Moriah Jefferson (born March 8, 1994) is an American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

player for the Phoenix Mercury in the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA). She was drafted second overall by the San Antonio Stars in the 2016 WNBA draft. Jefferson played point guard for UConn women's basketball team, where she won four consecutive national championships. She finished her UConn career ranked first in assists, second in steals, and as a two-time winner of the Nancy Lieberman Award as the top point guard in the nation. On May 16, 2019, Jefferson was traded to the Dallas Wings.

Early life

Jefferson is the daughter of Robin and Lorenza Jefferson. She has two brothers, Joshua and Jeremiah, and one sister, Danielle Noble.

High School career

Jefferson played five varsity seasons with the Texas Home Educators Sports Association (THESA) Riders as a homeschooled athlete. Jefferson began playing with THESA's varsity squad as an eighth grader and compiled 509 points, 85 rebounds, and 87 assists. In her freshman year, she started in 50 of 51 games played and averaged 19.5 points, 1.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists. and 2.8 steals per game to help THESA to a 42–10 record. As a sophomore, Jefferson averaged 17.5 points to help her team to a 42–9 record. During her junior year, she started all 50 games and averaged 21.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, and 4.0 steals per game in aiding her team to a 42–8 record. As a senior, she averaged 17.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 5.1 steals per game to lead her team to a 41–6 record. Jefferson helped lead the Riders to five National Christian Homeschool Basketball Championships (NCHBC) titles and five NCHBC Texas Region titles and finished her career with 3,354 points, 825 rebounds, and 728 steals. Jefferson was selected to the 2012 WBCA High School Coaches' All-America Team. She participated in the 2012 WBCA High School All-America Game, scoring four points. Jefferson was recruited by many schools; she visited Baylor, Connecticut, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M, and was also considering Kentucky and Tennessee before cutting her list down to Baylor, Connecticut and Texas A&M. She ended up choosing Connecticut. She is the first recruit from the state of Texas to play for UConn.

USA Basketball

Jefferson was named to the USA Basketball U18 team, coached by

Katie Meier Katie Meier (born December 19, 1967) is head coach of the women's basketball team at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. She is a 1990 graduate of Duke University, where she played college basketball. As of 2022, Meier has the mo ...

, the head coach of the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private research university in Coral Gables, Florida. , the university enrolled 19,096 students in 12 colleges and schools across nearly 350 academic majors and programs, i ...

. Among Jefferson's teammates were Connecticut-bound players

Breanna Stewart Breanna Mackenzie Stewart (born Baldwin; born August 27, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In high school, Stewart was the National Gatorade Player o ...

and Morgan Tuck. The team played in the Ninth Women's FIBA Americas U18 Championship For Women, held in

Gurabo, Puerto Rico Gurabo () is a town and municipality in eastern Puerto Rico. It is located in the central eastern region, north of San Lorenzo; south of Trujillo Alto; east of Caguas; and west of Carolina and Juncos. Gurabo is spread over 9 barrios and Gurab ...

during August 2012. The USA team won all five games to win the championship and the gold medal. After winning the first four easily, with winning margins of 40 points or more, USA fell behind by double digits in the gold medal game against Brazil. The team came back from the deficit, and went on to win the game 71–47. Jefferson averaged 5.6 points per game, and, although the shortest player on the team at , she tied for third in blocks with five over the course of the event. Jefferson continued with the team as it became the U19 team, and competed on behalf of the US at the FIBA U19 World Championship, held in

Klaipėda Klaipėda (; ; german: Memel; pl, Kłajpeda; russian: Клайпеда; sgs, Klaipieda) is a city in Lithuania on the Baltic Sea coast. The capital of the eponymous county, it is the third largest city and the only major seaport in Lithuania ...

and

Panevėžys Panevėžys (; Latin: ''Panevezen''; pl, Poniewież; yi, פּאָנעװעזש, ''Ponevezh''; see also other names) is the fifth largest city in Lithuania. As of 2011, it occupied with 113,653 inhabitants. As defined by Eurostat, the population ...

, Lithuania, in July 2013. The team won all nine games, with an average winning margin of 43 points per game. Jefferson scored 4.0 points per game, and was third on her team with 31 assists over the course of the event. Jefferson was a member of the

USA Women's Pan American Team The Pan American Team is one of the teams under the auspices of the USA Basketball organization. The Pan American Games are held every four years in the year before the Olympics. The first Pan American Games were held in 1951, but those games were m ...

which participated in

at the

2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music * Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak al ...

held in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

from July 10–26, 2015.

College

University of Connecticut

Moriah Jefferson receiving Nancy Lieberman Award cropped

Jefferson led UConn to a 151–5 record over her four-year career, which included four consecutive National Championships. She finished her career in 22nd place on the UConn scoring list with 1,532, all-time leader in assists with 659, and second in steals with 353. Her 195 assists in 2013–14 is the fifth-highest single-season mark in school history, while her 191 assists in 2014–15 is the sixth-best single-season total. She became the second player in UConn history to dish out 200 assists. She became only the second Husky all-time to record back-to-back years with at least 100 steals. Jefferson's 191 assists during the 2014–15 season were the most by a UConn junior, while her 204 assists in 2015–16 is the best single-season total. Jefferson was named the 2014–2015 American Athletic Conference and WBCA NCAA Division I Defensive Player of the Year, and Consensus first team All-American for the second straight season. Jefferson is the third UConn player to earn the Nancy Lieberman Award (nation's top point guard) and one of only four players in the award's history to claim the honor twice.

