played 23 games with 4 starts and averaged 11.3 PPG. That season, the Dream advanced all the way to the 2013 WNBA Finals, but were swept by the Minnesota Lynx.

In the 2014 season, Hayes officially became the starting shooting guard for the Dream and averaged 12.9 PPG.

In 2016, Hayes re-signed with the Dream to a multi-year deal once her rookie contract expired. During the 2016 season, Hayes averaged 15 PPG. In a loss to the Los Angeles Sparks, Hayes scored a career-high 32 points. Her stellar performance continued into the playoffs, where she scored a playoff career-high 30 points in the second round elimination game against the Chicago Sky in a losing effort.

In 2017, with the team's leading scorer Angel McCoughtry deciding to rest during the season, Hayes took on more scoring responsibility in her absence and continued to improve offensively. She was voted into the 2017 WNBA All-Star Game, making it her very first all-star game appearance. By the end of the season, Hayes put up a career-high scoring average of 16.3 PPG, but the Dream finished with a 12–22 record, missing out on the playoffs.

In 2018, with the return of McCoughtry, the Dream was back in the mix for a playoff spot and eventually emerged as a title contender. Hayes was voted into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game, making it her second all-star game appearance. She finished the season with a new career high in scoring. The Dream finished 23–11 with the number 2 seed in the league, receiving a double-bye to the semi-finals. McCoughtry was sidelined with a knee injury and the Dream were eliminated by the Washington Mystics in five games.

On August 10, 2019, Hayes scored a new-career high 34 points in an 87–82 loss to the Indiana Fever. With McCoughtry sidelined for the whole season with a knee injury, the Dream finished with a league worst 8–26 record.

On December 13, 2023, Hayes announced her retirement from the WNBA.

On May 31, 2024, it was announced that the Las Vegas Aces had signed Hayes out of retirement. On October 4, 2024, the WNBA announced Hayes is the Sixth Player of the Year, the award for the top player coming off the bench in the league's season.

Overseas

In the 2012-13 off-season, Hayes played in Israel for Hapoel Rishon LeZion. In the 2013-14 off-season, Hayes played in Turkey for Beşiktaş JK for the first portion of the off-season and spent the second portion of the off-season playing in Brazil for America de Recife. In the 2015-16 off-season, Hayes played in Turkey once again for Yakin Dogu. As of August 2016, Hayes signed with Mersin BSB S.K. for the 2016-17 off-season. In 2017, Hayes signed with Maccabi Ashdod for the 2017-18 offseason. In 2019, Hayes signed with Perfumerías Avenida of the Spanish League for the 2019-20 off-season and renewed for 2020–2021.

Unrivaled

On September 27, 2024, it was announced that Hayes would appear and play in the inaugural season of Unrivaled, the women's 3x3 basketball league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart.

National team career

Hayes was a part of the United States women's national basketball team which won gold at the 2009 Summer Universiade held at Belgrade, Serbia. She also appeared in the exhibition match victory against China in 2018.

In 2015, Hayes became an Azerbaijani citizen, and competed for the Azerbaijan women's national basketball team at the 2015 European Games held in Baku, Azerbaijan during June 2015. She competed in the 3x3 basketball event, where her team progressed to the quarterfinals.

Hayes also participated in the 2024 Summer Olympics for the Azerbaijan women's 3x3 basketball team.

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader
* Denotes seasons in which Hayes won an NCAA Championship

