Tiffany Mitchell

Career Summary

• Most decorated women’s basketball player in program history, including winning the University President’s Award, the highest annual award given to a Gamecock student-athlete for his/her cumulative career accomplishments in academics, athletics, service and leadership
• Three-time All-American — the fourth Gamecock to earn the honor in three different seasons and the first to do it since 1989
• Three-time All-SEC First Team — the second Gamecock to earn the honor three times
• Two-time SEC Player of the Year, including becoming just the second sophomore to earn the award in league history
• Ranks among the program’s all-time top five in 10 career stats, including school records for games started and games played
• Holds seven single-season school records, including 3-point percentage (.541 in 2013-14) and free throws made (157 in 2013-14), and single-game records for 3-point percentage and free throw percentage
• One of three Gamecocks to finish her career with at least 1,500 points, 300 assist and 200 steals — the first to join the group since 1996
• Was one of the team’s top two scorers in all three SEC regular-season championship seasons and was the Gamecocks’ top scorer during the 2015 NCAA Tournament run to the Final Four
• Earned the South Carolina President’s Award, the highest annual award bestowed on a student-athlete, honoring achievement in athletics, academics and community outreach over the breadth of his/her career
• Ninth pick overall in the 2016 WNBA Draft, selected by the Indiana Fever

Awards

Senior Year (2015-16)
Naismith Trophy Finalist
All-America (2nd team, AP; 3rd team, ESPN; USBWA; Wooden Award)
All-SEC First Team (Coaches, AP)
SEC Tournament MVP
CoSIDA Academic All-America (Second Team)
Senior CLASS Award Finalist
South Carolina President’s Award
SEC Academic Honor Roll

Junior Year (2014-15)
Dawn Staley Award Winner
Wooden Award Finalist
Naismith Trophy Finalist
Wade Trophy Finalist
SEC Player of the Year (Coaches, AP)
All-SEC First Team (Coaches, AP)
All-America First Team (ESPN, AP, USBWA)
WBCA All-America
NCAA Greensboro Region All-Tournament
Capital One Academic All-District 4
SEC Academic Honor Roll

Sophomore Year (2013-14)
WBCA All-America
All-America Third Team (AP, Full Court)
Wooden Award Final Ballot
Wade Trophy Finalist
Dawn Staley Award Finalist
SEC Player of the Year (Coaches)
All-SEC First Team (Coaches, AP)
SEC All-Defensive Team
SEC Academic Honor Roll

Freshman Year (2012-13)
2013 SEC All-Freshman Team
Two-time SEC Freshman of the Week
SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll

International
2015 Pan Am Games, silver medal
2014 FIBA 3×3 World Championship, gold medal

In the Record Books

Career
1st — Games started in a career (135)
1st — Games played in a career (139)
2nd — 3-point field goal percentage in a career (.399 (150-451))
2nd — Free throw percentage in a career (.773 (447-578))
2nd — Minutes played in a career (4,137)
3rd — Free throws made in a career (447)
5th — Points in a career (1,885)
5th — 3-point field goals made in a career (180)
5th — Free throw attempts in a career (578)
5th — Steals in a career (234)
6th — Field goal attempts in a career (1,400)
8th — 3-point field goal attempts in a career (451)
10th — Field goals made in a career (629)
10th — Defensive rebounds in a career (408)
1st — Points in an SEC career (862)
1st — Games played in an SEC career (64)
1st — Games started in an SEC career (60)
1st — Free throw percentage in an SEC career (.829 (218-263))
2nd — Minutes played in an SEC career (1952)
3rd — Steals in an SEC career (110)
4th — Scoring average in an SEC career (13.5)
4th — 20-point games in an SEC career (9)
4th — Assists in an SEC career (159)

Season
1st — 3-point field goal percentage in a season (.541 (40-74) in 2013-14)
1st — Free throws made in a season (157 in 2013-14)
1st — Games started in a season (37 in 2014-15)
1st — Games played in a season (37 in 2014-15)
2nd — Free throw percentage in a season (.838 (98-117) in 2014-15)
3rd — Free throw percentage in a season (.816 (124-152) in 2015-16)
5th — Free throw attempts in a season (198 in 2013-14)
1st — 3-point field goal percentage in an SEC season (.567 (17-30) in 2014-15)
1st — Free throws made in an SEC season (75 in 2013-14)
1st — Free throw percentage in an SEC season (.855 (47-55) in 2014-15)
4th — Assists in an SEC season (54 in 2013-14)
5th — Points in an SEC season (254 in 2013-14)
Most free throws made by a sophomore (157 in 2013-14)
Most free throw attempts by a sophomore (198 in 2013-14)
Best free throw percentage by a junior (.838 (98-117) in 2014-15)
Most games started by a sophomore (34 in 2014-15)
Most games started by a junior (37 in 2014-15)
Most games played by a junior (37 in 2014-15)