College statistics

The following statistics represent Jefferson's collegiate career at the University of Connecticut.

Professional career

WNBA

After being drafted second overall by the San Antonio Stars in the 2016 WNBA Draft, Jefferson immediately became a starter on the team. During her rookie season, Jefferson scored a game-winning putback to beat the buzzer as part of her career-high 31 points to help San Antonio defeat the Indiana Fever 87–85 in overtime on July 1, 2016. She was named to the

WNBA All-Rookie Team The WNBA All-Rookie Team is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) honor given since the 2005 WNBA season to the top rookies during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the WNBA head coaches, who are not allowed to vote for ...

by the end of the season. She missed 13 games during the 2017 season due to a knee injury. On September 27, 2017, she had a surgery to fix the cartilage in her right knee. After rehabilitating for nine months, and missing the first 17 games of the 2018 season, she returned to practice on June 21, 2018. She was traded to the Dallas Wings before the 2019 season but chose to sit the season out to rehab. She made her debut for the Wings during the 2020 season but, she suffered another season ending injury to her right knee. On May 9 2022, Jefferson was waived by the Wings. Four days later, on May 13, Jefferson joined the Minnesota Lynx.

Turkey

In August 2016, Jefferson signed with

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

of the

Turkish Women's Basketball League The Women's Basketball Super League ( tr, Kadınlar Basketbol Süper Ligi, KBSL), also known as the Herbalife Nutrition Women's Basketball Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the top women's professional basketball division of the Turkish wo ...

(KBSL) for the 2016–17 season. For the season, she averaged 18.5 points and 4.9 assists, and helped it reach the KBSL semi-finals. She returned to Galatasaray for the 2018–19 season where she averaged 13.4 points and once again helped the team to the semi-finals.

Endorsements

In September 2016, Jefferson was featured in the Adidas "Sport Needs Creators" ad alongside athletes including

Von Miller Vonnie B'VSean Miller (born March 26, 1989) is an American football outside linebacker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). Miller played college football at Texas A&M, where he earned consensus All-American honors and ...

of the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

Paul Pogba Paul Labile Pogba (born 15 March 1993) is a French professional footballer who plays for club Juventus and the France national team. He operates primarily as a central midfielder, but can be deployed as a left winger, attacking midfielder, d ...

of Manchester United, and

James Harden James Edward Harden Jr. (born August 26, 1989) is an American professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Harden is regarded as one of the greatest scorers and shooting guards in NBA ...

of the Houston Rockets.

WNBA career statistics

Regular season

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2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

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, 21 , , 9 , , 24.5 , , .523 , , .450 , , .741 , , 1.8 , , 4.4 , , 1.5 , , 0.1 , , 2.0 , , 9.1 , - , align="left" ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

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Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

, 16 , , 0 , , 15.7 , , .379 , , .200 , , .810 , , 1.3 , , 2.1 , , 0.6 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 5.4 , - , align="left" ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

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Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

, 9 , , 6 , , 16.4 , , .409 , , .333 , , .583 , , 3.1 , , 2.0 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 1.7 , , 5.0 , - , align="left" ,

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, 29 , , 28 , , 17.2 , , .449 , , .460 , , .600 , , 2.0 , , 2.5 , , 0.8 , , 0.2 , , 1.4 , , 5.4 , - , align="left" ,

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

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, 1 , , 0 , , 4.0 , , .000 , , .000 , , .000 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , - , align="left" ,

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Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, 30 , , 30 , , 26.8 , , .452 , , .474 , , .815 , , 2.5 , , 4.9 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 2.2 , , 10.8 , - , align="left" , Career , align="left" , 6 years, 3 teams , 140 , , 107 , , 23.3 , , .444 , , .416 , , .772 , , 2.1 , , 3.6 , , 1.2 , , 0.1 , , 1.7 , , 9.1

Playoffs

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, 1 , , 1 , , 25.0 , , .571 , , .333 , , .000 , , 2.0 , , 4.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.0 , , 9.0 , - , style="text-align:left;", Career , style="text-align:left;", 1 year, 1 team , 1 , , 1 , , 25.0 , , .571 , , .333 , , .000 , , 2.0 , , 4.0 , , 2.0 , , 0.0 , , 4.0 , , 9.0

Awards and honors

* 2012—WBCA High School Coaches' All-America Team * 2014—AP All-American Honorable Mention * 2015—WBCA All-America Team * 2015—

Nancy Lieberman Award The Nancy Lieberman Award, named for Basketball Hall of Fame legend Nancy Lieberman, was given annually by the Rotary Club of Detroit in the Award's first 14 years to the nation's top collegiate point guard in women's Division I basketball. Sue Bi ...

* 2016—

* 2016— Dawn Staley Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, Moriah 1994 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American women's basketball players Basketball players at the 2015 Pan American Games Basketball players from Dallas Dallas Wings players Las Vegas Aces players McDonald's High School All-Americans Medalists at the 2015 Pan American Games Minnesota Lynx players Pan American Games medalists in basketball Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Point guards San Antonio Stars draft picks San Antonio Stars players UConn Huskies women's basketball players United States women's national basketball team players