WNBA

Regular season

Stats current through end of 2024 season

WNBA regular season statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2012 Atlanta 34 17 23.1 .390 .273 .786 3.1 2.1 0.8 0.3 1.5 8.6
2013 Atlanta 23 4 22.3 .406 .377 .745 3.7 1.7 1.2 0.1 1.7 11.3
2014 Atlanta 34 32 28.4 .464 .357 .760 3.0 2.5 1.0 0.2 1.2 12.9
2015 Atlanta 28 27 29.9 .392 .274 .805 3.0 2.2 1.0 0.3 1.6 12.9
2016 Atlanta 33 33 30.8 .441 .274 .804 3.4 2.4 1.2 0.2 1.7 15.0
2017 Atlanta 33 33 30.0 .436 .372 .854 3.8 2.4 1.2 0.2 1.8 16.3
2018 Atlanta 31 29 28.9 .441 .321 .817 3.6 2.7 1.1 0.2 1.6 17.2
2019 Atlanta 29 29 28.2 .393 .308 .764 3.0 2.8 1.0 0.2 2.4 14.7
2020 Did not play (opted out)
2021 Atlanta 21 19 28.3 .438 .405 .853 3.2 3.0 1.6 0.2 1.5 14.7
2022 Atlanta 11 11 27.5 .545 .429 .683 3.6 2.1 0.7 0.1 2.0 16.2
2023 Connecticut 40 40 27.1 .476 .366 .778 3.0 2.6 0.9 0.1 1.4 12.1
2024 Las Vegas 33 5 21.5 .500 .402 .714 2.8 2.1 0.8 0.3 0.8 9.5
Career 12 years, 3 teams 350 279 27.2 .439 .339 .790 3.2 2.4 1.0 0.2 1.6 13.2
All-Star 1 1 22.3 .400 .000 — 5.0 4.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 12.0

Playoffs

Stats current through end of 2024 playoffs

WNBA playoff statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2012 Atlanta 3 0 16.3 .364 .333 1.000 2.3 1.7 1.6 0.3 1.6 4.3
2013 Atlanta 8 6 28.4 .390 .353 .767 4.5 1.9 0.6 0.0 1.3 12.4
2014 Atlanta 3 3 31.1 .481 .333 .900 3.0 2.0 0.3 0.3 1.3 12.7
2016 Atlanta 1 1 36.7 .588 .429 .875 6.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 2.0 30.0
2018 Atlanta 5 5 33.6 .444 .375 .800 6.2 3.4 1.4 0.2 2.0 16.4
2023 Connecticut 7 7 26.1 .527 .484 .875 3.4 1.6 0.6 0.3 1.0 14.3
2024 Las Vegas 6 0 21.7 .512 .500 .813 3.5 2.8 1.8 0.2 1.0 10.5
Career 7 years, 3 teams 33 22 26.9 .467 .411 .822 4.1 2.2 1.0 0.2 1.4 12.9

College

NCAA statistics
Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2008–09* UConn 39 — 25.7 .458 .374 .759 4.0 2.6 1.1 0.4 1.5 8.4
2009–10* UConn 39 37 26.4 .439 .321 .734 3.3 3.0 1.0 0.4 2.2 10.2
2010–11 UConn 38 38 31.7 .435 .349 .775 4.6 3.7 1.4 0.4 2.4 13.6
2011–12 UConn 38 38 30.2 .503 .407 .808 5.8 3.3 2.3 0.3 2.6 14.7
Career 154 113 28.4 .460 .360 .774 4.4 3.1 1.4 0.4 2.1 11.7

Awards and honors

  • 2007—MVP, Nike Nationals, HoopGurlz.com
  • 2007—First Team, All-State 5A (Florida)
  • 2008—McDonald's All-America
  • 2008—Parade Magazine All-America
  • 2009–10—Wade Watch
  • 2010–11—Wade Watch
  • 2011—First Team All Big East
  • 2012—WNBA All-Rookie Team
  • 2024-WNBA Sixth Woman of the Year