Game
1st — 3-point field goal percentage in a game (1.000 (6-6) vs. San Diego State, 11/23/14)
1st — Free throw percentage in a game (1.000 (10-10) vs. Georgia, 2/27/14)
5th — Free throws made in a game (13 vs. Cal State Northridge, 3/23/14)
5th — Free throw attempts in a game (17 vs. Cal State Northridge, 3/23/14)

Senior Year (2015-16)

• · Selected team captain for second-straight season
• Ranked seventh in the SEC in scoring, fourth in free throw percentage, seventh in steals and sixth in 3s made per game on the season
• In SEC play, ranked among league’s top 10 in four categories — fifth in scoring (15.6 ppg), second in free throw percentage (.833), sixth in 3-pointers made per game (1.7) and eighth in steals (1.9 spg)
• Was team’s top scorer 13 times — at Clemson, at UCLA, vs. ECU, Elon, at Vandy, Mizzou, at Miss. St., Fla., Ga., LSU, vs. Kentucky, vs. Miss. St., Kansas St.
• Handed out team-high assists 13 times — Ohio St., Ark., at Vandy, Mizzou, at Auburn, at Miss. St., Fla., Ga., LSU, vs. Auburn, vs. Miss. St., Kansas St., Syracuse
• Carried the Gamecocks on offense early on in the second round of the NCAA Tournament against Kansas State (Mar. 20), totaling 16 first-half points, including last six points of the half
• Led South Carolina with 15.7 points per game, six 3s and 10 assists during the SEC Tournament to earn MVP honors
• Reached double figures by halftime of the SEC Tournament championship against #16/16 Mississippi State (Mar. 6), including an end-of-the-shot clock 3 late in the first quarter and a runner in the lane that ended the Bulldogs’ second-quarter run and the transition layup that capped the resulting 13-2 surge to end the first half
• Sparked the offense in SEC Tournament semifinal against #13/13 Kentucky (Mar. 5) with a pair of early 3s and eight first-quarter points on the way to her sixth 20-point game of the season
• Dominated on Senior Day against LSU (Feb. 28) with most complete performance of the season, balancing scoring, assists and steals … scored 11 of her 24 points in the second quarter, including a pair of 3s during a 22-7 run
• Notched her 100th double-digit scoring game at Alabama (Feb. 22), finishing with 10 points and two 3-pointers
• Hit a pull-up jumper to end 6-0 Georgia (Feb. 18) run that cut Gamecock lead to five with 2:29 to play and capped resulting 11-6 run with 3-of-4 free throw shooting in final 32 seconds
• Put together a personal 6-0 scoring run late in the third quarter at #24/- Tennessee (Feb. 15) to reclaim lead on the way to her 23rd double-digit point performance of the season
• Led team in points and assist vs. #16/19 Florida (Feb. 11), knocking down three timely 3s and all seven of her free throws
• Played just 10 minutes against #18/18 Kentucky (Feb. 4) after suffering lower back injury midway through second quarter
• Scored 18 of her 20 points in the second half at #10/10 Texas A&M (Jan. 31), including seven during South Carolina’s 13-2 fourth-quarter run that grabbed control of the game
• Willed Gamecocks to victory at #10/10 Mississippi State (Jan. 24), scoring seven straight points to stretch one-point lead to six with 2:34 to go, adding clutch free throws in final :10 for second 20-point game
• Generated great offense at Auburn (Jan. 21) tying season high with five assists and swiping three steals to go with 13 points
• Tallied nine second-half points at #9/9 Kentucky (Jan. 14), converting a key three-point play late in the third quarter to give team its first lead
• Scored eight points of 10-2 third-quarter run after #20/- Missouri (Jan. 10) opened the period on a 12-4 surge
• Powered team to win at Vanderbilt (Jan. 7) with seven of her season-high 22 points during 10-3 third-quarter run that put team ahead for good, adding seven of fourth quarter’s first eight points
• Hit a pair of 3s during a 20-2 run that opened the second quarter against Arkansas (Jan. 3)
• Had most efficient scoring game of the season vs. East Carolina (Dec. 20), hitting 5-of-9 field goals and 7-of-8 free throws on her way to a game-high 18 points
• Sank free throws that started a 15-5 run over the final 5:03 to overcome one-point deficit to #14/13 Duke (Dec. 6)
• Sparked Gamecock offense in second half against Hampton (Dec. 16), tallying nine points over the first four minutes of the half and finishing 4-of-4 from the field in the final 20 minutes
• Scored 10 of her 14 points at Hawaii (Nov. 28) in the first half on 4-of-7 shooting (.571), including the first five points of the second quarter
• Netted four of her 17 points at UCLA (Nov. 22) during 10-4 run over final 4:05 to deliver the win
• Looked sharp in win at Clemson (Nov. 18), shooting 50.0 percent from the field with a team-high 18 points, including four 3-pointers, and swiped four steals for second time in three games

