Bria Hartley

Bria Nicole Hartley (born September 30, 1992) is a French-American professional basketball player for the Connecticut Sun of the WNBA and Galatasaray of the Turkish Super League. She was drafted seventh overall by the Seattle Storm in the 2014 WNBA draft and was immediately traded to the Washington Mystics. Hartley played shooting guard for the UConn women's basketball team, and won back to back national championships in 2013 and 2014.

Early life Hartley is the daughter of Dennis and Simone Hartley.

Professional career WNBA After being drafted seventh overall by the Seattle Storm in the 2014 WNBA draft, Hartley was immediately traded to the Washington Mystics who drafted UConn teammate Stefanie Dolson. Hartley started in her second game of the season as she had team high 15 points and dished out 5 assists vs Indiana Fever on May 23, 2014. On June 1, 2014, in the triple-overtime game vs the Los Angeles Sparks, the UConn duo of Hartley and Dolson combined for 34 points coming off the bench and Hartley scored her first 20-point game. On June 24, 2014, vs Seattle Storm Hartley scored career-high 26 points going 11–16 from the floor, including 4–6 from three-point range. She suffered a broken left middle finger in a game against the Seattle Storm in a loss. Hartley would make the WNBA All-Rookie Team and average 9.7 ppg in 34 games played with 29 starts. The Mystics finished 3rd place in the Eastern Conference with a 16–18 record but were eliminated by the Indiana Fever in a 2-game sweep of the first round.

In 2015, Hartley would sit out the first 6 games of the season due to a right foot stress fracture. She would eventually make her return and played 25 games with minimal playing time while on minutes restriction. The Mystics finished 4th place in the Eastern Conference with an 18–16 record, however they would once again get eliminated in the first round after losing in 3 games to the New York Liberty, Hartley was unable to keep playing for the rest of the series after Game 1.

In 2016, Hartley had slightly increased playing time from last season. After playing 24 games, it was announced that Hartley became pregnant with her first child and would sit out the rest of the season. The Mystics went on to finish 13–21, missing out on the playoffs.

In January 2017, Hartley was traded to her home state team, the New York Liberty in a three-team trade deal that sent teammate Kia Vaughn also to the Liberty, Carolyn Swords along with the 15th overall pick in the 2017 WNBA draft to the Seattle Storm and the Mystics receiving the Storm's first and second round draft picks in the 2017 WNBA draft. On May 13, 2017, Hartley made her Liberty debut and recorded 3 assists and 4 rebounds in 18 minutes of play in a 73–64 win over the San Antonio Stars. On June 16, 2017, Hartley scored a season-high 17 points in 102–93 win over the Dallas Wings. The Liberty would finish the season on a 10-game winning streak and the number 3 seed in the league, receiving a bye to the second round under the league's new playoff format which was put into effect last season. In the second round elimination game, the Liberty were defeated by the number 6 seeded Washington Mystics 81–69, Hartley scored 15 points in the loss.

In February 2018, Hartley re-signed with the Liberty. In 2018, the Liberty would have a disappointing season as they missed out on the playoffs with a 7–27 record.

In 2019, Hartley played 24 games with 18 starts and averaged a career-high in scoring, but the Liberty continued to struggle, they finished the season with a 10–24 record, missing out on the playoffs for the second year in a row.

In 2020, Hartley signed a three-year deal with the Phoenix Mercury in free agency. The 2020 season was delayed and shortened to 22 games in a bubble at IMG Academy due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Hartley would be a role player off the bench for the Mercury as well as an occasional starter. On August 3, 2020, Hartley scored a new career-high 27 points in a 96–67 victory over her former team the New York Liberty. She was averaging new career-highs in scoring, assists, steals and shooting percentages, but her season was unfortunately cut short after 13 games played. On August 28, 2020, Hartley suffered a torn ACL during a game against the Washington Mystics, she was ruled out for the rest of the season. The Mercury proceeded to finish as the number 5 seed with a 13–9 record, they would make it as far as the second round where they lost to the Minnesota Lynx in the elimination game.

Hartley was waived from the Indiana Fever on July 15, 2022.

On July 18, 2022, Hartley was signed by the Connecticut Sun.

Overseas

Uniqa Sopron In the 2014–15 off-season, Harley played in Hungary for Uniqa Sopron.

Mersin Büyükşehir Belediyespor In the 2015–16 off-season, Harley played in Turkey for Mersin BBSK. In August 2017, Hartley once again joined Mersin BBSK for the 2017–18 off-season.

Fenerbahçe (2018–19) In July 2018, Hartley signed a one-year deal with Fenerbahçe for the 2018–19 off-season.

Galatasaray (2019–20) In August 2019, Harley signed a one-year deal with Galatasaray S.K. of the Turkish league for the 2019–20 off-season.

Galatasaray (2023–24) On 21 December 2023, she signed with Galatasaray of the Turkish Women's Basketball Super League (TKBL).

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

Playoffs

USA Basketball Hartley was named to the USA Basketball U18 team. According to her mother, she was already considering playing for France while playing for the Huskies in honor of her grandmother, a French native. She made her debut the same year, scoring 9 points in 19 minutes in a win against Romania. She also played in EuroBasket 2019, winning the silver medal, notably scoring the tying basket in the quarter-finals, allowing France to win in overtime against Belgium.

Personal life Hartley has a child with her boyfriend Shakim Phillips, who was a wide receiver for UConn's and Boston College's football teams. Their son was born in January 2017.

Awards and honors

2009—Gatorade Player of the Year New York

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