See also

References

  1. "Tiffany Hayes". UConnHuskies.com. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
  2. ^ "Tiffany Hayes". UConnHuskies.com. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  3. ^ "Tiffany Hayes". HoopGurlz.com. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  4. "USA WOMEN'S YOUTH DEVELOPMENT FESTIVAL -- 2007". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on January 6, 2010. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  5. "Prospect Watch - Aug. 3". Hoopgurlz.com. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  6. "Nike Hosts Nationwide Search..." PR-Insider.com. Retrieved November 8, 2009.
  7. "My Better Championship". Nike. Archived from the original on June 9, 2009. Retrieved November 8, 2009.
  8. "Girls Basketball Testing Protocols". Nike SPARQ. Archived from the original on November 7, 2009. Retrieved November 8, 2009.
  9. Fuoco, Roy (March 2, 2007). "Tiffany Hayes, UConn Are Each Other's First Picks". The Ledger. Retrieved December 25, 2011.
  10. "Freshman Hayes' 28 points power UConn to rout". ESPN. Archived from the original on April 2, 2009. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  11. Clark, Jim. "Tiffany Hayes: (Leave) Open at Your Own Risk!". Scout with Foxsports.com. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  12. "2009 Women's World University Games Team" (PDF). USA Basketball. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 24, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  13. "TWENTY-FOURTH WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES -- 2009". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on October 2, 2010. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  14. "Maya Moore's 34 points, 11 rebounds lift UConn in rout of DePaul". ESPN. Archived from the original on February 11, 2011. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  15. Hays, Graham (January 29, 2012). "Tiffany Hayes steals the headlines". ESPN. Archived from the original on January 31, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2012.
  16. "2012 WNBA DRAFT". WNBA. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  17. ^ "Nneka Ogwumike, Glory Johnson Headline 2012 All-Rookie Team". WNBA. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  18. Dream re-sign Tiffany Hayes to multi-year contract Dream re-sign Tiffany Hayes to multi-year contract
  19. Dream fall to Fever for ninth straight loss
  20. Philippou, Alexa (December 13, 2023). "WNBA veteran Hayes to retire after 11 seasons". ESPN. Retrieved December 14, 2023.
  21. "Aces Sign 11-Year WNBA Veteran Guard Tiffany Hayes". aces.wnba.com. WNBA. May 31, 2024. Retrieved May 31, 2024.
  22. "Las Vegas Aces' Tiffany Hayes Named 2024 Kia WNBA Sixth Player of the Year". www.wnba.com. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  23. 2016-2017 WNBA Overseas Signings/
  24. WNBA Players Playing Overseas
  25. @Unrivaledwbb (September 27, 2024). "TIP IS UNRIVALED👑 23/30✅" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  26. "2009 Women's World University Games Schedule". Archived from the original on January 3, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2009.
  27. ^ "TIFFANY HAYES". USA Basketball. Archived from the original on July 1, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2022.
  28. "USA defeats China 83-46 in Seattle Exhibition". USA Basketball. April 27, 2018. Archived from the original on January 14, 2019.
  29. "Tiffany Hayes and Aneika Henry will miss next 5 games". Sports Fire. June 15, 2015. Retrieved June 15, 2015.
  30. "U.S. women (0-2) lose to Azerbaijan in 3x3 hoops". ESPN.com. July 31, 2024. Retrieved October 4, 2024.
  31. "Tiffany Hayes WNBA Stats". Basketball Reference.
  32. "Season Statistics". UConnHuskies.com. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  33. "UCONN Season Statistics". University of Connecticut. Retrieved April 11, 2010.
  34. "2008 McDonald's(R) All American Basketball". Thomson Reuters. February 20, 2008. Archived from the original on March 31, 2008. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  35. "Preseason Wade Watch list announced". NCAA. August 5, 2010. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  36. "WBCA Announces Preseason Selections for the 2009-2010". WBCA. July 30, 2009. Retrieved February 6, 2011.
  37. Adamec, Carl (March 4, 2011). "Primed for more". Journal Inquirer.com.
  38. Fuller, Jim (March 4, 2011). "UCONN WOMEN: Hayes joins Moore as first team All-Big East selection". New Haven Register. Retrieved April 17, 2011.
  39. "The Official Home of the WNBA | Women's National Basketball Association". www.wnba.com. Retrieved October 4, 2024.

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