Betnijah Laney-Hamilton
Betnijah Laney-Hamilton is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association. She played college basketball for Rutgers University.
Early life and college
Laney-Hamilton started playing basketball at 10 years old, largely due to her mother having played basketball competitively. Laney-Hamilton is the daughter of Yolanda Laney, who played for Cheyney State and was also coached by C. Vivian Stringer. Her closest friends are Aiyannah Peal and Sydni Epps.Laney-Hamilton attended Smyrna High School in Smyrna, Delaware where she averaged 23.7 points, 10 rebounds, 4.4 steals, 4.3 assists and 1.2 blocks per game as a senior and was named a McDonald's All-American.
In her four-year career at Rutgers, Laney-Hamilton played 129 games with 107 starts, and averaged 10.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game.
Professional career
WNBA
Chicago Sky (2015–2016)
On April 16, 2015, Laney-Hamilton was selected by the Chicago Sky with the 17th overall pick in the 2015 WNBA draft. In her rookie season playing for the Sky, Laney-Hamilton averaged 2.8 points and 2.1 rebounds in 33 games.Laney-Hamilton returned to the Chicago Sky for the 2016 WNBA season. On June 8, she was ruled out for the rest of the season after tearing her left anterior cruciate ligament. The injury occurred during the second quarter of the Sky's June 3 game against the Washington Mystics.
Connecticut Sun (2018)
On February 7, 2018, Laney-Hamilton signed a training camp deal with the Connecticut Sun.Indiana Fever (2019)
On February 5, 2019, Laney-Hamilton signed with the Indiana Fever. In Indiana, she reunited with her former college teammate from Rutgers Erica Wheeler. On February 14, 2020, she re-signed with the team on a multi-year contract, however, she was released by the Fever on June 17.Atlanta Dream (2020)
Laney-Hamilton had a breakout season in 2020 with the Atlanta Dream; she was named to the WNBA All-Defensive Team and won the Most Improved Player Award.New York Liberty (2021–present)
In 2021 she signed with the New York Liberty. 2021 was a rebuilding year for the New York Liberty. in 2022, the Liberty were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. In 2023, the New York Liberty placed second to the Las Vegas Aces. In 2024, Betnijah Laney-Hamilton was sidelined with injuries but proved pivotal to the New York Liberty's starting lineup, with a particularly stellar WNBA Finals Game 2 on the way to the New York Liberty's 2024 WNBA championship.She missed the 2025 season due to a knee injury sustained during the offseason.
WNBL
On July 16, 2015, Laney-Hamilton signed with the Perth Lynx for the 2015–16 WNBL season. On November 11, 2015, she was named in the WNBL's Team of the Week for Round 5 after recording 12 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists against the Adelaide Lightning on November 8. On January 13, 2016, she earned Team of the Week honors for a second time. On February 16, she was named WNBL Player of the Month for January. She led the Lynx to a second place regular season finish with a 16–8 win–loss record, and went on to score a game-high 23 points in the team's semi-final win over the first-seeded Townsville Fire. With the win, the Lynx advanced to the WNBL grand final for the first time since 1999. There they were outclassed by the defending champion Townsville, losing the best-of-three series 2–0. Laney-Hamilton appeared in all 27 games for the Lynx in 2015–16, averaging 15.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game.Overseas
In June 2019, Laney signed with Elitzur Holon of the Israeli League for the 2019-20 off-season.In June 2020, Laney signed with Elitzur Ramla of the Israeli League for the 2020-21 off-season.