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Women's Basketball

Syracuse’s Tiana Mangakahia earns national player of the week honors

Codie Yan | Staff Photographer

Mangakahia also earned ACC player of the week honors after her dominant week.

Tiana Mangakahia earned Citizen Naismith Player of the Week honors after a big week for the sophomore point guard and Syracuse (14-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast). The award recognizes her as the top player of the past week in Division I women’s basketball for her performances against Georgia Tech and then-No. 11 Florida State.

Her performance last week already earned her ACC Player of the Week honors Monday.

Last Thursday, Mangakahia stamped her name all over SU’s program record books. Her 44 points against Georgia Tech were second-most in program history, just behind Alexis Peterson’s 45 of a season ago. The scoring came on the back of 20 made free throws on 21 attempts, highest in program history for both made and attempted free throws. The 44 points equaled the third-highest total in Division I this season.

“She did a good job of willing us to win … I’ll take 44 (points) and eight (assists) every night,” Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said on Thursday night.

On Sunday, Syracuse pulled off its first win over a ranked team this season, upsetting then-No. 11 Florida State at the Carrier Dome, 76-69. Mangakahia took on the role of a distributor that she has embraced so often this season, finishing the game with 13 assists, her 11th game of double-digit assists this season.



Mangakahia’s 10.4 assists per game and 177 total assists rank first in the country. She also ranks 11th in double-doubles (9), 12th in free throws made (85), 26th in minutes played (584) and 27th in steals (44).





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