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Leilani Mitchell

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Leilani Mitchell
Mitchell with the Mercury in 2019
No. 5 – Southside Flyers
PositionPoint guard
LeagueWNBL
Personal information
Born (1985-06-15) June 15, 1985 (age 39)
Richland, Washington, U.S.
NationalityAmerican / Australian
Listed height5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Listed weight138 lb (63 kg)
Career information
High schoolKennewick
(Kennewick, Washington)
College
WNBA draft2008: 2nd round, 25th overall pick
Selected by the Phoenix Mercury
Playing career2008–present
Career history
2008-2013New York Liberty
2008–2012ASPTT Arras
2012–2013ŽKK Novi Zagreb
2013–2014Dandenong Rangers
2014–2015Sydney Uni Flames
2015Phoenix Mercury
2015–2016Adelaide Lightning
2016Washington Mystics
2016–2017Sydney Uni Flames
2017–2019Phoenix Mercury
2018–2019Canberra Capitals
2019–2021Southside Flyers
2020–2021Washington Mystics
2021–2022Bendigo Spirit
2023–presentSouthside Flyers
Career highlights and awards
Stats at WNBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference Edit this at Wikidata
Medals
Representing  Australia
FIBA World Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Turkey Team
FIBA Asia Cup
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Bangalore Team

Leilani Seamah Mitchell (born June 15, 1985) is an American-Australian professional basketball player for the Southside Flyers of the Women's National Basketball League (WNBL). Mitchell was drafted 25th overall by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2008 WNBA draft.[1] A dual citizen of the United States and Australia, she is a member of Australian women's national basketball team (the Opals).[2][3] In 2019 Mitchell became the first WNBA player to win the Most Improved Player Award twice.[4]

Mitchell was a member of the Australian Women's basketball team (Opals) at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[5] The Opals were eliminated after losing to the USA in the quarterfinals.[6]

Early life

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Mitchell was born in Richland, Washington and is the only daughter of Dennis Mitchell and Eleanor Majid. Her father is American and her mother is Australian.[7][8] She has five brothers: Tyler, Troy, Travis, Reggie, and Robbie. Mitchell has dual citizenship with both the United States of America and Australia.[9][10] Mitchell's mother died from cancer in 2009.

High school career

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Mitchell attended Kennewick High School in Kennewick, Washington.[11] Mitchell was a four-year starter at Kennewick High School. Mitchell was named first-team all-state and all-conference as a junior and senior at Kennewick High School and earned Big Nine Conference Player of the Year honors as a senior. In four consecutive years, Mitchell led Kennewick High School to state championship games, including Kennewick's title-winning season of 2000.

College career

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University of Idaho

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Mitchell played for Idaho Vandals from 2003 to 2006. At Idaho, she was named the 2004 Big West Freshman of the Year and set numerous school records.[12] Mitchell finished her career ranking fifth in points (1,471), third in points per game (17.0), ninth in field goals made (441), third in 3-point field goals made (164), free throws made (433), and free throws attempted (514), second in free throws percentage (.842), second in assists (504), and first in steals (323).

University of Utah

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Mitchell transferred from Idaho to the University of Utah.[11] She sat out the 2006–07 season under NCAA rules, and then played the 2007–08 season for Utah.[13] In her lone season at Utah, Mitchell led the Utes to a 27–5 record in the 2007–08 NCAA season. She recorded 240 assists, the second most assists in program history. Mitchell won five Mountain West Conference Player of the Week awards, more than any other player in the conference. After the regular season, Mitchell was named the Mountain West Conference Player of the Year in separate votes by Mountain West coaches and media. Mitchell finished her college career as one of only six NCAA Division I players since 1999–2000 to compile 2,000 points/500 rebounds/500 assists/300 steals in her career.

Professional career

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Young woman standing with her hands on hips wearing orange basketball uniform
Mitchell in 2018

Mitchell was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury twenty-fifth overall in the second round of 2008 WNBA draft.[14] Mitchell was then traded to the New York Liberty during the 2008 pre-season after the Liberty acquired Mitchell in a trade in exchange for a 2009 third round draft pick.[15] Initially a bench player, Mitchell made her first professional start on June 6, 2008, in place of the injured Loree Moore. In her first career start against the Houston Comets she had team-high 18 points going perfect 6–6 from the floor including 3–3 from three-point range. During the 2008 season she developed a strong fan following and a reputation for fearlessness in grabbing loose balls and occasionally driving to the basket. Mitchell scored 14 points in the Liberty's narrow loss to the Detroit Shock in Game 3 of the 2008 Eastern Conference Finals.

