Quick Facts
| Full Name | Tiana Cynthia Mangakahia |
| Date of Birth | 21 April 1995 |
| Birth Place | Meadowbrook, Queensland, Australia |
| Nick Name | None |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Ethnicity | White |
| Zodiac Sign | Taurus |
| Age | 27 years old (as of July 2021) |
| Height | 5’6″(1.68 meters) |
| Weight | Over 60 kg |
| Hair Color | Dark brown |
| Eye Color | Dark brown |
| Build | Athletic |
| Father’s Name | Terei Mangakahia |
| Mother’s Name | Cynthia Mangakahia |
| Siblings | Four elder brothers and a younger brother |
| Education | Syracuse University |
| Marital Status | Unmarried |
| Boyfriend | Triston Jackson |
| Profession | Basketball player |
| Position | Guard |
| League | Atlantic Coast Conference |
| Affiliations | Australian Institute of Sports Townsville Fire |
| Present Team | Syracuse Orange Women’s Basketball team |
| Active Years | 2011-present |
| Net Worth | Not yet earning |
| Social Media | Instagram, Twitter, YouTube |
| Syracuse University’s Merch | Apparel |
| Last Update | September, 2022 |
Tiana Mangakahia, a thriving and yet appealing woman, has borned remarkable play on the court. She has demonstrated her will, perseverance, and confidence all at once as an athlete.
She recently finished her college career in a fantastic way. Tiana played for Syracuse University and was Australian-born.
Tiana had a rough ride on her portion of the journey. She apparently experienced some highs and lows after receiving her initial breast cancer diagnosis.
But as the coaches pointed out, she adopted that position in order to keep working. She is still most recognized today for being the winner of the Nancy Lieberman Award.
Childhood And Family
Mangakahia was born on April 21, 1995, with the zodiac sign of Taurus. Her full name is Tiana Cynthia Mangakahia. She is the sole child of Terei and Cynthia Mangakahia and was born in Meadowbrook, Queensland.
Terei actually identifies with New Zealand’s native Polynesian population. He reportedly moved to Australia from New Zealand when he was a 17-year-old adolescent.
He also met Cynthia in Australia; she is a Queensland native.
She also has five brothers, four of them are older than her and one who is younger. Tiana developed her strength and daredevil skills while she grew up in Brisbane.
She would play with her brothers, which would continue to be difficult for her. Tiana displayed bravery in her actions, whether she was playing games, riding a bike, or even wrestling.
She claimed that she and her brothers would frequently climb a 15-foot pole close to their home. even ride around on the friend’s bike who belongs to her brother.
She slashed her chin open during one such biking incident when she lost the handle’s balance on a downhill. Tiana would, however, be the one grinning.
Similarly, she had little trouble establishing acquaintances because she engaged in conversation with everyone nearby. She eventually even began bringing every bird or cat she spotted at home.
Introduction to the basketball
Thanks to her siblings, Tiana has been involved in athletics from a young age, just like every athlete. She learned to play basketball alongside her siblings because they were avid players.
Additionally, she became accustomed to the competitiveness and noise from growing up in a big family. Her brothers always saw her as equal to them, therefore she most significantly learnt to carve out her own place in games and in real life.
Additionally, their mother signed them up for a basketball camp even though she had no expectations of them competing at the national or international level. Well, their safety was the first consideration.
Tiana was first perceived as being small when she started playing, despite the fact that she had incredible strength and speed. She was frequently compared as a ninja even when she was just eight years old because of her skills.
She was later selected to play for the under-12 squad at the age of just nine. But her mother pleaded with the coach to keep her on the team and in her age division instead.
Tiana agrees with her mother’s decision and feels that it helped to mold her into the better person she is now as she thinks back on the incident.
How did Tiana Mangakahia Start Basketball Career?
Mangakahia initially played in her home country up until her late teenage years. In addition to her country of origin, the United States was keen to recruit her for the match.
She wasn’t contacted by the Hutchinson Community College in Kansas to play in the country until 2015, via Facebook.
The endorsements for her in the college were also led by a New Zealander, former BYU forward Kalani Purcell.
Having said that, she did travel to the United States, but Syracuse was aware of her well in advance of her enrollment at Hutchinson Community College.
Tiana later took a year off to study abroad and sat on the sidelines during her first season at Hutchinson. She became involved in it after moving to play for Syracuse University.
“She had such a rare talent that I never imagined she would visit the United States. Our staff immediately recognized her when she appeared at the junior college level and understood we had to act quickly. – Quentin Hillsman, head coach of the Orange.
Syracuse University
She wasn’t able to play for the Hutchinson, but Hillsman offered her a scholarship at Syracuse. Tiana was a first team All-ACC selection and a top-10 finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Point Guard Award as a sophomore.
She maintained average figures of 17.5 points, 9.8 assists, and 3.8 rebounds per game by the time her time as a sophomore came to an end.
