Playing as an import for JCU Townsville Fire during the 2022/23 Cygnett Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) season in Australia Tianna Hawkins made a massive impact as a power forward/centre to win the Rachel Sporn Medal as Grand Final Most Valuable Player (MVP). In Townsville’s two games to nil Grand Final victory against Southside Flyers to win the WNBL Championship Hawkins averaged 19 points per game and shot the ball proficiently to have a field goal accuracy of 64%.

Hawkins set the bar high early in the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season, scoring 33 points at 65% from the field in a home victory at the Townsville Entertainment Centre on 11 November 2022 against Adelaide Lightning in her second game in the league. Throughout the regular season 191 centimetre tall Hawkins maintained a high standard to be selected in the WNBL’s Team of the Week four times and averaged 17.2 points (ranked 5^th in the WNBL), 8.1 rebounds (6^th), 2.0 steals (3^rd), 0.6 blocked shots (equal 10^th) and 30.8 minutes (equal 17^th) per game. For her brilliant season Hawkins was named in the 2022/23 All-WNBL First Team and won JCU Townsville Fire’s MVP Award.

On 17 July 2023 JCU Townsville Fire announced that Hawkins had signed with the club for the 2023/24 Cygnett WNBL season. Hawkins told wnbl.basketball “I’m so excited to be returning to Townsville for the 23/24 WNBL season. Shannon, has done a phenomenal job in building a professional and winning culture in Townsville and that is something I really loved being apart of last season. I am looking forward to getting back with my teammates in hopes of competing every day to bring another championship to Townsville 🔥🧡.”1

Tianna Hawkins playing for JCU Townsville Fire against the Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 10 December 2022

Hawkins was born and raised in Washington DC, United States of America and has played the majority of her basketball career in Washington, a County in the state of Maryland. Tianna attended Riverdale Baptist School in Maryland which was followed by playing four seasons of college basketball for University of Maryland from 2009/10 to 2012/13. Hawkins earnt selection in an All-Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) team twice, being selected on the 2011/12 All-ACC Second Team and on the 2012/13 All-ACC First Team.

At the 2013 WNBA Draft Hawkins was selected by Seattle Storm with pick 6 overall. After playing her rookie WNBA season with Seattle in 2013 Hawkins was traded to Washington Mystics in April 2014. Tianna played for Washington in the 2014 WNBA season and had a son Emanuel in June 2015. Several people told Hawkins that she would be unable to combine being a mother with playing in the WNBA. Tianna has proven the doubters wrong and since having Emanuel has played eight consecutive WNBA seasons from 2016 to 2023 including seven seasons for Washington, the only exception was playing for Atlanta in 2021.

Hawkins was a member of the Washington Mystics first ever WNBA Championship winning team in 2019 and ranks in the Mystics all-time top 20 for several career statistics including ranking ninth for total rebounds and sixth for field goal percentage. In the current 2023 WNBA season Hawkins is playing her 10^th season in the league and eighth season for the Washington Mystics. On 11 August 2023 Hawkins became the 16^th player to reach 1,500 career points for the Washington Mystics. 

Tianna Hawkins’ basketball career from playing as a junior, through to playing college basketball for University of Maryland, in the WNBA including for the Washington Mystics and the 2022/23 WNBL season for JCU Townsville Fire is covered below.

Early life and junior career

Tianna Hawkins was born on 2 March 1991 in Washington DC, United States of America, her mother is Latanya Hawkins. At 12 years of age Tianna and her twin sister Tierra commenced their junior basketball careers with the Hillcrest Community Center in Oxon Hill. The Hawkins sisters started playing basketball several years after some of their peers but their athletic ability and being able to practice against each other enabled them to quickly make up ground.

In high school Tianna and Tierra Hawkins attended Riverdale Baptist School in Maryland and were teammates on the girl’s basketball team. During her senior high school basketball season in 2008/09 Tianna excelled playing 28 games as a post player for Riverdale Baptist and averaged 17.1 points, 11.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 2.8 steals and 1.9 blocked shots per game. Shooting accuracy was a strength of Tianna’s, shooting 59% from the field and 39% for three-pointers. Riverdale Baptist had 25 wins and three losses during 2008/09 and Tianna was named Maryland’s Gatorade Player of the Year in 2009.

Family including her mother Latanya and grandfather James Hawkins played a significant role in Tianna’s journey to become a professional basketball player. In the lead up to the 2013 WNBA Draft later that month Tianna told Swish Appeal in April 2013 “When I was younger my grandfather would always tell my mother that me and my sister were too tall to be cheerleaders or on the swim team and stuff like that – we needed to be playing basketball. My mother and my grandfather are the two main ones that really motivate me to be successful at whatever I do.”2

College career with University of Maryland from 2009/10 to 2012/13

Hawkins commenced her college basketball career playing as a forward with Division 1 college University of Maryland in 2009/10. In February 2022 Hawkins commented to Athlete’s Unlimited on her decision to attend Maryland, saying “Maryland was really the only school that I saw play on TV. I come from a time where we didn’t really see ourselves on TV as women playing basketball and competing. Maryland was a powerhouse school. They were always on TV, they were that good. So, I was like, if I’m gonna go to college, I want to be on a team that’s gonna be on TV so that people can see me. And I loved being at Maryland because it was down the street from my house. The XFINITY Center sits on the same street as my former high school. It was a no-brainer for me.”3 

The Maryland Terrapins competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). Brenda Frese has been the Head Coach of the University of Maryland’s Women’s basketball team since the 2002/03 season. Whilst Hawkins attended the University of Maryland the basketball venue was known as the Comcast Center, in July 2014 it was rebranded as the XFINITY Center.

In her first two seasons with Maryland in 2009/10 and 2010/11 Hawkins predominantly played off the bench, playing 66 games including 27 as a starter and averaged 8.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 0.8 blocked shots and 19.9 minutes per game. Shooting accuracy was a strength of Hawkins, making 226 field goals from 394 attempts at an accuracy of 57.4% over her freshman and sophomore seasons.

Hawkins’ Maryland teammates in her sophomore 2010/11 season included Alyssa Thomas, Natasha Cloud and Laurin Mincy. Cloud and Mincy played one season each as an import in the WNBL for Townsville Fire in 2016/17 and 2017/18 respectively. For most of their WNBA careers including the current 2023 WNBA season Hawkins and Cloud have been teammates at the Washington Mystics. 

From the start of the 2011/12 season Hawkins was a permanent member of Maryland’s starting five and was one of two Maryland starters that played and started all 36 games for the season along with Anjale Barrett. Maryland had a settled starting line-up throughout the 2011/12 season with Alyssa Thomas starting all 35 games that she played whilst Laurin Mincy and Alicia DeVaughn each started 35 games and played all 36 games for the Terps. 

In 2011/12 Tianna’s twin sister Tierra attended Division 2 college Delaware State University and played on the women’s college basketball team. The distance from Maryland University to Delaware State University is approximately 90 miles by road. Delaware State made the short road trip to play against University of Maryland at College Park on 8 December 2011 which resulted in the Hawkins twin sisters playing against each other. At 191 centimetres tall Tianna is three centimetres taller than Tierra and the Hawkins sisters were both starting forwards for their respective college teams. Maryland at home defeated Delaware State in convincing fashion 108-33. Tierra scored an equal team-high seven points and took a team-high six rebounds for Delaware State. For the victorious Terrapins Tianna scored 13 points- ranked equal second for Maryland, took nine rebounds and blocked three shots to set game-highs in the latter two categories.   

In Maryland’s 86-58 victory in a home game at the XFINITY Center (formerly known as the Comcast Center) against Wake Forest on 19 January 2012 Hawkins scored a game-high 18 points and took 24 rebounds to set a new school record for most rebounds in a game. Hawkins made eight of 15 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 53.3% and made both free throws. The record for most rebounds in a game by a Maryland women’s basketball player had been jointly held by Angie Scott and Debbie Jones who each took 23 rebounds in separate games in 1977. Hawkins broke the record with an offensive rebound with 32 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter against Wake Forest. Hawkins’ Maryland teammate Thomas scored 16 points, took 11 rebounds and had seven assists.

In the post game press conference sitting between Hawkins and Thomas, University of Maryland Head Coach Frese said “Obviously you look pretty good when you’ve got rebounding machines like the two that we have here. Just a special night to be able to see Tianna break the record. I’ve never seen anybody get 24 rebounds in a game.”4 On her milestone rebounding performance Hawkins commented “I was just happy I was able to do something in a game to help my team out and to also go into history. So it means a lot to me.”5

On the road against Georgia Tech on 6 February 2012 Hawkins shot the ball superbly to make 11 of 13 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 84.6%, scored a then career-high 23 points, took nine rebounds and blocked two shots. On 12 February Hawkins scored 18 points and took 10 rebounds to record the 21^st double-double of her college career. On 13 February Hawkins was named the ACC Player of the Week and the USBWA National Player of the Week.

University of Maryland were the third seeds for the 2011/12 ACC Tournament and in the final defeated number four seeds Georgia Tech 68-65 to win the tournament which also qualified them for the 2012 NCAA Women’s basketball Tournament. Hawkins was selected in the 2012 All-ACC Tournament Second team.

In the 2012 NCAA Women’s basketball Tournament Hawkins scored 15 points, took 14 rebounds and had a career-high six steals in Maryland’s second round 72-68 victory against Louisville. Maryland made it to the Elite Eight where they were defeated by Notre Dame.

During 2011/12 Hawkins played 36 games for Maryland as a starter and averaged 12.0 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.1 blocked shots and 25.9 minutes per game. In 2011/12 Hawkins recorded 12 double-doubles and ranked “No. 1 in NCAA with FG percentage of 62.3.”6 Hawkins was selected in the 2011/12 All-ACC Second Team. Thomas was named in the 2011/12 All-ACC First Team and was also named the ACC’s Player of the Year. 

Against Loyola on 11 November 2012 Hawkins made 13 of 16 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 81.3%, scored a career-high 33 points and took 13 rebounds. On 12 November Hawkins was named the ACC Player of the Week. In a road game against Nebraska on 28 November Maryland starting guard Mincy suffered an injury to her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The Terrapins had already lost a point guard, Brene Moseley to an ACL injury during the pre-season. These injuries resulted in Thomas moving from playing as a forward to being Maryland’s point guard.

On December 8 in a home game at the XFINITY Center against George Mason Hawkins made 10 of 12 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 83.3%, scored 27 points and took seven rebounds. Against NC State Hawkins scored 26 points, took 17 rebounds, made three assists, had two steals and blocked one shot on 17 January.

In an Alyssa Thomas & Tianna Hawkins Feature video published by Full Court on 7 March 2013 Thomas commented “Tianna does everything well, she can shoot the jumper for you, she rebounds, she runs the floor. You can always count on Tianna, if you throw a shot up there you know she is gonna get it and she just works really hard no matter what.”

During the Thomas & Hawkins Feature Maryland Head Coach Frese commented on the duo “A terrific one-two punch, to have two players like Alyssa and Tianna to be leading the conference in scoring and rebounding, their level of consistency. They have been through the wars, they have been through the ACC and are really playing at a tremendously high level. Given the adversity we have faced this season with the injuries and the small numbers we have asked Tianna and Alyssa to do even more, obviously the minutes that they are playing each and every night to stay out of foul trouble. What we are asking them to do on the defensive end to step up and stop the best player on the other team and then consistently continue to knock down shots and rebounding. None of that happens unless you are in tremendous shape and you have put in the time. Both of them have done that in their off-season, they were ready mentally and physically for this level and obviously for conference play.”       

At the 2013 NCAA Women’s tournament Maryland were the fourth seeds for the Bridgeport regional tournament. Maryland defeated Quinnipiac 72-52 in the first round. Hawkins made eight of 12 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 66.7%, scored 23 points – ranked second for the game behind teammate Thomas with 29 points, and took a game-high 16 rebounds. Maryland had a 74-49 victory against Michigan State in the second round. In the regional semi finals/Sweet Sixteen Maryland lost to number 1 seeds Connecticut 50-76.

During her senior 2012/13 college season with Maryland Hawkins played 34 games as a starter and averaged 18.0 points, 9.7 rebounds, 0.7 blocked shots and 28.7 minutes per game. Hawkins ranked second for Maryland behind Thomas in points and rebounds per game, equal second for blocked shots and fourth for minutes. In the ACC Hawkins ranked third for points and second for rebounds in 2012/13. Hawkins was selected in the 2012/13 All-ACC First Team alongside Maryland teammate Thomas who averaged 19.7 points and 11.0 rebounds per game and was named the ACC Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

During the Official Podcast of Maryland Athletics, Hear The Turtle published on 10 August 2020 Hawkins was asked “Looking back at your career at Maryland, you obviously had a really productive career but really blossomed as a senior. What do you credit over your four years that got you to the position where you ended up being a first round WNBA draft pick and then have this long professional career?” Hawkins responded “I gotta credit the coaching staff, two people that stand out is (assistant) coach Marlin Chinn and (assistant) coach David Adkins. They taught me how to be a pro, they taught me how to develop a work ethic that has followed me into my professional career and that is something that I haven’t lost. The biggest thing that that time taught me is each year there is always a time to improve your game and that is something that I try to do every single year.”