Mitchell had a breakout year in the 2010 WNBA season. She became the regular starting point guard in the 2010 season, after the Liberty released Moore in the offseason. Mitchell averaged career-high 9.3 points and 3.8 assists per game. She scored 10-plus points 14 times, and lead the league in three-point field-goal percentage (48.6). Mitchell scored her first 20-point game against the Tulsa Shock.[16] She won the 2010 WNBA Most Improved Player Award.[17] On September 2, 2011, Mitchell scored a career-high 24 points in a win against the Minnesota Lynx.

On April 21, 2014, Mitchell announced that she was taking the 2014 WNBA season off to spend time with her family in Australia. As a result, on August 7, the Liberty waived Mitchell.[18] On February 4, 2015, Mitchell signed with the Phoenix Mercury.[19] On June 12, versus the Indiana Fever, Mitchell scored then career-high 25 points, going 8–14 from the floor including 7–10 from three-point range. On July 5, Mitchell hit the go ahead three-point shot in overtime with 3.9 seconds, in a 94–91 win over the Los Angeles Sparks. On August 27, she scored 16 points and made a three-pointer from the top of the key at the horn to give Phoenix an 81–80 win over the Connecticut Sun. In 2016, Mitchell signed with the Washington Mystics in the second half of the season to fill a roster gap at the point guard position.[20] She played 10 games off the bench and averaged 5.9 ppg. In 2017, Mitchell returned to the Phoenix Mercury in free agency.[21]

On May 23, 2019, the Phoenix Mercury also waived Mitchell. After releasing Arica Carter and the standard 10 waiting period after Mitchell cleared all waiver, the Mercury resigned Mitchell on June 5. On June 28, Mitchell recorded her first career double double as she had 18 points and then career high 11 assists. On July 30, against the Washington Mystics, she scored then career-high 28 points and tied a WNBA-record 8 threes in a single game. Against her former team the New York Liberty, Mitchell scored her career-high 29 points on August 27. Mitchell ended the 2019 season averaging double figure points for the first time in her career as the Mercury finished 15–19 with the 8th seed in the league. The Mercury lost 105–76 to the Chicago Sky in the first round elimination game. Mitchell won the WNBA Most Improved Player Award, becoming the first player in either the NBA or WNBA to win the award twice.

In February 2020, Mitchell signed with the Mystics in free agency. On September 4, Mitchell recorded her second career double double as she had 20 points and career high 12 assists. She scored playoff career-high 25 points in the Mystics' loss to her former team Phoenix Mercury in the first round, losing the single elimination game 85–84.

Career statistics

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Legend
  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

College

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Source[22]

Legend
  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
2003-04 Idaho 28 438 47.5 40.4 86.1 4.5 6.0 3.2 0.3 15.6
2004-05 Idaho 30 531 47.5 39.0 87.5 4.6 5.9 3.9 0.1 17.7
2005-06 Idaho 29 510 43.9 38.0 78.3 4.9 5.6 4.0 0.2 17.6
2006-07 Utah Did not play – transfer
2007-08 Utah 32 536 47.2 38.4 80.1 4.1 7.5 2.0 0.1 16.8
Career 119 2015 46.4 38.8 83.3 4.5 6.3 3.2 0.2 16.9

