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The Basketball Hall of Fame and the Women’s College Basketball Association named Syracuse guard Tiana Mangakahia to a watch list for the 2021 Nancy Lieberman Award on Monday. The award recognizes the top point guard in Division I NCAA women’s basketball.

Mangakahia is entering her fifth season at Syracuse after sitting out last season while undergoing treatment for breast cancer. The guard had a successful double mastectomy in November 2019 and was declared cancer-free.

Mangakahia is Syracuse’s all-time assist leader, with 591, and she led the country in assists and assists per game in 2017-18, averaging 9.8 assists per game. In the next season, Mangakahia broke the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament record with 13 assists against Miami on March 8.

Two years ago, Mangakahia received an Associated Press All-American Honorable Mention and was a Top 5 Finalist for the 2019 Nancy Lieberman Award. She was also named to the All-ACC First Team and was awarded the title the Syracuse Female Athlete of the Year.

She recorded the program’s first points-rebounds-assists triple-double against UNC on Jan. 13, 2019, when she scored 34 points and 10 rebounds and assists. A month later, the guard recorded a season high 44 points against Florida State, matching a career high from a year earlier against Georgia Tech.

Mangakahia returns to a team that finished eighth in the ACC standings last year ,with a 9-9 conference record, before being eliminated by Louisville in the quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.

Published on November 9, 2020 at 3:55 pm

Contact Thomas: tgshults@syr.edu | @ThomasShults_