Later in the Hear The Turtle episode Hawkins commented on her four season college basketball career with University of Maryland, saying “It was great, it was a journey. It started off a little shaky but I think as I got older and understood things better it started getting more fun as time went on. Of course we started winning games too because our freshman year was a little rebuild moment. Once Alyssa Thomas and all of them got there (for the 2010/11 season) things changed. We became more competitive, winning the ACC Tournament in my junior year and then we made it to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament in my senior year. It definitely was a ride, it was a ride that I would not change for anything.”

In a four season college career Hawkins played 136 games for the Maryland Terps including 97 as a starter and averaged 11.7 points, 8.0 rebounds, 0.9 blocked shots and 28.7 minutes per game. Hawkins finished her college career “No. 11 on Maryland’s all-time scoring list with 1,595 points and No. 3 in rebounds with 1,086.”7 

Hawkins majored in Criminal Justice and Criminology at the University of Maryland and was able to intern for the Secret Service. In Hawkins’ first two years of college at Maryland it seemed unlikely that she would progress to be a WNBA player. With her rapid development in her junior and senior seasons becoming a WNBA player became a realistic prospect for Hawkins, however she also applied to join the Secret Service. 

WNBA career from 2013 to 2022 including seven seasons with the Washington Mystics

The 2013 WNBA Draft was held at EPSN headquarters in Bristol, Connecticut on Monday 15 April. Hawkins was one of 12 prospects invited to attend the WNBA draft. The first three players selected at the 2013 WNBA draft were centre Brittney Griner by Phoenix Mercury with pick 1, guard/forward Elena Delle Done at pick 2 by Chicago Sky and guard Skylar Diggins-Smith with pick 3 by Tulsa Shock. The overwhelming consensus was that this trio were the top three prospects in the draft which resulted in Griner, Delle Donne and Diggins-Smith being labelled the ‘3 to see’.

The pecking wasn’t as clear cut after the first three selections at the 2014 WNBA draft and several mock drafts had Hawkins as a contender to be selected by the Washington Mystics with pick 4. Washington opted to pick guard Tayler Hill with pick 4 and New York Liberty chose center Kelsey Bone with pick 5.

With pick 6 in the first round of the 2013 WNBA Draft Seattle Storm selected Hawkins. During the telecast of the 2013 WNBA Draft Holly Rowe asked Hawkins “You weren’t a McDonalds All-American, you weren’t even a top 100 player, how do you describe what it is like to be considered one of the six best players in America right now?” Hawkins responded “It is just hard work and dedication, and just coming from a program where we have the best coaches in the country and the best teammates in the country.”

University of Maryland’s Head Coach Brenda Frese commented on draft night “I’ve said all season long that Tianna is the most improved player I’ve ever coached and that comes from her hard work. I know she will have a great career because of her work ethic and passion for whatever she does.”8

On the day of the 2013 WNBA Hawkins received a call from the Secret Service. Hawkins told auprosports in February 2022 “The day I got drafted, an investigator called me and was like, ‘We want to go ahead and push your paperwork through to the next step,’” Hawkins recalled. “And I told them, ‘Oh no! I’m about to get drafted [into the WNBA].’”9 

Only 12 teams compete in the WNBA and with each team only having 12 spots on their roster only 144 players can play in the WNBA. Hawkins focussed on attempting to play in the WNBA and in overseas leagues in the off-season which would enable her have a career as a basketball player.

During the 10 August 2020 episode of Hear The Turtle Hawkins was asked “Tianna, one of the most interesting things I read is coming out of college and even at times during your professional career you were actually pursuing a career in the Secret Service. What attracted you to that line of work and to maybe choose the basketball path as opposed to pursuing that?” Hawkins replied “So my grandfather (James Hawkins) has been my key influence and role model, so he is actually the person that introduced basketball to me. He was in law enforcement, he was a DC Police Officer for 20 years and retired. After his retirement there he ended up becoming a US Marshal and he did that for 20 years and retired. Just talking to him and being around him growing up I just remember all his crazy stories so I grew interested in it. I used to watch all the crime shows like Cops, CSI Miami and all that and I was like I want to go into law enforcement.”

“When I was at Maryland I had an opportunity to do an internship with the Secret Service and I fell in love with it. I still want to go into law enforcement, I still don’t know exactly how or where or when but it still interests me.” On possibly pursuing that path in the future Hawkins commented “Hopefully, if I am not too old. It is still a dream of mine, that hasn’t changed.”

Seattle Storm’s Head Coach was Brian Agler. Point guard Sue Bird was rehabilitating after off-season knee surgery and didn’t play during the 2013 WNBA season. Hawkins was mentored by fellow Seattle forwards Tina Thompson and Camille Little.

At 22 years of age Hawkins made her WNBA debut with Seattle Storm on 26 May 2013, scoring six points shooting at 60% from the field and taking three rebounds in 23 minutes court-time in a road loss to the Los Angeles Sparks. On the road against Tulsa Shock on 22 June Hawkins scored a team-high 17 points and took four rebounds for Seattle. Against Tulsa Hawkins shot the ball exceptionally to make seven of nine field goal attempts at an accuracy of 77.8%, made her only three-pointer and two of two free throws. In her rookie WNBA season Hawkins played 33 regular season games for Seattle off the bench and averaged 3.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 9.7 minutes per game.

On the transition from playing college basketball to playing professionally in the WNBA and being mentored by Tina Thompson and Camille Little Hawkins told The Seattle Times “I’m a visual learner, so being thrown out there, sometimes it takes me a minute to grasp things. But Camille and Tina, since we play pretty much the same position, they keep me sane. They’re always there to tell me what I can do differently to be more successful. Every veteran on this team has been there to push me.”10

Thompson was in her 17th and final WNBA season and had substantial experience mentoring younger players throughout her illustrious career. In the article published by The Seattle Times on 13 June 2013 Thompson commented on Hawkins “Her versatility is one thing that (will) allow her to have longevity in this league. One thing I noticed very early is Tianna’s very coachable. Sometimes that’s a word that’s used very loosely, but it’s rare when you have a player where you can tell them something one time and they get it and the next time they go out, they execute it. In that respect, her basketball IQ is very high. As a teammate, when you know it’s going to happen, it makes everything so much easier. In the past I’ve had rookies where you have to remind them 10 times or an entire season.”11

In her rookie WNBA season Hawkins played 33 games off the bench for Seattle and averaged 3.4 points, 1.6 rebounds and 9.7 minutes per game. Hawkins had a field goal accuracy of 52.7% and a free throw accuracy of 84.6%. Seattle Storm had 17 wins and 17 losses in 2013 to finish seventh in the WNBA’s 2013 regular season standings. In the first round of the playoffs Seattle were defeated by Minnesota Lynx two games to nil.

The 2014 WNBA Draft was held on 14 April. With pick seven in the first round Seattle selected guard Bria Hartley. After the draft Hartley and Hawkins were traded from Seattle Storm to Washington Mystics in exchange for forward Crystal Langhorne. Mike Thibault was Washington’s Head Coach, having commenced the role in 2013. Mike’s son Eric Thibault commenced as a Washington assistant coach in 2013. One of Hawkins’ teammates at the Mystics in 2013 was 21 year old Belgian forward/centre Emma Meesseman who the club had selected with pick 19 overall at the 2013 draft.

In her second WNBA game for Washington Hawkins scored 11 points – ranked equal second for the team, shot at 75% from the field and took four rebounds playing 16 minutes court time in a 79-63 road victory against Indiana Fever. Hawkins took a season-high nine rebounds in 15 minutes court time during a 68-60 home victory against New York Liberty on 30 May. In 2014 Hawkins played all 34 regular season games off the bench for Washington. Washington had 16 wins and 18 losses in 2014 to finish seventh in the WNBA standings. In the first round of the playoffs Indiana Fever had a two games to nil victory against the Mystics.

Hawkins had a son Emanuel in June 2015. Six weeks after giving birth Tianna began practising with the Washington Mystics. Hawkins made her return to competitive basketball playing in France for Toulouse in 2015/16.

Hawkins returned to play in the WNBA for Washington in 2016 and her teammates included Meesseman, Natasha Cloud and LaToya Sanders. In Washington’s 95-65 home victory against Atlanta Dream on 18 June 2016 Hawkins scored a season-high 12 points shooting at 83.3% from the field and took a season-high six rebounds. At a Washington training session after the Olympic break Hawkins suffered a severe concussion which forced her to miss the rest of the 2016 WNBA season. The Mystics waived Hawkins. Washington had 13 wins, 21 losses in 2016 and missed out on the playoffs.

In early February 2017 Washington signed Hawkins. During the 2016/17 off-season Washington acquired 2015 WNBA MVP Elena Delle Done along with Kristi Toliver and selected Shatori Walker-Kimbrough with pick 6 at the 2017 WNBA Draft. Hawkins continued to be a member of Washington’s core rotation in 2017 and scored at least 12 points in a game six times including a season-high 15 points at 58.3% from the field in 20 minutes court time in the Mystics 97-63 road victory against Chicago Sky on 25 June.

Washington had 18 wins and 16 losses in 2017 to finish third in the Eastern Conference and be the sixth seeds overall. Hawkins took at least seven rebounds in a game seven times in the 2017 regular season with a season-high of 11 rebounds in an 88-70 home victory at Capital One Arena against Indiana Fever on 11 June.

In the first round of the 2017 WNBA playoffs the Mystics hosted the seventh seeded Dallas Wings in a single elimination game on 6 September. Playing 10 minutes court time Hawkins made an impact to score nine points in Washington’s 86-76 victory. Hawkins shot the ball proficiently to have a field goal accuracy of 80%, making three of four two pointers and her only three-pointer. It was only the second time in Washington’s history that they had won a WNBA playoff round with the previous occasion being 15 years earlier when the Mystics won the 2002 Eastern Conference semi finals against Charlotte two games to nil.

Washington progressed to play third seeded New York Liberty in a single elimination game in the second round of the 2017 playoffs. Hawkins scored six points at 50% from the field in nine minutes court time in Washington’s 82-68 victory against New York on 10 September. Against the number 1 seeded Minnesota Lynx in a best of five semi final series the Mystics were defeated three games to nil with the closest losing margin being 10 points in game 2.

On returning to play basketball in 2016 after having her son Emanuel, Hawkins told auprosports.com.au in February 2022 “It took a year and a half for me to get back to my pre-baby weight. When I was pregnant people counted me out. They told me my basketball career was over and that there was no way I would be able to play and have a son. But I told myself that I was going to make it work.”12     

In each of her first three WNBA seasons from 2013 to 2016 Hawkins averaged between 3.0 and 5.0 points per game playing between 9.5 and 11.0 minutes per game. Playing 33 regular season games for Washington in 2017 Hawkins averaged 6.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 16.6 minutes per game to set new career-highs in all three categories in her second season back in the WNBA after having Emanuel.  

At the 2018 WNBA draft Washington selected guard Ariel Atkins with pick 7 and forward Myisha Hines-Allen with pick 19. After playing five consecutive WNBA seasons with the Mystics from 2013 to 2017 Meesseman didn’t play in the league in 2018 to have a break from playing year-round basketball and to focus on Belgium’s preparation for the 2018 FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup. Washington’s full strength starting line-up in 2018 was Toliver, Cloud, Atkins, Delle Done and LaToya Sanders.

From 22 May to 3 June 2018 Hawkins reached double figures in scoring in six of her seven games for Washington, commencing with 17 points shooting at 60% from the field and taking seven rebounds in a 75-70 victory at home against Las Vegas Aces at Capital One Arena. In a 103-95 road victory against Phoenix Mercury on 30 May Hawkins registered a double-double comprised of 13 points and 12 rebounds. Washington acquired guard/forward Ariel Powers in a trade on 23 July.

Washington had the third best regular season record in the WNBA in 2018 with 22 wins and 12 losses, one win behind the second placed Atlanta Dream and four wins behind the first placed Seattle Storm.    

During the 2018 playoffs Washington had a first round bye and defeated Los Angeles Sparks 96-64 with Hawkins scoring 10 points in 16 minutes court time in a second round single elimination game to advance to the WNBA semi finals against Atlanta.