Junior Year (2014-15)

• Team captain
• Became program’s first to be named finalist for all three national player of the year awards — Naismith Trophy, Wooden Award, Wade Trophy
• Named First-Team All-America by ESPN, AP and USBWA in addition to WBCA All-America honors, becoming Gamecocks’ first back-to-back All-American since Marsha Williams in 1992 and 1993
• Won The Dawn Staley Award as best guard in the nation
• First woman in the SEC to earn consecutive outright league Player of the Year honors since 2005 and 2006
• With teammate Aleighsa Welch, first Gamecocks to make multiple appearances on All-SEC First Team since Jocelyn Penn in 2002 and 2003
• Became 19th Gamecock to post 1,000 career points with 200 career assists, ranking seventh in scoring among that group
• Sixth in SEC in scoring (14.4), second in field goal percentage (.500), third in free throw percentage (.838), 10th in assists (2.9) and 11th in steals (1.8) — only full-season SEC player to rank among the league’s top 15 in scoring, assists and steals
• Field goal and free throw percentages ranked among top 50 in the nation, 50th and 46th, respectively
• Averaged 14.2 points and 4.2 assists in NCAA Tournament play
• Scored in double figures a team-high 30 times, including five games of 20 or more points
• Was team’s top scorer a team-high 17 times — Southern Cal, San Diego St., Syracuse, at Hampton, vs. Central Michigan, Kentucky, at Missouri, at Florida, at UConn, Vanderbilt, at Arkansas, Mississippi State, vs. Arkansas, vs. Tennessee, Syracuse (NCAA), vs. North Carolina (NCAA), vs. Florida St. (NCAA)
• Led team in assists 12 times — Clemson, at Duke, Auburn, Kentucky, Texas A&M, at Georgia, at UConn, Tennessee, at Kentucky, Syracuse (NCAA), vs. North Carolina (NCAA), vs. Florida St. (NCAA)
• Powered the Gamecocks into their first NCAA Final Four with a personal 7-2 run that turned a tie game into a five-point lead against #7/7 Florida State (Mar. 29) … led team in scoring (21), rebounding (6) and assists (5)
• Hit the game-winner with five seconds remaining against #15/12 North Carolina (Mar. 27) to put team into the NCAA Elite Eight for the first time since 2002
• Tied for team-high honors with 14 points against Syracuse (Mar. 22), including six of team’s final 12 first-half points to establish 18-point halftime lead … also handed out a season-high seven assists
• Averaged a team-best 11.0 points at SEC Tournament, despite just four points in semifinal against LSU
• Shook off tough semifinal outing to lead offense with 17 points in SEC Tournament championship against #5/5 Tennessee (Mar. 8), including a pair of first-half 3s and hitting all three free throws when fouled on another in the second half
• Hit two free throws after Lady Vols had cut lead to one with :17 left against #6/6 Tennessee (Feb. 23) then forced a turnover on potential game-tying possession
• Hit four straight free throws after #12/10 Texas A&M (Jan. 26) pulled with two in the second half and was involved in both of next two plays that established a 10-point lead team would not yield
• Struggled from field at Missouri (Jan. 15), but delivered in the clutch, hitting a 3 each time Tigers got within three late in second half
• Scored 10 of the team’s last 13 points in win over #10/11 Kentucky (Jan. 11), including eight straight free throws to hold the Wildcats at bay
• Erased a tough shooting day at #9/8 Duke (Dec. 9) with a second-look 3-pointer that brought the Gamecocks within one with 19 seconds to play
• Scored 15 of her 21 points against #22/22 Syracuse (Nov. 28) in the first half to keep Gamecocks within striking distance, then hit free throws late to seal the win over the Orange
• Shot 6-of-6 from 3-point range against San Diego State (Nov. 23), the best perfect long-range shooting night in school history

Sophomore Year (2013-14)