Tiana advanced to her junior year and did it more quickly than any other player in program history to reach 1,000 career points.
She consistently averaged 16.9 points, 8.4 assists, and 88.2% of her shots at the line.
National Team
Mangakahia has made contributions to international gaming alongside her nation in addition to her college career.
Tiana debuted for the Australian Institute of Sport, where she joined Suzy Batkovic in Townsville Fire.
She ultimately made her breakthrough abroad through the Sapphires. She participated in the 2012 Under-17 World Championship in Amsterdam, Netherlands, as well as the 2011 FIBA Oceania Under-16 Championship in Canberra, Australia.
Following that, Tiana joined the Gems and was selected for the Under-19 World Championship in Lithuania as well as the FIBA Oceania Under-18 Championship.
In April 2019, she had the opportunity to make her senior debut with the Opals’ preliminary roster for the 2020 Summer Olympics.
Her health, however, wasn’t able to support her. She was later a part of the Australian Senior Women’s National Team, after all.
Also Read About NBA record: Five different players make triple-double on the same day
WNBA
The 2021 WNBA Draft did not include the Australian player. She was nonetheless accepted into the Phoenix Mercury’s training camp.
But in less than a month, the team released her. The athlete then returned to her native country and joined the Northside Wizards of the NBL1 North, a semi-pro basketball league.
She got a contract with the Russian team Dynamo Moscow after her season with the Wizards ended.
Some of her notable highlights to date are highlighted below.
- All-America honorable mention by Associated Press
- WBCA All-America honorable mention
- All-ACC First Team
- FIBA Under-19 World Championship in Lithuania (Bronze)
- All-ACC Tournament Team
- FIBA Under-18 Oceania Championship in New Zealand (Gold)
- FIBA Under-16 Oceania Championship in Australia (Gold)
How did Tiana Mangakahia Got Cancer?
In any case, 2019 wasn’t what Tiana had anticipated. She was obviously anticipated to play her final year in Syracuse at the time, but she missed the entire season.
As soon as she received the stage 2 breast cancer diagnosis, her career and games suffered (invasive ductal carcinoma).
Tiana was alarmed when she discovered a lump in her breast before learning the cause of it. Her family has not yet experienced anyone struggling with the diagnosis of hereditary.
Layer was connected to Dr. Jeffrey Kirshner at St. Joseph’s Hospital and the Health Center in Syracuse, New York, by her head coach Quentin Hillsman.
She underwent a double mastectomy and several rounds of chemotherapy as a result, bringing her year 2019 to a close. She even made time for fun, games, and hanging out with her pals.
Tiana wore wigs when she began losing her hair in the early stages of her disease. However, the wigs would make it harder for her, and eventually, all of her brothers shaved their heads to support her.
Surgery
Tiana had a five-hour surgery to remove her malignant tumor on November 6, 2019. After that, they declared her cancer-free after discovering no malignant cells in her lymph nodes.
Tiana does, however, regularly take the tamoxifen pill as a preventative step. She had already started playing pickup games just a month after her operation.
She had every motive to work harder than she had previously. Not to add, she already had plans to get a medical exemption from the NCAA in order to regain a year of eligibility for the 2020–21 campaign.
She is also looking more intently at the WNBA right now. Apart from the pink t-shirts, she now associates Play4Kay, the yearly cancer fundraiser, with much more than that.
“I genuinely admire myself. I’ll exert more effort. You know how some individuals say something while not truly meaning it? Well, I think that’s doable for me. (Tiana Mangakahia)
How was the Net Worth Value of Tiana Mangakahia?
Tiana Mangakahia has not yet made a living from her career. She does receive a tiny sum from her performances as a collegiate athlete, which helps to pay for her bills.
She is already among the top WNBA players, thus she is expected to make a lot of money from her games in the future.
What is the Relationship status of Tiana Mangakahia?
Tiana currently lives in her home country with her entire family. To further explain, her home is more akin to a resort, with a few balconies offering views of the beach and the ocean being only over the street.
Boyfriend
Sources claim that Tiana Mangakahia is in a relationship with Triston Jackson, who she has been dating for a long time.
Her social media accounts do not, in fact, reflect that she has a date. The couple’s relationship dates back to their time together at Syracuse University, though.
Triston also plays wide receiver for the Los Angeles Rams in American football. Additionally, it is said that he will sign with the organization as an undrafted free agent first.
Overall, it is said that there is a strong relationship between the two.
Social Media
In addition to the supplied information, you can find the information about her social media accounts if you want to follow her and look at her uploads.
Anyhow, Tiana has 19.7k followers on Instagram with the handle Tiana Mangakahia (@tiana mangakahia).
She has 6.5k followers under the handle Tiana Mangakahia (@Tianamanga) on Twitter in the meantime. You may also view her YouTube account under the name Tiana Mangakahia.