Natisha Hiedeman (born February 10, 1997) is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and an assistant coach for Penn State. She was drafted with the eighteenth overall pick in the 2019 WNBA draft, which is the highest of any Marquette basketball player in school history and the highest draft pick for the Big East Conference since conference re-alignment.[1]
 Hiedeman with the Minnesota Lynx in 2024 | |
| No. 2 – Minnesota Lynx | |
|---|---|
| Position | Shooting guard |
| League | WNBA |
| Personal information | |
| Born | February 10, 1997 Green Bay, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Listed height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) |
| Listed weight | 135 lb (61 kg) |
| Career information | |
| High school | Green Bay Southwest (Green Bay, Wisconsin) |
| College | Marquette (2015–2019) |
| WNBA draft | 2019: 2nd round, 18th overall pick |
| Selected by the Minnesota Lynx | |
| Playing career | 2019–present |
| Career history | |
| As player: | |
| 2019–2023 | Connecticut Sun |
| 2021–2022 | Nadezhda Orenburg |
| 2022–2023 | Maccabi Bnot Ashdod |
| 2024–present | Minnesota Lynx |
| As coach: | |
| 2023–present | Penn State (assistant) |
| Career highlights and awards | |
| |
| Stats at WNBA.com | |
Early life
Shortly after her birth, Hiedeman had to wear a full-body harness due to a hyperextension in her left leg. Her mother had her at 19. As a child, Hiedeman also played baseball and was the only girl on her team.[2]
Hiedeman attended Green Bay Southwest High School, where she had the nickname "T-Spoon" after former WNBA star Teresa Weatherspoon. She holds school records in triple jump, high jump, long jump, and 100 meter hurdles.[3]
College career
Hiedeman was recruited to Marquette after being the leading scorer in the Green Bay Metro area in high school while attending Green Bay Southwest High School. Hiedeman's brother is bnei herzliya basket player Sandy Cohen, who also played at Marquette.[4] In her first year at Marquette, she was named to the Big East All-Freshman Team. In the 2017–18 season, she was named to the Meyers Drysdale Award Watch List.[5] Hiedeman finished her career as Marquette's third all-time leading scorer, just 27 points shy of the program record. Additionally, she was the first Marquette player to reach 300 made three-pointers and finished sixth on Marquette's all-time assist chart.[6]
Marquette statistics
Source[7]
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game |
| FG% | Field goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field goal percentage | FT% | Free throw percentage |
| RPG | Rebounds per game | APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game |
| BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game | Bold | Career high |
| Year | Team | GP | Points | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015–16 | Marquette | 30 | 411 | 39.3% | 33.7% | 69.1% | 4.2 | 2.9 | 2.2 | 0.1 | 13.7 |
| 2016–17 | Marquette | 32 | 444 | 41.4% | 36.6% | 74.1% | 5.1 | 3.5 | 1.5 | 0.5 | 13.9 |
| 2017–18 | Marquette | 33 | 441 | 39.8% | 33.3% | 67.3% | 3.6 | 3.0 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 13.4 |
| 2018–19 | Marquette | 35 | 617 | 43.8% | 39.1% | 70.3% | 6.1 | 4.5 | 2.0 | 0.5 | 17.6 |
| Career | 130 | 1913 | 41.3% | 35.8% | 70.2% | 4.8 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 14.7 |
WNBA career
Hiedeman was drafted 18th overall in the 2019 WNBA draft by the Minnesota Lynx. During the draft, her rights were traded to the Connecticut Sun in exchange for Lexie Brown.[8] She was eventually waived by the Sun.[9] On June 19, 2019, the Atlanta Dream signed Hiedeman as a EuroBasket replacement for Alex Bentley.[10] Hiedeman did not make an appearance for the Dream before Bentley returned to the team. Upon Bentley's return, Hiedeman was waived.
Hiedeman was resigned by the Sun after her exit from Atlanta.[11] She appeared in her first WNBA game with the Sun. On July 10, she scored her first WNBA points.[12]
In 2020, Hiedeman was signed by the Israeli Female Basketball Premier League champions Maccabi Ironi Ramat Gan.[13]
On January 31, 2024, Hiedeman was traded to the Minnesota Lynx in exchange for Tiffany Mitchell and the 19th pick in the 2024 WNBA draft.
Coaching career
In October 2022, Hiedeman joined her former collegiate coach Carolyn Kieger at Penn State as the Director of Player Development.[14] Hiedeman was promoted to assistant coach for Penn State in August of 2023.[15]
WNBA career statistics
| GP | Games played | GS | Games started | MPG | Minutes per game | RPG | Rebounds per game |
| APG | Assists per game | SPG | Steals per game | BPG | Blocks per game | PPG | Points per game |
| TO | Turnovers per game | FG% | Field-goal percentage | 3P% | 3-point field-goal percentage | FT% | Free-throw percentage |
| Bold | Career best | ° | League leader |
Regular season
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Connecticut | 20 | 0 | 10.3 | .414 | .464 | .500 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 3.7 |
| 2020 | Connecticut | 22 | 4 | 18.5 | .354 | .359 | .700 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 1.1 | 6.1 |
| 2021 | Connecticut | 32 | 5 | 20.1 | .400 | .398 | .700 | 1.9 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.9 | 7.6 |
| 2022 | Connecticut | 36 | 31 | 25.0 | .431 | .411 | .800 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 1.2 | 0.1 | 1.3 | 9.1 |
| 2023 | Connecticut | 40 | 40 | 26.7 | .392 | .366 | .739 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 0.1 | 1.4 | 8.5 |
| Career | 5 years, 1 team | 150 | 80 | 21.5 | .401 | .392 | .700 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 7.4 |
Postseason
| Year | Team | GP | GS | MPG | FG% | 3P% | FT% | RPG | APG | SPG | BPG | TO | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Connecticut | 7 | 0 | 5.0 | .600 | .667 | 1.000 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.6 |
| 2020 | Connecticut | 7 | 0 | 7.7 | .538 | .625 | .833 | 0.7 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 3.4 |
| 2021 | Connecticut | 4 | 0 | 18.0 | .500 | .600 | .714 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 9.0 |
| 2022 | Connecticut | 12 | 12 | 26.2 | .419 | .444 | .769 | 2.1 | 3.0 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 8.2 |
| 2023 | Connecticut | 7 | 7 | 22.0 | .310 | .316 | .750 | 1.9 | 2.3 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 5.4 |
| Career | 4 years, 1 team | 37 | 19 | 17.0 | .422 | .476 | .778 | 1.4 | 2.1 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 5.8 |
Personal life
In September 2021, Hiedeman announced her engagement to Connecticut Sun teammate Jasmine Thomas.[16]
References
External links
- Career statistics and player information from WNBA.com and Basketball-Reference.com
- Marquette Golden Eagles bio