• Became Gamecocks’ first WBCA All-America selection, adding third-team honors from Associated Press and Full Court as well
• Tabbed SEC Player of the Year, just second sophomore to win award all-time by the league’s coaches, who also named her to their All-SEC First Team and All-Defensive Team
• Was a unanimous All-SEC selection by AP, just the third Gamecock all-time to capture first-team honors from the organization
• Ranked 10th in SEC in scoring (15.5), seventh in free throw percentage (.793) and steals (1.8 spg), and 11th in assists (3.5 apg)
• In SEC play, was only player to rank in points (9th, 15.9), rebounds (16th, 6.4), assists (11th, 3.4) and steals (7th, 1.8)
• Lifted rebounding average from 4.5 in non-conference action to 6.4 in league play
• Led team in scoring 13 times — at USC, NCCU, Winthrop, Savannah St., at Arkansas, Kentucky, at Auburn, at Vandy, Mizzou, at LSU, Florida, Georgia, vs. CS Northridge (NCAA)
• Paced team in assists 16 times — at Clemson, at San Diego St., at USC, at Charlotte, Winthrop, SC State, at TAMU, Alabama, at Vandy, Ole Miss, Arkansas, at LSU, at Kentucky, vs. Kentucky (SEC Tourn.), vs. CS Northridge (NCAA), vs. Oregon St. (NCAA)
• Was team’s go-to option at end of tight games, averaging 5.3 points, shooting 60.0 percent (12-of-20) including 4-of-5 (.800) from 3-point range, during final five minutes of the Gamecocks’ 10 games that were within 10 points at that time
• Averaged 18.3 points and 3.3 assists in NCAA Tournament play (3 games)
• Broke school record for free throws made (13) and attempted (17) in an NCAA Tournament game with her effort against CSU Northridge, highlighted by hitting 6-of-6 in the final 63 seconds
• Shot program’s third-best perfect game from free throw line (10-of-10), and tied for best by any SEC player in a league game all season, as part of her second-straight 20-point game to finish with career-high 25 against Georgia (Feb. 27)
• Scored 11 of her 19 points at #19/17 LSU (Feb. 16) in second half, including six in final 4:00 to turn seven-point lead into 17-point edge … also added seven rebounds and seven assists against the Lady Tigers
• Turned in her first career 20-point SEC game against Missouri (Feb. 2), including eight free throws
• Recorded four straight points, including layup off her fourth steal of the game, with under minute to play to key win at #16/19 Vanderbilt (Jan. 26)
• Scored five points in final 20 seconds at #25/21 Texas A&M (Jan. 16) to send game to overtime, during which she added four points in bid for victory
• Swiped career-high six steals at Auburn (Jan. 12) and scored six of her 18 points during an 8-0 run after Tigers cut lead to three with five minutes to play
• Sank 4-of-4 free throws in final two minutes to ice win over Vanderbilt (Jan. 5), finishing with 19 points
• Grabbed two defensive rebounds and hit 4-of-4 free throws in final 30 seconds to secure win at Arkansas (Jan. 2) en route to first double-double of the season
• Posted 16 of her 18 points against #14/13 North Carolina (Dec. 18) in second half, highlighted by four during a 14-3 run that included a layup after stealing an in-bounds pass under basket to bring team within two after trailing by 12 at half, and team’s lone 3-pointer to pull within four with 4:23 to play

Freshman Year (2012-13)

• Earned a spot on the SEC All-Freshman Team
• Started 30 games and came off the bench in the other three
• Led the team in scoring seven times — Clemson, Drexel, Furman, SC State, WCU, Tennessee, at Ole Miss
• Paced the team in rebounding six times — at LA Tech, vs. FGCU, at Seton Hall, at Georgia, Auburn
• Posted two double-doubles — at Seton Hall, SC State
• Scored in double figures 14 times and pulled down double-digit rebounds five times
• Recorded five of her seven points against Florida (March 3) in the second half, including a key 3-pointer after the Gators had cut the lead to three in the second half
• Snagged team-high eight rebounds at Arkansas (Jan. 27), including one in final 10 seconds to help secure a win …
• Tied her career high with 11 rebounds at Florida (Jan. 20), including six offensive, and hit a pair of free throws to make it a two-possession game with 15 seconds to play
• Turned in solid all-around game vs. LSU (Jan. 17), including key offensive rebound on missed free throw late in second half to help hold off a Lady Tiger comeback
• Posted first career double-double with 13-point, 11-rebound effort at Seton Hall (Dec. 2)
• Hit a pair of 3s against Drexel (Nov. 28), including one late in second half to help force overtime

High School

• Parade All-America (2011-12)
• Was a four-star recruit rated the 15th-best guard and top 46 player overall in the 2012 class by ESPN Hoopgurlz
• Named Gatorade North Carolina Player of the Year and Miss Basketball North Carolina as a senior (2011-12)
• Posted 19.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game in 2011-12
• Earned all-state and all-conference honors all four years
• Helped team to three straight North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association Class 3A state championships to cap her career
• Played four years for Josh Springer’s Providence Day Chargers

Personal

• Daughter of Cheryl Mitchell, has an older brother, Tory
• Named to USA Basketball’s 2015 Pan Am Games team and was invited to Senior National Team training camp in May 2015
• Competed for USA Basketball and won gold medal in the 2014 FIBA 3×3 World Championships in Moscow
• Received her bachelor’s degree in retail management in May 2016