Tiana Cynthia Mangakahia (born 21 April 1995) is an Australian former professional basketball player. She began her career with two seasons in the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL) before playing college basketball in the United States for Syracuse University between 2017 and 2021. After a season in Russia, Mangakahia returned to the WNBL in 2022. She retired in 2023 due to breast cancer.
Early life
The only daughter of Terei Mangakahia, a Māori who emigrated from New Zealand to Australia in his late teens, and his Queensland-born wife Cynthia, Mangakahia grew up with five brothers, four older and one younger. In a 2020 story, ESPN journalist Aishwarya Kumar described the young Mangakahia as "a daredevil", regularly climbing a tall pole in the family's backyard and competing in various sports and games alongside her brothers. Her older brothers all played basketball, and she was first enrolled in a basketball camp with them. Mangakahia quickly took to the sport, with Kumar noting that "Even at age 8, when she was the smallest girl on the team, she'd run and pass the ball like a ninja, nimble and fast." At age 9, she was asked to play on her club's 12-and-under team, but her mother vetoed the move. In the Kumar piece, Mangakahia herself recalled, "I think that actually helped me so much, because you never know. What if I played [up] and just sat on the bench the whole time? I probably would've not enjoyed basketball."[1]
In the 2017–18 season, Mangakahia averaged 17.5 points, 9.8 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game for the Orange. On 24 November 2017, she had 17 assists against Vanderbilt, breaking the Syracuse single-game assists record. She had a career-high eight steals against UNLV on 22 December and scored a season-high 44 points against Georgia Tech on 4 January.[3] She subsequently earned first-team All-ACC honours.[8]
She emerged as a star in her second season at Syracuse in 2018–19, averaging 16.9 points, 8.4 assists, and 4.9 rebounds while leading the Orange to a 25–9 record and a No. 3 seed, the program's highest ever, in the NCAA tournament, earning first-team All-ACC honours[9] and All-America honourable mention.[1] She had the first points-rebounds-assists triple-double in program history against UNC with 34 points, 10 rebounds, and 10 assists on 13 January 2019. She tied her career high with 44 points against Florida State on 28 February and had a season-high 15 assists against Niagara on 17 December.[3] In her first two seasons at Syracuse, Mangakahia broke the school's career record for assists and joined the team's 1,000-point club.[1]
In June 2019, Mangakahia discovered a lump on her left breast while showering. The lump grew in the following two weeks, and she was diagnosed with invasive ductal carcinoma. While her father urged her to return to Australia for treatment, she decided to remain at Syracuse, with Orange head coach Quentin Hillsman promising to support her throughout her treatment. At least one of her family members travelled to Syracuse to accompany her during each of her chemotherapy sessions. When she lost her hair during her treatment, she initially wore wigs, but decided to show her bald head during her treatment; all of her brothers shaved their heads bald in solidarity with her. Eventually, Mangakahia underwent a double mastectomy followed by reconstructive surgery to improve her post-operative appearance, and was declared cancer-free shortly after the surgery.[1] She was cleared to return to practice in late February 2020, near the end of the 2019–20 season.[7] That October, Mangakahia received an eligibility waiver from the NCAA that allowed her to play at Syracuse in 2020–21.[10]
In 20 games in the 2020–21 season, Mangakahia averaged 11.4 points, 3.1 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game.[11] She subsequently earned All-ACC Honorable Mention.[12]
Post-college
After going undrafted in the 2021 WNBA draft, Mangakahia spent training camp with the Phoenix Mercury.[13][14] She then returned to Australia and joined the Northside Wizards in the NBL1 North.[15] In nine games for the Wizards, she averaged 18.4 points, 4.6 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 1.7 steals per game.[5]
For the 2021–22 season, Mangakahia moved to Russia to play for Dynamo Moscow of the Russian Women's Premier League.[16] In 16 games, she averaged 14.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 1.5 steals per game.[5]
Mangakahia returned to the Northside Wizards for the 2022 NBL1 North season and averaged 27.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 3.9 steals in 20 games.[5] She was named NBL1 North MVP and All-Star Five in 2022.[17]
Mangakahia joined the Sydney Flames for the 2022–23 WNBL season. In 20 games, she averaged 13.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 2.2 steals per game.[5]
After a one-game stint with the Northside Wizards on 25 March 2023,[18] Mangakahia moved to France where she played five games for Toulouse Métropole Basket to finish the 2022–23 season.[5]
On 5 June 2023, Mangakahia announced her retirement after being diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer which had spread into other areas of her body.[19][20]
National team
Youth level
Mangakahia made her international debut for the Sapphires at the 2011 FIBA Oceania Under-16 Championship in Canberra, Australia.[21] She would once again represent the Sapphires at the 2012 Under-17 World Championship in Amsterdam, Netherlands, where Australia placed 5th. Mangakahia would then make her debut for the Gems at the FIBA Oceania Under-18 Championship, where she took home gold. She would then go on to represent the Gems at the Under-19 World Championship in Lithuania the following year, where they finished in third place and took home the bronze medal.
Senior level
In April 2019, coming off a breakout season at Syracuse, Mangakahia was named to the Opals' preliminary roster for the 2020 Summer Olympics, but was forced to bow out due to a cancer diagnosis.[1] In July 2020, she was selected again to the Australian senior women's national team.[22][23] In May 2021, she missed the women's team roster ahead of the Tokyo Olympics,[24] which was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan.