In game 1 of the semi final series on the road against Atlanta Hawkins scored 11 points shooting 60% from the field and took four rebounds playing 11 minutes in Washington’s 87-84 victory at McCamish Pavilion. On the road Washington were leading Atlanta 70-68 in game 2 when Delle Donne suffered a knee injury and was substituted out of the game with three minutes and four seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Atlanta finished game 2 with a 10-5 run to defeat Washington by three points 78-75. Delle Donne missed game 3 with a knee injury and was replaced in the starting line-up by Hawkins. At home in game 3 Washington were defeated at Charles Smith Center 76-81 to trail the best of five series 1-2.

Delle Donne returned for game 4 and Washington won all four quarters in a 97-76 victory at home to send the series to a fifth and deciding game. With two minutes remaining in the third quarter of game 5 on the road at McCamish Pavilion Washington trailed 59-61. In a scintillating two minute burst Hawkins went on an individual 8-0 run to gain the ascendancy and a six point lead for the Mystics 67-61 at the final change. Washington had an 86-81 victory which advanced the Mystics to the WNBA Finals for the first time in the franchise’s history. Hawkins made a massive impact off the bench in game 5 to score 17 points, take two rebounds and made two assists in just 10 minutes court-time. Hawkins shot the ball proficiently to make 75% of her field goal attempts, making three of four two point attempts and three of four three-pointers.

In Seattle’s semi final series against Phoenix the home side won each game and Seattle won the series 3-2 to make the WNBA Finals. In game 1 of the 2018 WNBA Finals at Key Arena Seattle defeated Washington 89-76 with Hawkins scoring five points and taking an equal game-high seven rebounds along with teammate Delle Donne. Washington led game 2 at Key Arena 61-58 at three quarter time. Seattle outscored Washington 17-12 in the fourth quarter to record a 75-73 victory. Seattle led Washington 47-30 at half-time of game 3 at EagleBank Arena. After an even second half Seattle defeated Washington 98-82 in game 3 to win the 2018 WNBA Championship. 

Washington had a new home court for the 2019 season, playing at Entertainment & Sports Arena which was opened in September 2018. The Mystics full strength starting line-up in 2019 was Kristi Toliver, Natasha Cloud, Ariel Atkins, LaToya Sanders and Elena Delle Donne. Hawkins was one of five players in the core rotation that usually started on the bench and averaged more than 7.5 minutes per game along with Emma Meesseman, Ariel Powers, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and Myisha Hines-Allen. Washington had a settled line-up with nine of these 10 players having played for the team in 2018. After missing the 2018 WNBA season Meesseman returned to play her sixth season with the Mystics in 2019. Two guards, Shey Peddy and Meesseman’s Belgium teammate Kim Mestdagh were in their rookie WNBA seasons with the Mystics in 2019 and each played 15 games and averaged 4.7 minutes per game.

During an 86-62 victory at home against the Dallas Wings on 9 June at Entertainment & Sports Arena Hawkins scored a game-high 21 points and took six rebounds in 23 minutes court time. Hawkins shot the ball exceptionally to have a field goal accuracy of 77.8%, making all four two-pointers and three of five three-pointers.   

Hawkins scored at least 10 points in seven consecutive games from 18 June to 10 July 2019. In the last game of this sequence Hawkins made 11 of 17 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 63.4%, scored a career-high and team-high 24 points and took a team-high seven rebounds in a home game at Capitol One Arena against Phoenix Mercury.

On 3 September 2019 the Washington Mystics announced that Hawkins had signed a contract extension with the team for the 2020 WNBA season. Washington Head Coach and General Manager Mike Thibault told mystics.wnba.com “Tianna has been a big part of the growth of our team and the success we have had the past several years. She has worked hard to improve her game each season and all the hard work has paid off. We are thrilled that she wants to continue that success going forward with her hometown team!”13

Hawkins commented “I am extremely happy to have the opportunity to continue my career here in D.C. Being a part of such a great organization and surrounded by the best coaches and teammates in the league has been nothing short of amazing. I am truly blessed for the opportunity and focused on our main goal this season!”14

In Washington’s final regular season game of 2019 at home against Chicago Sky on 8 September Hawkins playing 19 minutes court time scored an equal career-high 24 points and took nine rebounds to rank second in the game for both categories behind teammate Delle Donne with 25 points and 12 rebounds. In the Mystics 100-86 victory against Chicago Hawkins shot the ball adeptly to make a game-high four three-pointers from seven attempts at an accuracy of 57.1% and 10 of 15 field goal attempts at 66.7%.

The Washington Mystics had the most successful regular season in the club’s history in 2019, winning a club record 26 games and having eight losses to finish first in the Eastern Conference and had the best record in the WNBA, three wins ahead of the second placed Connecticut Sun. Washington’s previous best regular season was in 2010 when they had 22 wins, 12 losses and finished first in the Eastern Conference for the first time.

During the 2019 regular season Hawkins averaged a career-high 9.5 points and a then equal career-high 4.2 rebounds playing 15.4 minutes per game for the Mystics. Hawkins had a field goal accuracy of 51.4% – ranked third at Washington behind Meesseman (55.2%) and Delle Donne (51.5%) and ranked eighth in the WNBA.

With a player efficiency rating of 23.5 Hawkins ranked eighth in the WNBA and was one of five Washington players in the league’s top 13 along with Delle Donne (1^st – 31.8), Meesseman (2^nd– 27.3), Powers (11^th – 21.8) and Toliver (13^th-20.9). Delle Donne won the WNBA’s 2019 Most Valuable Player Award (MVP) Award and earnt her fourth selection in an All-WNBA First team, having previously been selected in 2015 & 2016 playing for Chicago Sky and in 2018 playing for Washington.

In the 2019 playoffs Washington had the bye until the semi finals where they played the fourth seeded Las Vegas Aces who had 21 wins and 13 losses during the regular season. Washington won their semi final series against Las Vegas three games to one with their only loss being in game 3.

The second seeded Connecticut Sun were victorious in the other semi final series, three games to nil against the third seeded Los Angeles Sparks. Connecticut’s starters were Hawkins former University of Maryland teammate Alyssa Thomas, Jonquel Jones, Courtney Williams, Jasmine Thomas and Shekinna Stricklen.

University of Maryland were strongly represented during the 2019 WNBA Finals with six of the 24 players across Washington and Connecticut’s teams having played college basketball at Maryland comprised of four Mystics and two Sun players. In 12 consecutive seasons from 2005/06 to 2016/17 at least one member of the Mystics 2019 roster was on the University of Maryland Women’s basketball team, Toliver from 2005/06 to 2008/09, Hawkins from 2009/10 to 2012/13 and Walker-Kimbrough from 2013/14 to 2016/17. Whilst the college careers of this trio didn’t crossover another Mystic, Cloud was a Terps teammate of Hawkins for the 2010/11 season before transferring to Saint Joseph’s. Two players on Connecticut’s 2019 roster were teammates at the Terps in 2013/14 – Alyssa Thomas in her senior season and Brionna Jones in her freshman season. Thomas had been teammates for her first three seasons at Maryland from 2010/11 to 2012/13 with Hawkins. Connecticut’s Jones and Washington’s Walker-Kimbrough were Terps teammates for their four season college careers from 2013/14 to 2016/17.

In a home game at Entertainment and Sports Arena Washington won game 1 of the 2019 WNBA Finals 95-86. Due to experiencing back spasms in game 2 at home Delle Donne was substituted out of the game before the four minute mark of the first quarter. With Delle Donne on the sidelines Hawkins scored 16 points and took six rebounds in game 2 shooting at 75% from the field, making three of four two-pointers and three of four three-pointers. Connecticut won game 2 99-87 to level the series one game apiece.

Delle Donne didn’t miss any games in the WNBA Finals and was in Washington’s starting line-up for a 94-81 game 3 victory at Mohegan Sun Arena. At the same venue Connecticut levelled the series in game 4 by defeating the Mystics 90-86. In the series deciding game 5 at home Washington trailed 72-74 at three quarter time. Washington outscored the Sun 27-14 in the fourth quarter to record an 11 point victory, 89-78 to win the 2019 WNBA Championship. Washington forward Meesseman created history by becoming the first player that started on the bench to win the WNBA’s Finals MVP Award. Washington won their first WNBA title in their second Finals appearance, having lost in the finals one year earlier in 2018.

During She Got Next, Episode 5: Pepper Persley talks to Tianna Hawkins, Washington Mystics Hawkins commented on being a member of Washington’s 2019 WNBA Championship winning team, saying “I think the best part is being able, well, for one, to say, you know, I’m a part of a championship team and just creating history and being a part of the team that brought DC this very first championship.”15

Of the players on Washington’s 2019 WNBA Championship winning team Hawkins was the second longest serving player for the franchise, being in her fifth season with the Mystics, only surpassed by Meesseman who was in her sixth season with Washington in their title winning 2019 season. Hawkins and Meesseman first played as Washington teammates in 2014.

Due to COVID-19 the entire 2020 WNBA season was played in a hub at IMG Academy in Florida and fans were unable to attend games. In the 17 previous WNBA regular seasons from 2003 to 2019 each team played 34 games. The 2020 WNBA regular season was just under two thirds the length of a typical WNBA season, with each franchise playing 22 regular season games. For most of her WNBA career Hawkins has combined being a mother with playing in the league. Tianna had her son Emanuel with her during the 2020 WNBA wubble season in Florida.

On 6 July 2020 the WNBA announced that the 2020 season would be dedicated to social justice. A seven paragraph article in relation to this announcement was published on wnba.com. The fourth paragraph of the article said “The WNBA will begin its season in late July with a weekend of competition centered around the Black Lives Matter movement, during which teams will wear special uniforms that display Breonna Taylor’s name to seek justice for the women and girls who have been the forgotten victims of police brutality and racial violence. Throughout the season, players will wear NIKE-branded warm-up shirts that display “Black Lives Matter” on the front.  Additionally, “Say Her Name,” a campaign started in 2014 by the African American Policy Forum, will adorn the back of the shirts.  “Black Lives Matter” will also be prominently displayed on courts during games.”16

Atkins was the only starter from Washington’s 2019 WNBA Championship winning team that suited up for the Mystics again in 2020. Delle Donne, Cloud and Sanders each opted out of the 2020 season. Toliver joined the LA Sparks as a free agent in February 2020. Four Washington players started at least 20 regular season games in 2020 – Meesseman, Atkins, Australian Opals Olympian Leilani Mitchell and Hines-Allen. Three other Mystics players had more than two starts in the 2020 regular season – Kiara Leslie (10 starts), Powers (6) and Hawkins (5). Playing in the WNBL Mitchell has won two Rachel Sporn medals for being Grand Final MVP, most recently with the Southside Flyers in 2020. Last week the Flyers announced that Mitchell had signed with the club for the 2023/24 Cygnett WNBL season.  

On 10 August 2020 Hawkins registered a double-double comprised of 17 points and 10 rebounds for Washington against Indiana Fever.

During the 10 August 2020 episode of Hear The Turtle Hawkins was asked “You are down in the bubble or the wubble as you guys in the WNBA call it. How has that been for the last few weeks, just playing and living in that environment?” Hawkins responded “It has been cool, I think the league did a good job with putting everything together as far as housing, as far as practicing and the games. We are able to turn the Entertainment Centre into an Arena which is pretty impressive. The whole thing, coming together for the time that we are in, the pandemic and the social outcry, it has just been amazing.”

In Hear The Turtle Hawkins was asked “Now most of the storylines have been around how people in the bubble don’t have much family around but you happen to have your son Emanual down there with you which is a pretty unique situation. What have his impressions been of bubble life?” Hawkins replied “He is enjoying it, he is taking it all in. He loves being around people so he just loves the atmosphere of seeing all my teammates and just seeing so many different faces, he loves it. He has taken on golf, he goes to play golf maybe three or four times out of the week. He loves the pool, I like the pool too. He just goes with the flow and he is having a great time which is making my job a lot easier. He has been doing really good, his highlight is of course going to the game and cheering and stuff. It is so quiet that I hear him in huddles, he is always yelling hey mumma and hello. It is important, it would have been tough trying to come out here without him but I was able to work some things out to get him down here, he is key.”

Hawkins scored at least 11 points in three consecutive games from 22 August to 29 August. On 24 August Hawkins scored a season-high 19 points, made three of six three-pointers and took five rebounds against Phoenix.

