Bria Hartley
Bria Nicole Hartley 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. She started playing basketball at a very young age, and honed her game in her driveway, playing against two older brothers. They pushed her around, but she credits that for making her tougher.High school career
Hartley attended North Babylon High School in North Babylon, New York. Hartley began playing with North Babylon's varsity squad as an eighth grader. During her junior year, she averaged 21 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 6.0 steals and 4.7 blocks per game and was named to the Parade All-America list. Hartley was also recognized as New York Gatorade Player of the Year for athletic excellence, academic achievement and exemplary character. As a senior, she had five triple doubles, and averaged 30 points, 8.3 rebounds 7.4 assists, 5.9 steals and 5.0 blocks per game. She led her team to the state championship, where she poured in 51 points, but it wasn't enough to overcome a balanced attack by Sachem East. She was named New York Gatorade Player of the Year and New York Miss Basketball. Hartley finished as North Babylon's all-time leader in points.Hartley was selected to play at the McDonald's All-American Game, she scored 17 points and WBCA High School All-America Game, where she scored 19 points. In addition to basketball, she also participated in soccer and lacrosse. She earned a Suffolk County Legislature proclamation for high academic achievement, community service and excellence in basketball. Before her final season began at North Babylon High School, Hartley committed to the University of Connecticut.
College career
Freshman year
Freshmen rarely start at UConn, but Caroline Doty, expected to be a starting guard for the team, suffered an ACL injury in August 2010 which kept her out of the lineup for the entire season. With limited options, Hartley started and played a total of 1,209 minutes, the most ever by a UConn freshman. She averaged 12.4 points per game and was named the Big East Freshman of the Year, and Big East all tournament team.Sophomore year
Hartley improved her statistics from her freshman season. During her sophomore season, she averaged 14.0 points per game and 3.7 assists per game. Throughout the season, she shot 46.5% from the field, 33% from three-point range, and 75.6% from the free throw line. She was named first-team All-Big East, and she was named to the BIG EAST All-Tournament after she scored 18 points against Notre Dame in the BIG EAST Final. Hartley earned her spot on the Huskies wall of fame by being one of 10 candidates named to the WBCA/State Farm All American team.Junior year
Hartley finished her junior season averaging 9.2 points and 4.5 assists per game. After a stellar sophomore season, Hartley had a dip in production. She had career lows in minutes played, points, rebounds, field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and free throw percentage. Her statistical drops are in part credited to a case of ankle injury that Hartley was fighting all year long. She came back strong in the NCAA tournament, helping her team win the National Championship. Hartley was named to the NCAA Final Four All-Tournament team.Senior year
In her final year at UConn, Hartley was named to the All-American Athletic first team after averaging 16.2 points, 4.3 assists, and 1.6 steals per game. Hartley was also a consensus second-team all-American as a senior, and started every game as the Huskies won their second straight national championship. Hartley led UConn to a 144–11 record over her four-year career, which included four Final Four appearances and back to back National Championships. One of only two Huskies, along with Maya Moore as the only players with 1,500 points, 500 rebounds, 500 assists, and 200 steals. She finished her career ranking eighth in points, sixth in three-point field goals made and games played, and fifth in assists. Hartley inducted into the Huskies of Honor on senior night.Connecticut statistics
Source| Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
| 2010-11 | Connecticut | 38 | 472 | 46.8 | 39.2 | 73.1 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 1.2 | 0.5 | 12.4 |
| 2011-12 | Connecticut | 38 | 533 | 46.5 | 33.2 | 75.6 | 3.9 | 3.7 | 1.8 | 0.8 | 14.0 |
| 2012-13 | Connecticut | 37 | 342 | 39.1 | 29.7 | 78.5 | 3.2 | 3.7 | 1.4 | 0.5 | 9.2 |
| 2013-14 | Connecticut | 40 | 647 | 47.0 | 36.6 | 69.1 | 3.6 | 4.3 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 16.2 |
| Career | Connecticut | 153 | 1994 | 45.3 | 35.0 | 73.5 | 3.6 | 3.6 | 1.5 | 0.7 | 13.0 |
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.