Bria Hartley emerged as one of the Liberty’s most reliable scoring threats in 2017, particularly in the 2nd half of the season once she assumed full-time control of the starting point guard duties. What followed was arguably her best season in the WNBA, particularly when factoring where her final stats ended up after getting off to a start below her standards.
BRIA HARTLEY 2017 SEASON STATS
GM | MIN | FGA | FGM | FG% | 3FG | 3FGA | 3FG% | FTM | FTA | FT% | REB | AST | STL | BLK | PTS |
34 | 21.4 | 99 | 238 | .416 | 38 | 110 | .345 | 29 | 39 | .744 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 7.8 |
For the Liberty, the start of the 2017 season saw numerous lineup changes due to a combination of incorporating new players and dealing with the season-ending injury to point guard Brittany Boyd, and the prolonged absence of Kia Vaughn and Epiphanny Prince as they competed in the EuroBasket Tournament. Hartley, was one of the new faces, and also coming off the birth of her son during the offseason, and shuffled between starting at the 1, the 2, and coming off the bench through the 1st 17 games of the year.
As the season hit the mid-way point however, everything changed as the Liberty installed Hartley as the full-time starter at the point, Prince at the 2, and the explosive scoring talents of Sugar Rodgers leading the 2nd unit.
Hartley went on to score in double figures in 12 of the final 17 games of the season, hitting a season-high 17 points twice. During that stretch she ranked 4th on the team averaging 10.8 ppg, and shot .435 from the field. Hartley finished the year averaging 7.8 ppg, her 2nd highest tally as a professional, while shooting .345 from 3-point range, the 2nd-best rate of her career.
oftentimes it seemed that the way Hartley would go was indicative of how the team performed. She finished the season scoring in double figures 16 times, and New York was an impressive 13-3 (.813) when she reached that 10-point threshold.
BRIA HARTLEY 2017 SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
June 16 at Dallas
Shooting 6-of-12 from the field while knocking down a pair of 3-pointers, Hartley poured in 17 points to help lead the Liberty to an overtime win over the Stars.
July 28 at Indiana
Reached 17 points yet again, adding 4 assists and 3 rebounds, while knocking down a clutch 3-pointer late in the 2nd half to help the Liberty secure a road win
August 18 at Connecticut
In a big game with playoff implications, the Liberty were able to tie the season series with the Sun on the road, and Hartley came up big with 11 points, nailing 3 3-pointers with three boards.