In response to the police shooting of a black man, Jacob Blake, none of the three WNBA games scheduled for 26 August 2020 were played. In an article published in The Washington Post on August 26, 2020 Kareem Copeland wrote:

“The Mystics were slated to play the Atlanta Dream at 7 p.m. in Bradenton, Fla., but the game was postponed. The players arrived at the arena wearing T-shirts that spelled out the name of Jacob Blake with seven faux bullet holes in the back of the shirts. Blake was shot seven times in the back, in front of his children, by police in Kenosha, Wis, on Sunday. The original plan was to have a media blackout and only discuss social justice causes with no talk of basketball.”17

Early in She Got Next, Episode 5: Pepper Persley talks to Tianna Hawkins, Washington Mystics Persley asked Hawkins “I feel that I have to talk with you about what happened on Wednesday, August 26. What can you tell us about the Mystics’ decision not to play that night?” Hawkins responded “The biggest thing — I can say is that, you know, we had our group that came together and agreed on, you know, sitting out and standing up for social justice. I think we wanted to use that opportunity to have our voice be heard, and let everyone know that we are tired. You know, the senseless killings of Black people at the hands of police brutality. And we just wanted our voice to be heard.”18

When the Washington Mystics kneeled on court after deciding not to play on 26 August five year old Emanuel was next to his mum Tianna. Shortly afterwards Ariel Atkins was interviewed on ESPN by Holly Rowe. During the interview Atkins was surrounded by her Washington teammates including Hawkins who had son Emanuel in front of her. During the interview Atkins commented “We got this little guy [Emanuel] right here that we see every day. His life matters. He needs to know that he can do what he wants to do whenever he leaves his house when he grows up, within reason … He matters.”19

Having Emanuel with the Washington Mystics in the wubble impacted the way the team went about their messaging and reinforced why the WNBA 2020 season was focussed around the Black Lives Matters movement. Hawkins told reporters in late August 2020 “I think my feelings are the same feelings that my grandparents had when they were raising my parents, the same feeling my parents had when they were raising me. You always want to be in a position where you’re able to protect your child. It’s my job as his mom to protect him. When he gets older, he’s going to look back and see all of the marching, all of the statements being made, that he’s a part of that. He’s a part of that fight. And we’re fighting for his future.”20   

Hawkins scored at least 10 points in a game eight times from 17 regular season games in 2020. In 2020 Hawkins averaged 8.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and a then career-high 19.3 minutes per game. In all four seasons playing for Washington from 2017 to 2020 Hawkins averaged more than 6.0 points and 15.0 minutes per game.

Washington finished eighth at the end of the 2020 regular season with nine wins and 13 losses. In a first round single elimination game Washington lost to the fifth seeded Phoenix Mercury 84-85 after Phoenix guard Shey Peddy made a buzzer beating three-pointer at the end of the fourth quarter.

As a free agent Hawkins signed with Atlanta Dream in February 2021, her teammates at Atlanta included Courtney Williams, Tiffany Hayes, Odyssey Sims, Elizabeth Williams and Monique Billings. For the 2021 WNBA season the league returned to its usual fixture structure with teams playing games at home and on the road rather than in a hub.

In her first WNBA game for Atlanta Dream Hawkins started and scored 11 points in a home game at Gateway Center Arena against Connecticut Sun on 15 May. In mid-June Hawkins had back-to-back games with at least 10 points and six rebounds playing off the bench against her former team, the Washington Mystics. In a 101-78 victory at home against Washington on 13 June Hawkins scored 10 points shooting at 57.1% from the field and took six rebounds. In Atlanta’s 93-96 road loss to Washington on 17 June at Entertainment and Sports Arena Hawkins scored 17 points and took an equal game-high nine rebounds. Hawkins shot proficiently to have a field goal accuracy of 60% and made all four free throws.

During 2021 Hawkins played 28 of a possible 32 regular season games for Atlanta including a then career-high eight games as a starter. Atlanta had eight wins and 24 losses in 2021, finishing 11^th out of the 12 teams in the league.

On 1 February 2022 the Washington Mystics announced that they had signed free agent Hawkins. Washington Head Coach Mike Thibault told mystics.wnba.com “We missed Tianna’s presence last season both on and off the court. Her ability to stretch the floor on offense with three-point shooting, while still being able to score and rebound inside, should help allow us to get back to the style of offense that the Mystics have become known for. She has always been a good veteran leader in the locker room, and we will be glad to have her voice back. Her teammates and coaches are thrilled with her return!”21 A teammate of Hawkins on the Washington Mystics 2019 WNBA Championship winning team, LaToya Sanders was appointed a Mystics assistance coach in April 2021.

Hawkins had a successful inaugural Athletes Unlimited season from 26 January to 26 February 2022 in Las Vegas which is covered in more detail later in this article. Whilst Hawkins was back in Washington for her seventh WNBA season with the franchise in 2022 the circumstances were very different to her previous seasons with the Mystics. Early in 2022 the health of Tianna’s grandfather James Hawkins deteriorated as he battled lung cancer. In March and April 2022 Tianna regularly followed up workouts with trips to the hospital to be at her grandfather James’ bedside.

James Hawkins passed away in late April 2022 and his loss understandably had a major impact on Tianna. In an article written by Kareem Copland and published in The Washington Post on 18 July 2023 titled ‘An ‘emotional wreck’ last year, Mystics Tianna Hawkins finds happiness again’ Tianna reflected on her late grandfather James and the 2022 WNBA season, saying “He was the person that put a basketball in my hand. So he was the reason why I’m here. Last year I tried to play through it. I tried to do the therapy thing, just try to work through it. But it just wasn’t working. I was an emotional wreck.”22

Tianna missed Washington’s two exhibition games in the lead up to the 2022 WNBA season and made her first appearance of the regular season in the Mystics third game of the season at home against Las Vegas Aces on 11 May at the Entertainment and Sports Arena. In the Mystics 89-76 victory against the Aces Hawkins scored 10 points at a field goal accuracy of 62.5%, took four rebounds and made three assists playing 18 minutes off the bench.

The Mystics full-strength starting line-up in 2022 included three starters from the 2019 WNBA Championship winning season, Cloud, Atkins and Delle Donne. Completing the 2022 starting five was Alysha Clark and 2022 number 3 draft pick Shakira Austin.

In an 82-91 road loss to Chicago Sky on 6 June Hawkins scored a season-high 21 points shooting at 61.5% from the field and took four rebounds in 22 minutes court time.

The Washington Mystics had 22 wins and 14 losses during the 2022 regular season to finish fifth. In the first round of the WNBA playoffs Washington were defeated by fourth seeds Seattle Storm two games to nil. In 2022 Hawkins played 25 games off the bench for the Mystics and averaged 4.9 points, 2.4 rebounds and 12.8 minutes per game. Hawkins scored at least 10 points in a game four times. Hawkins had averaged more than 6.0 points per game in each of her four previous WNBA seasons with Washington from 2017 to 2020.

In July 2023 Hawkins’ Mystics teammate Cloud told The Washington Post “Sometimes people can forget that we’re human beings,  … and what happens in our human life and our everyday life with our family, it affects the court as well. It affects our heart. It affects how we approach every single day. So last year, the version of [Hawkins], that was just her. And grieving and going through something didn’t necessarily always translate onto the court. So I think people were kind of hard on her.”23

Playing internationally

In addition to playing in the WNBA Hawkins has also regularly played in international leagues in the WNBA’s off-season. Hawkins has played in Hungary for Sopron Basket, in France for Toulouse, in China for Henan Yichuan, in South Korea for Guri KDB Life Winnus and Asan Woori Bank Wibee and most recently has played for JCU Townsville Fire in Australia’s WNBL which will be comprehensively covered later in the article. 

In 2015/16 Hawkins played for Toulouse in France and set the bar high right from the start, scoring 23 points shooting at 75% from the field and taking six rebounds in her first game for Toulouse, a 61-48 victory against Angers on 10 January. In five games for Toulouse from 13 February to 19 March Hawkins scored at least 16 points in each game including a season-high 27 points against Nantes on 9 March. Three times in this five game period Hawkins recorded a double-double with at least 23 points including a 25 point, 17 rebound game to set game-highs in both categories in Toulouse’s 85-80 victory against Arras on 19 March.

Hawkins played 16 games for Toulouse in 2015/16 and averaged 16.8 points, 7.4 rebounds and 30.9 minutes per game. Hawkins scored at least 23 points in a game six times. Hawkins led Toulouse for points and rebounds per game, ranked first with a field goal accuracy of 50.5% and second for minutes played.  

2022 Athletes Unlimited season

Hawkins played in the inaugural Athletes Unlimited season which was held in Las Vegas and commenced on 26 January 2022. The four captains for week one of Athletes Unlimited were Kelsey Mitchell, Mercedes Russell, Odyssey Sims and DiJoni Carrington. A snake order draft was held with the captains drafting players for their team. Each week the four teams in Athletes Unlimited played each of the other three teams once. Throughout the Athletes Unlimited season players earnt points for their individual performance and the performance of their team. At the end of each week the top four point scorers on the leaderboard were named team captains and drafted their team for the next week of games.

For week 1 Hawkins was drafted to Team Mitchell and scored at least 14 points in all three games. In week 2 playing for Team Brown Hawkins was the standout player of the competition, having two games in which she was the game-high scorer and scored at least 38 points. In Team Brown’s second game of Week 2 against Team Russell on Friday night 4 February Hawkins scored a game-high 38 points and took 10 rebounds in a 98-85 win. Hawkins shot exceptionally to make 14 of 18 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 77.8%, made three of five three-pointers at 60% and made all seven free throws. In Team Brown’s third game of week 2 against Team Cloud on Saturday night 5 February Hawkins scored a game-high 43 points, took an equal game-high 10 rebounds and had a game-high three blocked shots in a 97-84 victory. Hawkins continued her high quality shooting to make 19 of 26 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 73.1% and made two of five three-pointers at 40%.

Hawkins’ 38 points on 4 February set a new record for most points in an Athletes Unlimited game and the following night the forward scored 43 points to break her own record. On her record breaking performance Hawkins commented “It’s just having the hot hand and my teammates did a good job of feeding me the ball both tonight and last night.”24

After Week 2 Hawkins was in first place on the Athletes Unlimited leaderboard with 2,759 points which resulted in her being a team captain for week 3 and Team Hawkins wearing gold uniforms. Hawkins participated in the draft for week 3 along with fellow team captains Natasha Cloud, Isabelle Harrison and Lexie Brown. In all three of Team Hawkins week 3 games Hawkins recorded game-highs in points, with in order 20, 28 and 32 points.

Hawkins maintained her status as team captain and at the top of the leaderboard for the rest of the season. In Team Hawkins last game of the fifth and final week on Saturday 26 February Hawkins scored 35 points and took 18 rebounds to set game-highs in both categories in Team Hawkins 116-111 victory against Team Cloud in triple overtime. Playing all 55 minutes Hawkins made 14 of 24 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 58.3% and made three of eight three-pointers at 37.5%.

During the inaugural Athletes Unlimited season Hawkins excelled to finish first on the players leader-board with 6,836 ranking points. At the end of the season Hawkins “led the league in rebounds (166) and ranked second in points (357), and owns single-game records for points (43), leaderboard points (790) and field goals (19).”25 

In the 2022 Athletes Unlimited season Hawkins averaged 23.8 points, 11.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocked shots per game. The four players that were team captains for week 3 maintained their place in the top four with Cloud finishing in second place on 5,919 points, followed by Harrison in third place on 5,373 points and Lexie Brown in fourth position on 5,317 points. Cloud was one of two guards that have played in Australia’s WNBL previously and finished in the top 10 on the Athletes Unlimited leaderboard along with Courtney Williams (9^th). A frontcourt player, Jantel Lavender who finished eighth on the leaderboard will be playing her first WNBL season with the Deakin Melbourne Boomers in 2023/24.

In Tianna’s three weeks as captain Team Hawkins had a record of seven wins and two losses. On being a leader Hawkins commented “I always pride myself in my professionalism, leading by example, but I’m not the most vocal person. This experience has forced me to step out of my comfort zone and be more vocal and to lead vocally as opposed to just leading by example.”26

At the end of the 2022 Athletes Unlimited season Hawkins commented “It was hard, but I’m not here without my great teammates… I wouldn’t be here without them so credit to them. Aye, aye the Champ is here. I’m excited, I say that humbly, but look, aye, I’m the first one in the book so I go down in history, so I’m excited about that … I was the first in D.C. now I’m the first in AU. It don’t get no better than this.”27

2022/23 WNBL Season with JCU Townsville Fire

On 25 July 2022 JCU Townsville Fire announced that they had signed American import Hawkins for the 2022/23 WNBL season in Australia. Townsville Fire Head Coach Shannon Seebohm told WNBL Media “Having played 9 seasons in the WNBA, Tianna brings a lot of skill and experience to our team. She is a great shooter, rebounder and has the versatility to play both the 4 and the 5 spots in our system. She’s a great pick and roll defender and adds a significant amount of depth to our front court. Everyone I have spoken with regarding her speaks very highly of her character, work ethic and quality as a teammate. We’re extremely excited to have Tianna joining us for the upcoming season!”28

Seebohm entered his fourth season as Townsville’s Head Coach in 2022/23, having commenced the role in 2019/20. Five players from Townsville’s team that made the 2020 WNBL Grand Final were playing their third consecutive season as teammates at the Fire in 2022/23 – guards Steph Reid, Lauren Nicholson and Courtney Woods along with front-court duo Zitina Aokuso and Lara McSpadden. This continuity provided stability and familiarity for the organisation as a whole and Seebohm as coach.