WNBA

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Regular season

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2008 New York 34 5 15.2 .371 .404 .810 1.7 2.9 0.5 0.1 1.1 3.9
2009 New York 34 2 14.3 .300 .269 1.000 1.2 2.2 0.3 0.1 0.7 2.4
2010 New York 34 34 28.8 .441 .486° .814 2.6 3.8 1.6 0.2 1.5 9.3
2011 New York 34 30 25.4 .375 .364 .800 2.1 2.9 1.3 0.1 1.2 5.6
2012 New York 34 25 26.7 .409 .411 .750 2.5 3.0 1.0 0.2 1.5 6.5
2013 New York 34 9 18.6 .406 .376 .857 2.1 1.9 0.8 0.1 1.0 5.0
2015 Phoenix 34 26 23.0 .374 .394 .889 2.1 2.7 1.0 0.1 1.4 6.7
2016 Washington 10 0 16.1 .435 .355 .800 1.7 1.9 0.1 0.0 1.3 5.9
2017 Phoenix 34 7 21.3 .389 .360 .824 2.4 3.6 0.9 0.3 1.7 8.0
2018 Phoenix 31 0 14.9 .351 .341 .857 1.4 2.3 0.5 0.2 1.3 4.4
2019 Phoenix 32 27 30.4 .441 .430 .829 3.0 4.0 0.9 0.3 1.8 12.8
2020 Washington 22 22 30.6 .408 .305 .872 2.8 5.4 0.8 0.1 1.7 9.5
2021 Washington 31 12 23.4 .360 .357 .826 2.0 2.5 0.5 0.1 1.1 6.4
Career 13 years, 4 teams 398 199 22.2 .395 .385 .834 2.1 3.0 0.8 0.1 1.3 6.6

Postseason

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Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
2008 New York 6 0 10.3 .429 .500 1.000 0.3 1.3 0.0 0.0 1.0 4.8
2010 New York 5 5 29.0 .227 .250 1.000 3.2 3.6 0.8 0.0 2.0 3.2
2011 New York 3 3 26.0 .353 .357 .000 1.7 1.7 0.3 0.3 1.0 5.7
2012 New York 2 0 15.5 .250 .200 .000 1.5 0.5 0.0 0.0 1.5 2.5
2015 Phoenix 4 0 14.8 .429 .500 .500 1.8 3.5 1.5 0.2 0.2 4.0
2017 Phoenix 5 5 33.0 .467 .480 .955 2.8 3.8 1.2 0.4 3.2 15.0
2018 Phoenix 7 0 7.0 .429 .000 .000 0.3 0.9 0.0 0.0 0.4 1.7
2019 Phoenix 1 1 26.9 .143 .250 1.000 2.0 3.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 5.0
2020 Washington 1 1 36.0 .533 .714 .800 2.0 4.0 0.0 0.0 3.0 25.0
Career 9 years, 3 teams 34 15 19.2 .393 .391 .923 1.6 2.3 0.5 0.2 1.4 5.9

International basketball

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During the WNBA off-season, Mitchell has played for ASPTT Arras in the Ligue Féminine de Basketball (LFB), a French professional league.[7] For the 2009–10 season, Mitchell won the Import Player of the Year Award and was named to the LFB 1st Team.[23] In 2012–2013, Mitchell played for the ŽKK Novi Zagreb in the Croatian League. Since 2013, Mitchell has been playing for the WNBL where she has played with multiple teams and was a national champion with Southside Flyers in 2020, Canberra Capitals in 2019 and Sydney Uni Flames in 2017.[24] Mitchell was chosen as MVP of the Grand Final, as she had been in 2017, as well as voted team MVP of the season when she and the Southside Flyers won the national championship in 2020 with Mitchell scoring thirty one points.[25][26] Mitchell planned to start a coaching career with Australian NBL1 team Maitland Mustangs after finishing the 2021-22 WNBL season with the Bendigo Spirit[27] but that playing role came to an end after four games due to pregnancy.[28]

Mitchell has been a regular member of the Australian national team, the 'Opals', since 2014, when won a bronze medal in the 2014 World Championship. She was a member of the Australian senior team at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where Australia fell in the quarterfinals.

