NEW YORK CITY – On the heels of one of the best individual seasons in Lady Topper Basketball history, Tashia Brown added to her achievements on Friday morning as she signed a training camp deal with the New York Liberty, seeking to become the fourth Lady Topper to appear in the WNBA.
Brown will look to join WKU's three draftees who have appeared in the league, with ShaRae Mansfield (2001, Houston Comets), Tiffany Porter-Talbert (2006, Los Angeles Sparks) and Crystal Kelly (2008, Houston Comets) all being selected in the third round of the WNBA Draft.
"I am extremely blessed to have the opportunity to further my career professionally," Brown said. "Thanks to the New York Liberty organization for giving me a chance and thanks to all my Hilltopper family for supporting me every step of the way on this journey."
Brown's WNBA selection caps a long list of individual honors claimed by the Lake Park, Ga., native in 2017-18. The senior became WKU's fifth Honorable Mention Associated Press All-American last month and also captured C-USA Player of the Year accolades while earning spots on the All-C-USA First Team and All-Defensive Team. Brown was also a four-time C-USA Player of the Week this season, matching the program record for the most Player of the Week honors by an individual in a single campaign.
For the season, Brown averaged 22.5 points per game, the best among all C-USA players and eighth nationally among Division I players in the category. Brown scored 742 total points during the 2017-18 campaign, the third-most in a single season by a Lady Topper; in her 1,186 minutes on the court this season, Brown averaged one point every 96 seconds.
Brown reached double figures in scoring in all 33 games this season while tallying 20 or more points in 23 of those contests and 30 or more in another four. The senior fired her career-best single-game mark of 38 points on Senior Night against Charlotte on Feb. 23, closing her career inside E.A. Diddle Arena with a 53-4 home record over the last four seasons.
In addition to her single-season totals, Brown also joined historic company as just the fourth 2,000-point scorer in Lady Topper Basketball history. The senior finished her collegiate career on The Hill with 2,073 points, the third-best mark in program history, and joined Crystal Kelly, Lillie Mason and Tiffany Porter-Talbert as the only Lady Toppers to break the 2,000-point mark. Brown's mark of 2,073 career points also ranks eighth in C-USA history.
Brown is the school record holder with 1,859 attempted career field goals and the single-season record of 647 attempted field goals this year. Her 782 made field goals in her career rank fourth in program history, and Brown also ranks among the top 10 in program history in both made (454, fifth) and attempted (626, sixth) free throws.
Over her four seasons with the Lady Toppers, Brown helped to lead the program to a 108-28 record, pairing with teammate Ivy Brown as the second-winningest senior class in program history. In those four seasons, WKU captured three C-USA Tournament titles, two C-USA regular season crowns and had a 12-5 postseason record that included three NCAA Tournament appearances.
Brown joins a Liberty squad that posted a 22-12 record in the 2017 WNBA season, the third-best regular season record in the 12-team league. New York received a bye into the second round of the playoffs before falling against the Washington Mystics, 82-68, on Sept. 10. The Liberty are coached by Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame inductee Katie Smith, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and one of the top players in WNBA history.
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