Two players were recruited by the Fire from rival WNBL clubs in the off-season, power forward/centre Mikaela Ruef and guard Morgan Yaeger. Townsville recruited two imports with WNBA experience with Hawkins joined in this category by British/American guard/forward Karlie Samuelson. Samuelson has played in the WNBA, five seasons in Europe and has represented Great Britain. Townsville finalised their 10 player main roster on 26 August 2022 with the signature of New Zealand guard Krystal Leger-Walker.

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On 18 October 2022 a JCU Townville Fire player profiles and guide to the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season article was published on Milestones and Misses. Profiles of all 10 members of the JCU Townville Fire main roster at the start of the season and Head Coach Shannon Seebohm were provided in this article as well as brief profiles for the three development players. A link to this article as well as the 2022/23 player profiles category page for Milestones and Misses and the site’s home page is below:

JCU Townsville Fire player profiles and preview of the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season

https://milestonesandmisses.com/category/wnbl/player-profiles-and-2022-23-wnbl-season-club-previews/

https://milestonesandmisses.com/

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In Townsville Fire’s opening game of the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season against UC Capitals on Sunday 6 November at Townsville Entertainment Centre Hawkins started for Townsville alongside Reid, Nicholson, Samuelson and Ruef. All five Townsville season opener starters played at least 20 of a possible 25 games and averaged more than 27.5 minutes per game in 2022/23.

JCU Townsville Fire Head Coach Shannon Seebohm providing instructions to the starters before the game against Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 7 December 2022

Four players on Townsville’s 10 player main roster at the start of the season played at least 15 games for the club and averaged between 9.0 and 20.0 minutes per game – Woods, Aokuso, Leger-Walker and McSpadden. Injuries restricted main roster member Yaeger to two games. Townsville had three development players, guards Aliza Fabbro and Tia Hay along with forward Nes’eya Parker-Williams.                   

Hawkins registered a double-double comprised of 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds in Townsville’s 104-68 victory in the club’s opening game of the 2022/23 season against UC Capitals. Hawkins made an equal game-high two steals and shot the ball proficiently against the UC Capitals to make five of eight field goal attempts at an accuracy of 62.5% and made all four free throws.Against Adelaide Lightning at Townsville Entertainment Centre in a Round 2 home game on 11 November Hawkins scored a game-high and season-high 33 points, took an equal game-high 10 rebounds along with teammate Ruef, made two assists and blocked one shot in Townsville’s 84-79 victory. Hawkins shot the ball superbly to make 13 of 20 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 65% and made all seven free-throw attempts. Hawkins’ phenomenal game earnt her selection in the WNBL’s Round 2 Team of the Week. 

After Townsville’s victory against Adelaide 9Now sideline reporter Kata Gaze asked Hawkins in a post-game interview “How do you feel about the physicality of the WNBL. I mean you have played eight years in the WNBA, you have unbelievable experience, we are so lucky to have you. How does that compare to the WNBL?” Hawkins replied “It is a physical game, it is a physical game over here. I love it, I love playing with physicality. I have been learning since I have been here, it makes a great league.”

During Into the Fire Episode 8 with Courtney Woods & import Tianna Hawkins published on 24 November 2022 host Jacob asked “Tianna, firstly welcome to Townsville, how have you settled in so far?” Hawkins responded “Thank you, Townsville has been really good, my son (Emanuel) and I have settled in really well, he is in school here. I have found a routine for myself just to keep the days going and stuff like that. Practices have been good, this is an amazing group, my teammates have been awesome, coach has been awesome, very welcoming, so far it has been nothing short of amazing.”

Tianna Hawkins playing defense against Cayla George in JCU Townsville Fire’s game against the Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 7 December 2022

Jacob asked “Tianna, being an import it is never easy, obviously packing your life up, moving countries and always comes with certain expectations. How does it feel obviously playing at a high level this early in the season.” Hawkins responded “It feels great, it kind of sets the tone for the season, just lets us know every game is going to be a dog fight. We just gotta approach every game like it is the last game of the season.” Hawkins spoke about Townsville having a balanced scoring spread, commenting “It is easy when we have different weapons on the floor, the focus can’t always be on one player, each night it is going to be a different player that goes off, so that just speaks volumes for our offense and gives us a lot of opportunities to be successful on the offensive end.”   

Early in the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season two members of Townsville Fire’s 10 player main roster suffered injuries – power forward/centre Aokuso with a fractured foot and guard Yaeger. On 6 December Townsville announced that they had signed guard Kate Gaze for her third stint with the club. Gaze had commenced the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season as a sideline commentator for the television coverage of the Fire’s home games at Townsville Entertainment Centre on ESPN and 9Now. Gaze was a member of Townsville’s back-to-back WNBL Championships in 2014/15 and 2015/16 and had also played two seasons for the club with Seebohm as Head Coach in 2019/20 and 2020 with the Fire making the Grand Final in the latter season.

JCU Townsville Fire team huddle before the game against Melbourne Boomers at the State Basketball Centre on 7 December 2022

At home in Townsville’s Round 6 game against Perth on 17 December Hawkins scored 20 points, took a game-high and season-high 15 rebounds, made four assists and two steals in a 98-85 victory. Hawkins made nine of 18 field goal attempts at 50%, made one of two three-pointers at 50% and made her only free throw. Before Christmas Tianna’s son Emanuel returned from Townsville to America to make it easier for his schooling.

In their opening game of Round 9 on 5 January Hawkins made nine of 13 field goals at an accuracy of 69.2% for Townsville, scored a team-high 20 points and took a game-high 13 rebounds including five offensive boards in a 68-93 loss to Adelaide Lightning on the road at Adelaide 36ers Arena. Hawkins was named in the WNBL’s Round 9 Team of the Week.

After the loss to Adelaide Townsville had a record of five wins and four losses, their previous three losses had all been by less than 11 points in December, two points to Bendigo at home in Round 4 and two losses to the Melbourne Boomers, on the road by six points in Round 5 and by 10 points at home in Round 8 on New Year’s Eve. In their first nine games of the 2022/23 regular season Townsville defeated Southside twice, UC Capitals, Adelaide and Perth.

After the loss to Adelaide on 5 January Townsville won five consecutive games to consolidate their place in the top four. A clear top five had emerged to contend for the four finals berths with Townsville joined in this category by Southside, Melbourne, Bendigo and Perth. 

On 1 February 2023 Townsville Fire announced that they had signed guard Shyla Heal for the remainder of the 2022/23 season. Heal commenced the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season with the Sydney Flames and played 13 games for the Flames before leaving the club mid-season. Heal was a member of the Townsville team that made the 2020 Grand Final against Southside.

Townsville had two road games against Perth at Bendat Basketball Centre in Round 13. In a Wednesday night game against Perth on 1 February Hawkins scored 15 points at 63.6% from the field, took 11 rebounds and made a game-high four steals in a 91-81 victory against Perth. In Townsville’s second Round 13 game on Saturday 4 February the Fire trailed Perth 63-66 with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. For the remainder of the game Hawkins scored 12 points comprised of a turn around jump shot, a lay up, a jump shot and two three-pointers to help Townsville go on a 32-25 run to record a 95-91 win. Hawkins finished the game with a team-high 26 points, took seven rebounds, made five assists, took an equal game-high three steals and blocked a game-high two shots in the victory. Hawkins shot the ball superbly to make 12 of 20 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 60% and made two of five three-pointers at 40%. For her performance in Townsville’s two Round 13 road victories against Perth Hawkins was named in the WNBL’s Round 13 Team of the Week.

In Round 14 Townsville hosted two games at the Townsville Entertainment Centre against teams in contention for the finals, commencing with their third game of the season against the Melbourne Boomers on Wednesday 15 February. In one of the games of the WNBL season scores were locked at 76 points apiece at the end of the fourth quarter and two overtime periods were required for Townsville to record a 101-96 victory. In the second overtime period Hawkins scored six points comprised of a turn around jump shot and two lay ups. Hawkins played the full 50 minutes against Melbourne, scored 17 points at 50% from the field, took a game-high 14 rebounds, made three assists and four steals.     

At home in a Round 14 game against Bendigo on 18 February Hawkins scored a game-high 32 points and made three steals in the Fire’s 88-62 victory. In a phenomenal shooting exhibition Hawkins made 12 of 16 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 75%, made four of seven three-pointers at 57.1% and made all four free throws against Bendigo. Hawkins was named the WNBL’s Round 14 Player of the Round and was named in the TOTW for the third consecutive round. In seven consecutive games from 20 January to 18 February Hawkins had a field goal accuracy of at least 50% and scored at least 15 points in each game to stamp herself as one of the form players of the league.

In a Round 15 home game at Townsville Entertainment Centre on Sunday 26 February JCU Townsville Fire Nicholson started for Townsville but was substituted out with five minutes and eight seconds remaining in the first quarter and took no further part in the game due to a foot injury. Townsville trailed Sydney 57-58 at three quarter time and were able to recover to lead 71-70 with a minute and 40 seconds to play in the last quarter. Neither team was able to score for over a minute and a half until Keely Froling made a two point jump shot to give Sydney a one point lead, 72-71.

Townsville called a time-out with 1.4 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and advanced the ball. After the time out Courtney Woods inbounded the ball to Hawkins who had her back to the basket and was  just outside the key, slightly closer to the free throw line than the baseline. After receiving the pass Hawkins being defended by Jocelyn Willoughby turned and made a hook shot swish to secure a thrilling 73-72 victory. After making the game-winning shot Hawkins ran to coach Seebohm nodding her head. Hawkins finished the thrilling victory against Sydney with 20 points and eight rebounds.

In The WNBL Show – Ep 16 published on 28 February 2023 Courtney Woods was a co-host along with Megan Hustwaite. On the concluding stages of Townsville’s victory against Sydney Woods commented “Shannon, of course a genius, drew up an amazing play. When I threw it to Tianna I was like there is no way that is going in and this little fade away hook shot swish and it was amazing. That is why we play and it is an incredible feeling and the fans were insane. It was definitely one of the most special wins of the season.”   

In the post-game press conference after Townsville’s victory Fire Head Coach Shannon Seebohm commented on Hawkins “Probably the last month she’s the best player in the league. You know she’s a match up nightmare defensively when she’s fully engaged, which she has been since we went to Perth. So yeah, I think she’s the best player in the competition.”29

Townsville Fire had 17 wins and four losses during the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season to finish on top of the ladder, two wins ahead of the second placed Southside Flyers and third placed Melbourne Boomers. Perth completed the top four with 13 wins and eight losses, two wins ahead of Bendigo Spirit in fifth place. Townsville won their last 12 games of the regular season and in the process set a new club record for the longest winning sequence in the club’s history. Townsville had the best regular season in their club history with a winning ratio of 80.1%. It was the third time that Townsville had finished on top of the ladder at the end of the regular season, however on the two previous occasions each team played more than 21 games in the WNBL season. In 2014/15 Townsville had a record of 17 wins, five losses and a winning ratio of 77.3%. Townsville had 17 wins and seven losses in 2015/16 for a winning percentage of 70.8%.

Hawkins played all 21 games for the JCU Townsville Fire during the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL regular season and averaged 17.2 points (ranked 5th in the WNBL), 8.1 rebounds (6th), 1.8 assists, 2.0 steals (3rd), 0.6 blocked shots (equal 10th) and 30.8 minutes (equal 17th) per game.

During the regular season Hawkins had 6.0 two point field goals made per game – ranked second in the league among players that played at least five games, just behind Sydney Flames power forward/centre Keely Froling (6.1). Hawkins shot the ball efficiently to have a field goal accuracy of 54.2% – ranked ninth in the league among players that had at least 10 field goal attempts. Tianna made 43 of 49 free throws and among players that had at least 10 free throws ranked seventh in the league with a free throw accuracy of 87.9%.

On Thursday 2 March the WNBL announced the candidates for several of the awards to be presented at the Cygnett WNBL 2022/23 Awards. Hawkins was one of five Townsville players on the list of 20 candidates for All-WNBL selection along with Nicholson, Reid, Samuelson and Heal.

Tianna Hawkins playing for JCU Townsville Fire against the Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 4 March 2023

The Cygnett WNBL 2022/23 Awards Night was held in the Medallion Club at Marvel Stadium on Sunday night 5 March. Two Townsville players were named on an All-WNBL team in 2022/23 with Hawkins selected on the All-WNBL First Team and Nicholson selected on the All-WNBL Second Team.

