MEXICO CITY – Arizona State women's basketball incoming freshman Taya Hanson became the third Sun Devil to earn a medal in international competition this summer after helping lead Canada to a silver medal at the FIBA U18 Women's Americas Championship.
Hanson averaged 11.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals in Canada's six contests at the FIBA U18 Championship. She came one rebound short of a double-double (14 points, nine rebounds) in Canada's opening game of the tournament against Colombia. She would surpass that performance with a 16-point, 11-rebound outing in Canada's quarterfinal victory over Chile. Canada won its first five contests by an average of 23.2 points before falling to the USA in the gold medal game on Tuesday night.
A 5-10 guard from Kelowna, British Columbia, Hanson signed with the Sun Devil women's basketball program last November. Hanson, who has been a member of the Canadian national team since 2015, played on both the Cadette National Team that placed seventh at the FIBA World Championships in Zaragoza, Spain in 2016 and the CWNT that won its first gold medal at the 2015 FIBA Americas. Most recently, Hanson led her Kelowna Secondary School squad to its first 4A girls' provincial championship in school history. She earned tournament MVP honors after scoring 18 points in the championship game.
In July ASU incoming Sun Devil freshman Iris Mbulito earned Most Valuable Player honors after she led Spain to the gold medal at the FIBA U20 Women's European Championship. Also last month, rising junior Kiara Russell won a gold medal as a member of the USA Team that claimed the championship at the FISU America Games.
The Sun Devils are coming off a 2017-18 campaign in which they tied the school records for consecutive NCAA appearances (five) and 20-win seasons (five). The squad will return all of its core players next season including 2018 All-Pac-12 standout and leading scorer Kianna Ibis and 2018 All-Pac-12 honorable mention/Pac-12 defensive honorable mention selection Robbi Ryan.
Hanson averaged 11.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.7 steals in Canada's six contests at the FIBA U18 Championship. She came one rebound short of a double-double (14 points, nine rebounds) in Canada's opening game of the tournament against Colombia. She would surpass that performance with a 16-point, 11-rebound outing in Canada's quarterfinal victory over Chile. Canada won its first five contests by an average of 23.2 points before falling to the USA in the gold medal game on Tuesday night.
Incoming freshman Taya Hanson posted a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) for Canada in yesterday's #FIBAU18Americas quarterfinal win over Chile! Canada will face Argentina in the semifinals tonight! Click link to watch live at 6:30 pm PT! https://t.co/tHDN2Xzu9T pic.twitter.com/ltakNQyGGy
— Sun Devil WBB (@SunDevilWBB) August 6, 2018
A 5-10 guard from Kelowna, British Columbia, Hanson signed with the Sun Devil women's basketball program last November. Hanson, who has been a member of the Canadian national team since 2015, played on both the Cadette National Team that placed seventh at the FIBA World Championships in Zaragoza, Spain in 2016 and the CWNT that won its first gold medal at the 2015 FIBA Americas. Most recently, Hanson led her Kelowna Secondary School squad to its first 4A girls' provincial championship in school history. She earned tournament MVP honors after scoring 18 points in the championship game.
In July ASU incoming Sun Devil freshman Iris Mbulito earned Most Valuable Player honors after she led Spain to the gold medal at the FIBA U20 Women's European Championship. Also last month, rising junior Kiara Russell won a gold medal as a member of the USA Team that claimed the championship at the FISU America Games.
The Sun Devils are coming off a 2017-18 campaign in which they tied the school records for consecutive NCAA appearances (five) and 20-win seasons (five). The squad will return all of its core players next season including 2018 All-Pac-12 standout and leading scorer Kianna Ibis and 2018 All-Pac-12 honorable mention/Pac-12 defensive honorable mention selection Robbi Ryan.