Mitchell, like all the other members of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Opals women's basketball team, had a difficult tournament. The Opals lost their first two group stage matches. They looked flat against Belgium and then lost to China in heartbreaking circumstances. In their last group match the Opals needed to beat Puerto Rico by 25 or more in their final match to progress. This they did by 27 in a very exciting match. However, they lost to the United States in their quarterfinal 79 to 55.[29]

WNBL (Australia) statistics[30]

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Season Team G GS PTS FGA FGM FG% 3PA 3PM 3P% FTA FTM FT% OFF DEF REB AST STL BLK TO PPG RPG APG
2021–22 Bendigo Spirit 4 4 23 24 8 33.3 14 3 21.4 4 4 100 1 5 6 15 6 0 10 5.8 1.5 3.8

Personal life

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On July 24, 2018, Mitchell's fiancée WNBL basketball player Mikaela Dombkins gave birth to son Kash Maxwell.[31] On 4 June 2022, Mitchell announced, with partner Mikaela, on Mitchell's instagram page the birth of their daughter, Elle.[32]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Booth, Doug (December 26, 2013.)Star Ranger laps up Territory Christmas. NT News (page 49). Retrieved 2014-06-11
  2. ^ Basketball Australia. Player: Leilani Mitchell. Retrieved 2016-02-15.
  3. ^ FIBA World Championship for Women. Joyce thrilled to get Mitchell on board. Retrieved 2014-04-18
  4. ^ "Leilani Mitchell Named 2019 WNBA Most Improved Player". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  5. ^ "Leilani Mitchell". Australian Olympic Committee. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  6. ^ "Basketball MITCHELL Leilani - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". olympics.com. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  7. ^ a b Heyman, Brian (21 August 2010). "Heart Lighter and Game Honed, Point Guard Leads the Liberty". New York Times. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  8. ^ [Vandal]Profile: Leilani Mitchell Archived 2008-08-31 at the Wayback Machine
  9. ^ WNBA Player of the Week Leilani Mitchell puts herself on Brendan Joyce's Opals radar. news.com.au. Retrieved 2014-06-11
  10. ^ Potter, Jarrod (January 20, 2014). The colour of Opal. Star News Group Pty. Retrieved 2014-06-11
  11. ^ a b Columnist, Gordon Monson Tribune. "Monson: Utah's Mitchell has transcended turmoil". Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  12. ^ "Leilani Mitchell: AP All-American". Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  13. ^ "Hays: Timing is everything for Mitchell, Utes". ESPN.com. 29 February 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  14. ^ "Leilani Mitchell Playerfile". Archived from the original on 4 August 2013. Retrieved 11 August 2013. Leila Mitchell Bio
  15. ^ "Liberty Acquires Guard Leilani Mitchell". OuSports Central. 7 May 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  16. ^ STL. "WNBA Player Profile: Leilani Mitchell". www.shesaballer.com. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  17. ^ Cherwoo, Vin A. (26 August 2010). "Liberty's Leilani Mitchell is WNBA's most improved". USA Today. Associated Press. Retrieved 5 September 2010.
  18. ^ "New York Liberty Waive Guard Leilani Mitchell". 1495Sports. 7 August 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  19. ^ Mercury Sign Leilani Mitchell, Jasmine James Archived 2015-02-07 at the Wayback Machine
  20. ^ "Mystics Sign Leilani Mitchell". Mystics Today. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  21. ^ "Phoenix Mercury Sign Olympian Leilani Mitchell - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  22. ^ "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  23. ^ "LFB_2009-2010 Basketball League FRANCE - eurobasket". www.eurobasket.com. Archived from the original on 26 October 2012. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  24. ^ Iles, Kieran (29 April 2021). "WNBL star Leilani Mitchell joins Spirit in stunning coup". Bendigo Advertiser. Retrieved 10 May 2022.
  25. ^ "Leilani Mitchell Takes Home Flyers MVP At Southside Awards Night - Southside Flyers". Southside Flyers. 11 March 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  26. ^ "WNBL Basketball 2020-2021, News, Teams, Scores, Stats, Standings, Awards - australiabasket". www.australiabasket.com. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  27. ^ "Australian Opals star Leilani Mitchell to launch coaching career with Maitland Mustangs". Newcastle Herald. 19 October 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  28. ^ Irwin, Madeline (20 April 2022). "WNBL 2021/22 Season Review: Bendigo Spirit". The Inner Sanctum. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  29. ^ "Australian Olympic Team for Tokyo 2021". The Roar. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  30. ^ "Stats | WNBL". WNBL. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  31. ^ "AUSSIE WRAP: WNBA WEEK 10". Lachy France. 26 July 2018.
  32. ^ Mitchell, Leilani (4 June 2022). "Leilani Mitchell instagram page". www.instagram.com. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
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