Hawkins became the ninth Townsville Fire player to be selected in the All-WNBL first team (known as the WNBL All-Star 5 until 2018/19). Suzy Batkovic holds the record for most All-WNBL First Team selections as a Townsville Fire player with four, followed by Rohanee Cox with two selections. Batkovic won the league’s Most Valuable Player Award in all four seasons that she earnt WNBL All-Star 5 selection with Townsville. Batkovic finished her career with a league record six WNBL MVP awards, having also won the award twice earlier in her career playing for Adelaide Lightning in 2011/12 and 2012/13. Batkovic retired at the end of the 2018/19 WNBL season and from the 2019/20 season onwards the league’s MVP award has been named the Suzy Batkovic medal.

Townsville Fire players that have been selected in an All-WNBL First Team

Player                                                                                    Season(s) selected

Natalie Porter                                                                     2002/03

Jodie Datson                                                                      2003/04

Rohanee Cox                                                                      2007/08 & 2008/09

Jennifer Crouse                                                                 2008/09

Shanavia Dowdell                                                             2011/12

Suzy Batkovic                                                                     2013/14, 2015/16, 2016/17 & 2017/18

Cayla George                                                                      2014/15

Lauren Nicholson                                                             2020

Tianna Hawkins                                                                 2022/23

Hawkins was joined in the 2022/23 All-WNBL First Team by a fellow American import, Southside Flyers forward Kayla Thornton. Three members of the Australian Opals bronze medal winning team from the 2022 FIBA Women’s World Cup held in Sydney were selected in the 2022/23 All WNBL First Team – Melbourne Boomers power forward/centre Cayla George, Perth Lynx guard Sami Whitcomb and Melbourne Boomers guard Kristy Wallace.

Townsville Fire captain Nicholson was joined on the All-WNBL Second Team by UC Capitals point guard Jade Melbourne, Melbourne Boomers guard Tiffany Mitchell, Adelaide Lightning forward Steph Talbot and Perth Lynx centre Lauren Scherf.

Shannon Seebohm won the WNBL’s Coach of the Year Award for the third time in his career, having previously received the award in 2014/15 with Sydney Flames and in 2020 with JCU Townsville Fire. Reid won two awards, the Cygnett WNBL Community Award and the Golden Hands Award.

In a WNBL semi final series first placed Townsville played fourth placed Perth Lynx. On 9 March in game 1 at the Townsville Entertainment Centre Hawkins scored 11 points shooting at 50% from the field, took five rebounds and blocked one shot in Townsville’s 81-68 victory. Hawkins scored a team-high 23 points shooting at 47.8% from the field, took eight rebounds, made two steals and blocked one shot in Townsville’s 91-84 victory against Perth at Bendat Basketball Centre on 12 March in game 2.

With the semi final victory Townsville progressed to the club’s seventh Grand Final in 11 seasons which is a phenomenal achievement. Townsville had previously made the Grand Final in four consecutive seasons from 2012/13 to 2015/16 and also in 2017/18 and 2020.

In the other 2022/23 WNBL semi final series Southside Flyers defeated Melbourne Boomers two games to one after recording a 73-72 victory in game 3 at the State Basketball Centre on Wednesday 15 March. It was the second time in three seasons that Townsville and Southside played each other in the Grand Final. In a single game Grand Final in Townsville during the 2020 hub season Southside defeated Townsville 99-82 on 20 December.

In an article written by Megan Hustwaite and published by ESPN on 17 March 2023 Hawkins commented on her son Emanuel leaving Townsville to return to America for school, saying “My family and I are very adamant about school, education is important. He was missing too much school and kind of falling behind the pace in America. When he was out here in Australia and starting to struggle a little bit we were on the road so it wasn’t going to work out. I had to make a tough decision that he had to stay home with my mum. She’s been doing a great job, I don’t know what I’d do without her. He gets to see his dad on weekends and he’s with mum during the week, she gets him to and from school and taekwondo.”

“This has been the longest and the furthest I’ve been away from him. I’m a mum first and I’ve got to do whatever it takes to provide for our family and this happens to be the sacrifice I have to make to make a living for myself and Emanuel.”

“It’s been very challenging, for him too – he’s been struggling but now that he knows I’m coming home soon he’s a lot better. He doesn’t know exactly when I’m coming home, I’m going to pop up and surprise him.”30

On playing in the WNBL for Townsville Fire in North Queensland Hawkins told ESPN” It’s been great and I’m not just saying that because we have been winning but this is the first time I’ve played overseas where everyone has been this close and got along this well, you don’t really come across that too much. I had that in DC when we won the WNBA championship in 2019 but when you talk about teams overseas it’s rare.”

“We’re really close and we spend a lot of time together whether it’s eating together, playing video games together, we had the opportunity to see the Great Barrier Reef which was amazing. They’ll be the many memories I’ll have with me of this time here in Townsville.”

“They’ve welcomed me with open arms, they’ve loved E, he loves them, every time I talk to him and I’m with the girls he wants to see them and says ‘tell your teammates I miss them.’ It’s the close-knit club Shannon has created, a very professional and healthy environment. It’s a genuine culture and I just love it. It’s made my time here, as hard as it’s been, a lot easier.”31

During the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season Townsville defeated Southside in all three regular season games between the two clubs including two victories by more than 15 points comprised of one home game and one road game. In the second encounter between the two clubs Townsville defeated Southside 82-79 in a road game at the State Basketball Centre on 10 December.  

Townsville hosted game 1 of the 2022/23 WNBL Grand Final series against Southside on Saturday 18 March at the Townsville Entertainment Centre. In the first quarter Hawkins scored six points comprised of two lay ups and a jump shot to contribute to Townsville being in a commanding position with a 28-14 lead at quarter time. Townsville went on to record a convincing 94-63 victory over Southside with Hawkins scoring 20 points – ranked second for the Fire behind Heal (23 points), took five rebounds, made two assists and had one steal. Hawkins shot the ball proficiently to make nine of 15 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 60% and made two of five three-pointers at 40%. 

Southside hosted game 2 of the Grand Final at the State Basketball Centre on Wednesday 22 March. The sides were evenly matched for over three quarters and with seven minutes and 20 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter Southside led Townsville 64-59. Hawkins made a three-pointer with seven minutes and six seconds left in the fourth quarter to reduce Southside’s lead to two points, 64-62.

Tianna Hawkins making a three-pointer for JCU Townsville Fire in the 4th quarter of game 2 of the 2022/23 WNBL Grand Final at the State Basketball Centre on 22 March to reduce Southside Flyers lead to two points, 64-62.

From Hawkins’ three-pointer onwards Townsville went on a 23-5 run to have an 82-69 victory in game 2 to win the WNBL championship. Hawkins scored nine points in the last seven minutes and 10 seconds of the game. JCU Townsville Fire defeated Southside two games to nil to win the Fire’s fourth WNBL Championship in nine seasons, having previously won in 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2017/18. In Townsville’s game 2 victory Hawkins scored 18 points – ranked second for Townsville behind Reid (20 points), took four rebounds and made two assists. In an adept shooting display Hawkins made seven of 10 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 70%, made two of three three-pointers at 66.7% and made both free throws.

JCU Townsville Fire players celebrating after they defeated Southside Flyers in game 2 of the 2022/23 WNBL Grand Final at the State Basketball Centre on 22 March to win the WNBL Championship.

Tianna Hawkins along with JCU Townsville Fire teammates and staff with the WNBL Championship trophy after defeating Southside Flyers in game 2 of the WNBL Grand Final at the State Basketball Centre on 22 Match 2023

Hawkins won the Rachel Sporn medal for being the Grand Final Most Valuable Player. During the presentation MC Megan Hustwaite commented “Tianna congratulations, what does it mean to have played a part in leading your Fire to the Championship?” Hawkins responded “It is a great feeling. We found a way to stay together this whole season. We went through adversity at the beginning but if it wasn’t for them fighting we would not be here. Thank you to my teammates, my coaches, everybody.”

Tianna Hawkins about to shoot a free throw for JCU Townsville Fire in the 4th quarter of game 2 of the 2022/23 WNBL Grand Final at the State Basketball Centre on 22 March

Including finals Hawkins played all 25 games for JCU Townsville Fire in the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season and averaged 17.3 points, 7.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists, 1.8 steals, 0.6 blocked shots and 31.4 minutes per game. Hawkins led Townsville in points, blocked shots and field goals made per game, ranked second in rebounds, steals and minutes played and third for free throws made per game. Hawkins was one of four Townsville players that averaged more than 13.5 points per game along with Nicholson (15.2 points per game), Reid (13.9) and Samuelson (13.6). Townsville had a total of eight players that averaged at least 6.5 points per game with other players in this category being Heal (9.9), Ruef (9.4), Aokuso (7.0) and Woods (6.7).

Tianna Hawkins playing for JCU Townsville Fire against the Southside Flyers at the State Basketball Centre on 4 March 2023

During the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season including finals Hawkins made 180 of 331 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 54.4% – ranked ninth in the league among players that had at least 10 field goal attempts for the season. This stat is made even more impressive by 23.8% of Hawkins’ field goal attempts being three-pointers. Hawkins made 28 of 82 three-pointers at an accuracy of 34.1%.

Top 10 for field goal                                                                           Field goal attempt split

goal accuracy in 2022/23*                             Field goal %        2P                                          3P

1              Olivia Nelson-Ododa                      64.2%                    100%                                     0%

2              Lara McSpadden                              64.0%                    100%                                     0%

3              Megan McKay                                   59.2%                    97.7%                                    2.3%

4              Jacinta Monroe                                 56.5%                    99.0%                                    1.0%

5              Dekeiya Cohen                                  56.3%                    97.9%                                    2.1%

6              Karlie Samuelson                             55.7%                    40.7%                                   59.3%

7              Isobel Borlase                                    55.0%                    76.0%                                    24.0%

8              Zitina Aokuso                                    54.5%                    99.2%                                    0.8%

9              Tianna Hawkins                                54.4%                    75.2%             24.8%                                          

10           Georgia Pineau                                 53.3%                    86.7%                                    13.3%

* With a qualification of at least 10 field goal attempts for the season

Six of the top 10 players for field goal accuracy including the entire top five rarely shot three-pointers, with at least 97.5% of the field goal attempts for these six players being two pointers. Among the top 10 players for field goal accuracy Hawkins had the second highest proportion of three-pointers behind Townsville Fire teammate Samuelson (59.3%) and just ahead of Adelaide Lightning guard Isobel Borlase (24.0%).

At the JCU Townsville Fire’s 2022/23 end of season awards Hawkins won the Most Valuable Player (MVP) Award. Hawkins commented “I lost my grandfather last year, he was the person that introduced me to the sport. So last year I just didn’t have that passion anymore and I was just hoping that coming here I would find fun in playing it. So just being here in a great city, in front of great fans and just being a part of a great culture, has definitely put me in a position where I’ve fallen in love with basketball again.”

“This was supposed to be my last overseas season but you know once I got here and got around the girls and the coaches, just showing up for practice was the highlight of my day, every day. If I were ever to come back to Australia, Townsville would be my first spot, in fact it would be my only spot.”32

2023 WNBA season with Washington Mystics

In mid-November 2022 Mike Thibault retired as the Washington Mystics Head Coach. Washington announced that Mike Thibault would continue as the club’s general manager and that his son Eric would take over as the Mystics Head Coach after being an assistant since 2013.

At the Washington Mystics 2023 WNBA training camp there was strong competition for spots on the club’s 12 player roster for the start of the season. Hawkins made the roster and one of the players cut was 2022 number 4 draft pick Emily Engstler. After Washington made their final cuts on the eve of the 2023 WNBA season Mystics general manager Mike Thibault commented “It was [a] hard [decision] in the sense that we didn’t have anybody that had a bad training camp. We’ve had a lot of really good players. Our staff has commented that this is probably, from top-to-bottom from the start of camp, this is the best we’ve had so that every decision we’ve made was really tough. At the end of the day, Tianna had a terrific camp and more experience with this team and that was a big decision for us.”33

Washington’s starting line-up when they have been at full strength during the 2023 WNBA season has been Natasha Cloud, Ariel Atkins, Brittney Sykes, Elena Delle Donne and Shakira Austin. All five of these players have averaged over 23.0 minutes per game and all except Austin have started every game they have played. After returning in mid August from a hip injury Austin commenced two games on the Mystics bench. Up until 30 August ten Washington players have averaged at least 12.0 minutes per game and have played at least 17 of the Mystics 35 games. Washington’s full strength starting line up is joined in this category by Hawkins, Myisha Hines-Allen, Shatori Walker-Kimbrough, Queen Egbo and Li Meng. Washington’s 10 players that average more than 12.0 minutes per game in 2023 include six members of the club’s 2019 WNBA Championship winning team – Atkins, Cloud, Delle Donne, Hawkins, Hines-Allen and Walker-Kimbrough. A seventh member of Washington’s 2019 Championship winning team in Kristi Toliver is on the team’s 2023 roster but has been restricted to nine games due to plantar fasciitis in her foot.

