Tiffany Hayes

Renara Tiffany Hayes (born September 20, 1989) is an American-Azerbaijani professional basketball player for the Golden State Valkyries of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for ÇBK Mersin of the Turkish Super League. Hayes played college basketball for the Connecticut Huskies, playing for the 2009 and 2010 NCAA National Champions.

Early life Hayes was born September 20, 1989, in Winter Haven, a city in Central Florida, to Dorothy and Renard Hayes. During the 2016 season, Hayes averaged 15 PPG. In a loss to the Los Angeles Sparks, Hayes scored a career-high 32 points. Her stellar performance continued into the playoffs, where she scored a playoff career-high 30 points in the second round elimination game against the Chicago Sky in a losing effort.

In 2017, with the team's leading scorer Angel McCoughtry deciding to rest during the season, Hayes took on more scoring responsibility in her absence and continued to improve offensively. She was voted into the 2017 WNBA All-Star Game, making it her very first all-star game appearance. By the end of the season, Hayes put up a career-high scoring average of 16.3 PPG, but the Dream finished with a 12–22 record, missing out on the playoffs.

In 2018, with the return of McCoughtry, the Dream was back in the mix for a playoff spot and eventually emerged as a title contender. Hayes was voted into the 2018 WNBA All-Star Game, making it her second all-star game appearance. She finished the season with a new career high in scoring. On July 17, 2018, Hayes hit a game winner from beyond half-court as time expired to beat the Connecticut Sun on the road 86-83. The Dream finished 23–11 with the number 2 seed in the league, receiving a double-bye to the semi-finals. McCoughtry was sidelined with a knee injury and the Dream were eliminated by the Washington Mystics in five games.

On August 10, 2019, Hayes scored a new-career high 34 points in an 87–82 loss to the Indiana Fever. With McCoughtry sidelined for the whole season with a knee injury, the Dream finished with a league worst 8–26 record.

On December 13, 2023, Hayes announced her retirement from the WNBA. Hayes throwing a free throw during a Valkyries game against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2026. On May 31, 2024, it was announced that the Las Vegas Aces had signed Hayes out of retirement. On October 4, 2024, the WNBA announced Hayes is the Sixth Player of the Year, the award for the top player coming off the bench in the league's season.

On February 6, 2025, Hayes signed a one-year contract with the Golden State Valkyries. On August 11th during a game vs the Connecticut Sun Hayes passes the legendary Sheryl Swoopes on the WNBA's all-time scoring list.

Overseas In the 2012-13 off-season, Hayes played in Israeli League for Hapoel Rishon LeZion. In the 2013-14 off-season, Hayes played in Turkey for Beşiktaş JK for the first portion of the off-season and spent the second portion of the off-season playing in Brazil for America de Recife. In the 2015-16 off-season, Hayes played in Turkey once again for Yakin Dogu. Hayes signed with Mersin BSB S.K. for the 2016-17 off-season.

Hayes return to played in Israeli League and signed with Maccabi Bnot Ashdod for the 2017-18 off–season. Hayes signed with Perfumerías Avenida of the Spanish League for the 2019-20 off-season and renewed for 2020–2021.

She signed with Çukurova Basketbol for the 2025–26 season.

Unrivaled On September 27, 2024, it was announced that Hayes would appear and play in the inaugural season of Unrivaled, the women's 3-on-3 basketball league founded by Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart. She played for the Laces in the 2025 season. She played for Phantom BC in the 2026 Unrivaled season.

National team career Hayes was a part of the United States women's national basketball team which won gold at the 2009 Summer Universiade held at Belgrade, Serbia. She also appeared in the exhibition match victory against China in 2018.

In 2015, Hayes became an Azerbaijani citizen, and competed for the Azerbaijan women's national basketball team at the 2015 European Games held in Baku, Azerbaijan during June 2015. She competed in the 3x3 basketball event, where her team progressed to the quarterfinals.

Career statistics Denotes seasons in which Hayes won an NCAA Championship WNBA Regular season Stats current through end of 2025 season

Playoffs Stats current through end of 2025 playoffs

College WNBA player statistics start|caption=NCAA statistics