In Washington’s first 13 games of the 2023 WNBA season up until 25 June Hawkins only played more than 23 minutes in a game twice. Due to a left hip injury Austin was on the sidelines for a month and a half from 26 June onwards and Hawkins had an extended stint in the Mystics starting five.

In Washington’s home game at Entertainment and Sports Arena on 28 June Hawkins recorded a double-double comprised of 13 points and 11 rebounds in a 109-86 victory against Atlanta Dream. Hawkins made five of eight field goal attempts at 62.5%, made one of two three-pointers at 50% and made both free throws against Atlanta. After Washington’s victory against Atlanta on 28 June the Mystics had a record of nine wins and five losses.

In a road game against Connecticut Sun on 9 July Delle Donne sprained her left ankle in the second quarter and missed five and a half weeks of games due to the injury. During the third quarter against Connecticut Hawkins scored 14 points comprised of four driving lay ups, a three-pointer and three free throws. Hawkins finished the 84-92 loss with a team-high 24 points, took four rebounds, made two assists, two steals and blocked one shot. Hawkins shot the ball sublimely to make 10 of 12 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 83.3%, made her only three-pointer and made three free throws. Hawkins’ 24 points against Connecticut equalled her career-high, having scored 24 points in a game twice for Washington in 2019, in a home game against Phoenix Mercury on 10 July and in a 100-86 home victory against Chicago Sky on 8 September.

In a home game against Seattle on 11 July Atkins sprained her left ankle, needed to be assisted from the court and was sidelined for five weeks. For the month after Atkins’ ankle injury Washington were without three of their starters Austin, Delle Donne and Atkins and had a starting five of Cloud, Sykes, Walker-Kimbrough, Hawkins and Hines-Allen.

In a video interview with Scripps News on 22 July 2023 Hawkins was asked by Christian Bryant “A lot of people are coming to the WNBA as new fans, what would you want them to know about you (and) your game?” Hawkins responded “I would say that I’m a competitor, I want to play hard and I want to work hard. I want to play within myself and be a person that people know that does the little things that helps the team be successful.”

Bryant asked “You guys (Washington) have had to make a few adjustments with injuries and folks going down. How do you see your role in making sure the team is well adjusted with the folks that are not able to play?” Hawkins replied “Well as a person and a vet that has been around the team for a little bit I know how the system works, I know the game of basketball. I know what the coaches want of us; when we’re in the game and out on the floor, I am one of the people that are a part of getting people to their spots and just keeping things moving smoothly on the court. It is tough when you have a lot of players coming in and out. When you have a lot of injuries it is kind of hard to keep a rhythm and keep things going consistently. For me, I take pride in being consistent, so I just try to be consistent and have some carryover from practice into the game.”

Hawkins spoke to Scripps News about playing overseas, commenting “I definitely will not be going to Russia … In terms of [Griner’s] situation, I hate that she had to go through that, but for me personally, it’s the way I supplement my income from the WNBA. When I’m considering overseas I just have to decide what is best for me and my son.” On combining being a mother and a basketball player Hawkins said “It’s tough, but I have a great village in my family and helping me when I have to travel and stuff. My mom has done a great job of stepping up and making sure I’m my best version on the court. And then, of course, she’s my mom, so she’s gonna make sure I’m the best mom possible.”

On the road against Atlanta on 30 July at Gateway Center Arena Hawkins registered her second double-double of the season comprised of 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds including a game-high and season-high six offensive boards in Washington’s 73-80 loss. No other player in the game took multiple offensive rebounds and the entire Atlanta team took a total of two offensive boards which highlights how dominant Hawkins was in this aspect of the game.  

In a Washington home game at Entertainment and Sports Arena on 6 August Hawkins scored a game-high 23 points in an 83-91 loss to Los Angeles Sparks. Hawkins shot the ball proficiently to make nine of 13 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 69.2% and made three of five three-pointers at 60%.

Against the Las Vegas Aces on the road on 11 August at Michelob ULTRA Arena Hawkins recorded her third double-double of 2023 comprised of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Hawkins shot the ball adeptly to make eight of 11 field goal attempts at an accuracy of 72.7%, made two of four three-pointers at 50% and made her only free throw. With her 10^th point in the game Hawkins became the 16^th player to reach 1,500 career points for the Washington Mystics and with her 18^th point she moved up to 15^th on the Mystics all-time scoring list, overtaking Chasity Melvin on 1,507 points.

Austin returned from her left hip injury and commenced on the bench in Washington’s 83-76 home victory against Chicago on Sunday 13 August. In the Mystics following game Delle Donne and Atkins returned to the starting line-up in an 83-79 road victory against Indiana Fever, Hawkins and Austin commenced the game on the bench. Delle Donne and Austin didn’t play in Washington’s home game against Dallas on Sunday 20 August, Hawkins returned to the starting line-up.

In a home game against the Las Vegas Aces on Saturday 26 August Washington finally returned to having their full strength starting line up of Cloud, Sykes, Atkins, Delle Donne and Austin. The Las Vegas Aces are on top of the WNBA standings and entered the game with a record of 30 wins and four losses. Washington started in superb fashion to lead the Aces 13-2 with five minutes and 56 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The Mystics went on to record a convincing victory against Las Vegas 78-62. Only two Washington players played more than 22 minutes court-time – 35 minutes for Sykes and 34 minutes for Cloud. Hawkins was one of six Mystics that played between 17 and 22 minutes.

Washington started Tuesday 29 August in sixth place on the WNBA standings with a record of 16 wins and 18 losses, half a win behind their opponent that day, the fifth placed Minnesota Lynx who had a record of 17 wins and 18 losses. Atlanta Dream were seventh in the standings with 16 wins and 19 losses, ahead of the eighth placed Los Angeles Sparks with a record of 15 wins and 19 losses.

Three WNBA games were held on 29 August and each of the four teams from fifth to eight in the standings played. In the first game of the day Atlanta Dream at home defeated Phoenix Mercury 94-76, improving their record to 17 wins and 19 losses, enabling them to move up to sixth, ahead of Washington.

In Washington’s home game against Atlanta veteran guard Toliver made her return from a plantar fasciitis injury, playing her first game since 16 June. With their full strength starting line-up Washington at home defeated Atlanta 83-72. Cloud and Sykes were the only Mystics to play more than 29 minutes court-time and six players had between 15 and 24 minutes court time. Hawkins in 21 minutes and 33 seconds court-time made all three three-pointers scored nine points and took four rebounds.

With the victory Washington improved their record to 17 wins and 18 losses, giving them a winning percentage of 48.6%. The Mystics overtook Atlanta and Minnesota to rise to fifth in the standings, their third different position for the day, highlighting how close the WNBA standings are in the run to the playoffs.  

The top three teams in the standings, Las Vegas Aces, New York Liberty and Connecticut Sun have all secured playoff berths whilst the bottom two teams, Phoenix and Seattle have been eliminated from playoff attention. The seven teams in the middle of the standings are battling it out for the five playoff spots from fourth to eighth. With five games remaining in their regular season the Mystics are 2.0 games behind the fourth placed Dallas Wings who have a record of 19 wins and 16 losses. Washington are 2.5 games ahead of the ninth placed Chicago Sky who have a record of 15 wins and 21 losses.

Each WNBA team will play a league record 40 regular season games in 2023. The top eight teams at the end of the regular season make the playoffs. Washington’s next three games are on the road against Las Vegas Aces, Los Angeles Sparks and Phoenix Mercury before the Mystics host their penultimate game of the regular season against Atlanta Dream in a game that might determine who finishes higher in the standings. All 12 WNBA teams play their last game of the 2023 regular season on Sunday 9 September, the Mystics play a road game against New York Liberty.

Up until 30 August Hawkins has played all 35 games for Washington in the 2023 WNBA regular season including 20 games as a starter and is averaging 8.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 0.8 steals and 23.2 minutes per game. Hawkins ranks second at Washington for offensive rebounds per game, third for total rebounds per game, fourth for games started, equal fifth for steals, sixth for points and seventh in minutes played.

Hawkins is one of three players that have played all 35 games for Washington in 2023 along with Sykes and Walker-Kimbrough. Three Mystics have played more than 28 games which equates to more than 80% of games – Cloud (32 games), Hines-Allen (30 games) and Meng (29 games). Four of the 10 players that have averaged more than 15.0 minutes per game for the Mystics in 2023 have played less than 25 games each – Atkins (24 games), Austin (18), Delle Donne (18) and Egbo (17).

Washington had a record of nine wins and five losses 14 games into the regular season and then were hit hard by injuries, this culminated in an extended run without three starters – Atkins, Austin and Delle Donne. Whilst being without three starters is challenging for any WNBA team this has provided greater opportunity for other players on the Mystics roster including Hawkins and enabled a much wider variety of line-ups to build familiarity playing on court together. In recent weeks Washington players have been returning from injury and the club is back to having full availability of their roster with the injury report for tomorrow’s road game against the Aces having no injuries to report. In their last two games Washington have defeated teams that were above them in the standings, the Las Vegas Aces and Atlanta Dream. With the depth they have the Mystics with a healthy roster shape as a dangerous proposition for any opponent in the playoffs.

In 2023 Hawkins ranks equal 10th in the WNBA with a field goal accuracy of 50.2%. Hawkins ranks 26^th for total rebounds per game, 19^th for offensive rebounds and 31st for defensive rebounds. 

The 2023 season is the 10th of Hawkins WNBA career and she is setting new career-highs for rebounds, assists and minutes played per game and is having her second best season for points and steals per game. Hawkins’ 20 starts in 2023 is a career-high and surpasses the total of 19 starts that she had across her first nine WNBA seasons from 2013 to 2022, Tianna’s previous personal best for starts in a season was eight with Atlanta in 2021.  

During the 2023 WNBA season Hawkins has had to adapt her role to what the Mystics require from her. When Washington have been at full strength Hawkins has commenced games on the bench but she has taken on an expanded role as a starter in 20 games when at least one frontcourt starter, Delle Done or Austin was out injured. After having her first start of the 2023 season for Washington Hawkins was asked about her mentality when being called up into the Mystics starting five. Hawkins responded “It’s just about being ready. I mean, I’m not thinking of anything outside of that, it’s just play within myself and just do the things that I’ve been doing all season long and all throughout my career. Not trying to be a superhero, just make sure I run the floor hard, make sure I get on the boards, just be wherever my team needs me.”34

Hawkins is in the 10^th WNBA season of her career and has played 292 games in the league including 39 as a starter. Throughout her WNBA career Hawkins has averaged 6.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, 0.7 assists, 0.5 steals and 15.0 minutes per game.

The Washington Mystics were one of two teams (along with Detroit) that joined the WNBA for the league’s second season in 1998. In 2023 Washington are competing in their 26^th consecutive season in the WNBA. Hawkins has played eight WNBA seasons with the Washington Mystics and ranks in the all-time top 20 for the franchise in several statistical categories including total rebounds (9^th), field goals made (12^th), points (14^th), minutes played (17^th), blocked shots (equal 16^th) and steals (18^th) along with field goal percentage (6^th), player efficiency rating (11^th) and win shares (12^th). 

Upcoming 2023/24 WNBL season with JCU Townsville Fire

On 17 July 2023 JCU Townsville Fire announced that Hawkins had signed with the club for the 2023/24 Cygnett WNBL season, completing the club’s 10 player main roster. Townsville Fire General Manager Sam Pascoe told WNBL Media “The re-signing of Tianna Hawkins is a testament to our commitment to excellence and fostering a winning culture at Townsville Fire. Her presence on and off the court has been instrumental to our success, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to continue our journey with her. We firmly believe that her contributions will be valuable in our pursuit of another WNBL championship.”35

Hawkins is one of five members of Townsville’s 2022/23 WNBL Championship winning team that are suiting up for the club again in 2023/24 along with Courtney Woods, Zitina Aokusu and Hawkins’ fellow 2022/23 starters Steph Reid and Mikaela Ruef. 

In the off-season Townsville recruited two Australian Opals, guard Sami Whitcomb and forward Alice Kunek. Playing for the Opals this duo have both earnt selection in a FIBA Women’s Asia Cup All-Star five with Whitcomb earning this honour at the 2021 Asia Cup in Jordan and Kunek earning selection at Asia Cup 2023 held in Sydney. Three players on Townsville’s 2023/24 roster earnt All-WNBL selection in their most recent WNBL season. Whitcomb playing for Perth and Hawkins playing for Townsville both earnt All-WNBL First team selection in the 2022/23 season. In Kunek’s most recent WNBL season with Sydney Flames in 2019/20 she was named in the All-WNBL Second team.

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After the start of the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season Milestones and Misses have published articles on two players that will start in Townsville’s backcourt during the 2023/24 season – Steph Reid and Sami Whitcomb. Links to these two articles are below:

Steph Reid excelled for JCU Townsville Fire in 2022/23 to be an award winner on and off the basketball court

Sami Whitcomb’s amazing journey to become a three-time WNBL All-Star Five member, reach 100 WNBL games and win two World Cup medals with the Australian Opals

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During free agency Townsville also recruited guards Saffron Shiels and Jessica McDowell-White along with Canadian import forward Cassandra Brown. At under-age level 17 year old Shiels has represented Australia at several international tournaments including as a member of the Australian Gems team in July 2023 at the FIBA Women’s Under 19 World Cup 2023 held in Madrid. McDowell-White played five seasons of college basketball in the USA including three seasons for University of San Francisco from 2020/21 to 2022/23. In the 2023 NBL1 North season McDowell-White played for Southern Districts Spartans and ranked fifth (among players that played at least five games) in the conference with 6.9 assists per game. During the 2023 NBL1 South season Brown was teammates at Mount Gambier with fellow Townsville Fire frontcourt player Zitina Aokuso. In 18 games for Mount Gambier Brown averaged 18.1 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game.

Four players on JCU Townsville Fire’s 2023/24 roster – Kunek, Reid, Aokuso and Shiels are members of the Australian women’s national team, the Seven Consulting Opals for a five game tour of China against the Chinese national team from 25 August to 3 September. After two games the series is tied at one game apiece.

Townsville Head Coach Shannon Seebohm told wnbl.basketball that Hawkins returning to the club “is something we begun discussing before she even left the country last season, but we wanted to give her time to get settled back into the US and spend time with her son before looking to finalise anything.”

“Tianna Hawkins’ decision to re-sign with the Townsville Fire is a testament to her commitment, loyalty, and belief in the club. Her presence on and off the court has been invaluable, inspiring for her teammates and electrifying for our passionate fans.”

“Tianna is a player that sets the bar high, Coaching Tianna last season, was an incredible experience and something I am really looking forward to doing again, she is the type of player and person who just makes you want to do better and be better, simply by being around her.”36

During the 2023/24 Cygnett WNBL regular season each of the eight teams will play 21 games. JCU Townsville Fire commence their season with an away game against Bendigo on Saturday 4 November. On Saturday 11 November Townsville will unfurl their championship banner at their first home game of the season at Townsville Entertainment Centre against Southside Flyers. Townsville host their last game of the regular season against Sydney Flames on 21 February.

All 84 games during the 16 round Cygnett WNBL 2023/24 regular season will be broadcast on television in Australia. One game early in each round will be broadcast by ESPN and 68 games will be shown on Nine’s free streaming service 9 Now. Townsville’s four regular season games broadcast on ESPN are held on Wednesday night in Rounds 5, 10, 11 and 16. The top four teams on the WNBL ladder at the end of the regular season qualify for the finals which commence on 28 February 2024.

Epilogue

Family including her mother Latanya, sister Tierra and late grandfather James Hawkins played a significant role in Tianna Hawkins journey to become a professional basketball player. Hawkins was born and raised in Washington and has spent much of her career playing in Washington, from high school for Riverdale Baptist School through to college basketball for University of Maryland and eight seasons in the WNBA for the Washington Mystics.

Early in her professional career Hawkins had a son Emanuel in June 2015. Considering what is best for Emanuel is a critical factor for Tianna when deciding where to play basketball, particularly when playing overseas.

The ability to be adaptable has been a key factor to Hawkins having a long and successful basketball career and she has played a variety of roles for her teams. In her final two seasons at University of Maryland Hawkins was exceptional as a starting forward to earn All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection in both 2011/12 and 2012/13. In a 10 season WNBA career including eight seasons for Washington Mystics, Hawkins has predominantly commenced games on the bench but has also played as a starter when required. In the inaugural season of Athletes Unlimited in 2022 Hawkins flourished to lead the league in rebounds, rank second for points and finish first on the leaderboard.

In six of Hawkins’ seven completed seasons with Washington Mystics the team have made the playoffs, the only exception is 2016. The highlight was Hawkins being a member member of Washington’s first WNBA Championship team when they won the 2019 WNBA Finals three games to two against Connecticut Sun. Playing on a championship winning team is a significant achievement which was made even sweeter by Hawkins being able to achieve this feat with her home town team, the Washington Mystics.

Tianna was introduced to basketball by her grandfather James who was also a key influence in Tianna’s interest in law enforcement. After a battle with lung cancer James Hawkins passed away in late April 2022 and his loss understandably had a significant impact on Tianna. Hawkins tried to work through it playing for the Washington Mystics during the 2022 WNBA season but was ‘an emotional wreck’.

To supplement her WNBA income Hawkins has regularly played in overseas leagues throughout her basketball career. In 2022/23 Hawkins embarked on what she thought would be her last season playing overseas, joining JCU Townsville Fire to play in the WNBL in Australia. Hawkins was incredible for Townsville, winning the club’s MVP Award, earnt selection in the All-WNBL First Team, won the Rachael Sporn medal as Grand Final MVP and was an integral member of Townsville Fire’s WNBL Championship winning team.

Tianna Hawkins playing for JCU Townsville Fire in game 2 of the 2022/23 WNBL Grand Final at the State Basketball Centre on 22 March

After the 2022/23 WNBL season concluded Hawkins returned to Washington for the Mystics 2023 WNBA Training Camp where there was intense competition for a spot on the club’s 12 player roster for the start of the season. An impressive training camp together with the invaluable experience of having played seven WNBA seasons as a Mystic resulted in Hawkins earning a spot on the roster for the start of the 2023 WNBA season.

The impact that JCU Townsville Fire and the Townsville community made on Hawkins resulted in her deciding to extend her overseas career, create more memories in Australia and chase another WNBL Championship. On 17 July 2023 JCU Townsville Fire announced that they had completed their 10 player main roster for the 2023/24 Cygnett WNBL season by signing 2022/23 club MVP winner Hawkins.

Given that Hawkins arrived in Townsville late last year hoping to find fun in playing basketball again it has been a remarkable and much deserved transformation. Playing for Townsville in a new environment Hawkins recaptured her passion for basketball which was pivotal to her playing outstanding basketball in the 2022/23 Cygnett WNBL season.

Hawkins’ WNBL form has carried over to the 2023 WNBA season with the Washington Mystics. Throughout her career Hawkins has demonstrated that she wont back down from a challenge. Some people had reservations about Hawkins’ chances of making the Washington Mystics roster for the start of the 2023 WNBA season. Hawkins as she has done consistently throughout her career performed whatever role the Mystics required from her effectively, whether it was off the bench or as a starter. In the 2023 WNBA season Hawkins ranks 10th in the league for field goal accuracy and has set new career-highs for rebounds, assists and minutes per game as well as starts in a season. With her performances Tianna Hawkins has continued to make her family proud and not for the first time in her basketball career has well and truly proven the doubters wrong.

Article and photographs by Dean Andrews

Twitter – @DeanAndrews7777

References

1     https://wnbl.basketball/townsville/news/the-hawk-returns-

2             https://www.swishappeal.com/2013/4/11/4206968/wnba-draft-2013-prospect-tianna-hawkins

3 https://auprosports.com/read/tianna-hawkins-mystics-basketball-journey-leads-back-home-dc/

4             https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/maryland-women-vs-wake-forest-hawkins-sparks-second-half-onslaught-as-terps-win-86-58/2012/01/19/gIQAsoWGCQ_story.html

5             https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/colleges/maryland-women-vs-wake-forest-hawkins-sparks-second-half-onslaught-as-terps-win-86-58/2012/01/19/gIQAsoWGCQ_story.html

6             https://umterps.com/sports/womens-basketball/roster/tianna-hawkins/5002

7 https://umterps.com/news/2013/4/15/208458760

8              https://umterps.com/news/2013/4/15/208458760

9             https://auprosports.com/read/tianna-hawkins-mystics-basketball-journey-leads-back-home-dc/

10 https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/storm/storm-players-mentoring-rookie-forward-tianna-hawkins/

11 https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/storm/storm-players-mentoring-rookie-forward-tianna-hawkins/

12 https://auprosports.com/read/tianna-hawkins-mystics-basketball-journey-leads-back-home-dc/

13 https://mystics.wnba.com/news/mystics-sign-hawkins-to-contract-extension/

14 https://mystics.wnba.com/news/mystics-sign-hawkins-to-contract-extension/

15 https://www.thenexthoops.com/features/she-got-next-episode-pepper-persley-4/

16 https://www.wnba.com/news/wnba-announces-a-2020-season-dedicated-to-social-justice

17  https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/08/26/mystics-wnba-protest/

18 https://www.thenexthoops.com/features/she-got-next-episode-pepper-persley-4/

19 https://www.thenexthoops.com/features/emanuel-hawkins-is-a-visible-reminder/

20 https://dcist.com/story/20/08/28/mystics-tianna-hawkins-jacob-blake-social-justice/

21 https://mystics.wnba.com/news/mystics-sign-tianna-hawkins/

22 https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/07/18/tianna-hawkins-mystics-grandfather/

23 https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/07/18/tianna-hawkins-mystics-grandfather/

24 https://justwomenssports.com/reads/tianna-hawkins-scores-46-points-first-au-leaderboard/

25 https://auprosports.com/read/tianna-hawkins-crowned-inaugural-au-hoops-champion/

26 https://auprosports.com/read/captains-journal-tianna-hawkins/

27 https://auprosports.com/read/tianna-hawkins-crowned-inaugural-au-hoops-champion/

28 https://wnbl.basketball/townsville/news/fire-welcome-wnba-champion-tianna-hawkins/

29 https://wnbl.basketball/townsville/news/hawk-hits-game-winner-as-mvp-push-continues/

30 https://www.espn.com.au/nbl/story/_/id/35875970/wnbl-mother-love-motivating-townsville-fires-tianna-hawkins-towards-title-success

31 https://www.espn.com.au/nbl/story/_/id/35875970/wnbl-mother-love-motivating-townsville-fires-tianna-hawkins-towards-title-success

32           https://wnbl.basketball/townsville/news/tianna-takes-out-mvp-in-townsville/

33 https://sports.yahoo.com/amanda-zahui-b-li-meng-184500525.html

34 https://sports.yahoo.com/tianna-hawkins-starts-mystics-month-135009024.html

35           https://wnbl.basketball/townsville/news/the-hawk-returns-%f0%9f%a6%85/

36           https://wnbl.basketball/townsville/news/the-hawk-returns-%f0%9f%a6%85/

Milestones and Misses

Milestones and Misses publishes articles to celebrate the achievements of sportspeople, mainly in the Women’s National Basketball League (WNBL) and Australian Rules Football (AFL and AFLW). In sport as with life in general it is common that milestones are only achieved after overcoming adversity, so whilst the articles on the Milestones and Misses website celebrate sportspeople achieving milestones they also cover the misses along the journey such as a player having minimal game-time or spending a prolonged period on the sidelines due to injury. The aim of the articles is to enable readers to gain a greater appreciation of the journey sportspeople have had during their career.

A link to Milestones and Misses homepage and WNBL category is below:

https://milestonesandmisses.com/

https://milestonesandmisses.com/category/wnbl/

The Milestones and Misses website was set up in December 2015. From 2020 onwards articles have been published on the following sportspeople:

WNBL

Tianna Hawkins

Shaneice Swain

Mia Murray

Steph Reid

Jenna O’Hea

Ally Wilson

Sara Blicavs

Carley Ernst

Kiera Rowe

Chelsea Brook

Sami Whitcomb

Abbey Wehrung

Penny Taylor

Rachel Jarry

Kristy Wallace

Anneli Maley

Lindsay Allen

Jade Melbourne

Maddison Rocci

Cayla George

Kelly Wilson

Steph Talbot

Bec Cole

Aimie Rocci

Abby Bishop

Tessa Lavey

Ezi Magbegor

Zitina Aokuso

Leilani Mitchell

Maddie Garrick

Sara Blicavs

NBL

Nathan Sobey

AFLW

Ashleigh Riddell

Hayley Miller

Darcy Vescio

Tessa Lavey

Georgia Patrikios

Alyce Parker

Tyla Hanks

Tyanna Smith

Tarni White

Caitlin Greiser

AFL

Jack Steele

Lance ‘Buddy’ Franklin

Nicky Winmar

Sam Walsh

Luke Jackson

Harry McKay

Seb Ross

Jayden Short

Clayton Oliver

Lenny Hayes

Tim Membrey

Rowan Marshall