Betnijah Laney (born October 29, 1993) is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for Rutgers University.^[1]

Quick Facts No. 44 – New York Liberty, Position ...

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton

Laney in 2019
No. 44 – New York Liberty
Position	Shooting guard / small forward
League	WNBA
Personal information
Born	(1993-10-29) October 29, 1993 (age 30) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Listed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Listed weight	166 lb (75 kg)
Career information
High school	Smyrna (Smyrna, Delaware)
College	Rutgers (2011–2015)
WNBA draft	2015: 2nd round, 17th overall pick
Selected by the Chicago Sky
Playing career	2015–present
Career history
2015–2016	Chicago Sky
2015–2016	Perth Lynx
2017–2018	Bendigo Spirit
2018	Connecticut Sun
2019	Indiana Fever
2019–2020	Elitzur Holon
2020	Atlanta Dream
2020–2022	Elitzur Ramla
2021–present	New York Liberty
Career highlights and awards
WNBA Most Improved Player (2020) WNBA All-Star (2021) WNBA All-Defensive First Team (2020) WNBA All-Defensive Second Team (2023) WNBA Commissioner's Cup Champion (2023) First-team All-Big Ten (2015) Second-team All-AAC (2014) Big East All-Freshman Team (2012) McDonald's All-American (2011)
Stats at WNBA.com
Medals Women’s basketball Representing  United States World Cup 2022 Australia

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Laney started playing basketball at 10 years old, largely thanks to her mother having played basketball competitively. Laney is the daughter of Yolanda Laney,^[2] who played for Cheyney State and was also coached by C. Vivian Stringer. Her best friends are Aiyannah Peal and Sydni Epps.^[3]

Laney attended Smyrna High School in Smyrna, Delaware where she averaged 23.7 points, 10 rebounds, 4.4 steals, 4.3 assists and 1.2 blocks per game as a senior and was named a McDonald's All-American.^[4]

In her four-year career at Rutgers, Laney played 129 games with 107 starts, and averaged 10.9 points, 7.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 steals per game.^[4]

On April 16, 2015, Laney was selected by the Chicago Sky with the 17th overall pick in the 2015 WNBA draft.^[5] In her rookie season playing for the Sky, Laney averaged 2.8 points and 2.1 rebounds in 33 games (32 regular season and one playoff).^[6]

On July 16, 2015, Laney signed with the Perth Lynx for the 2015–16 WNBL season.^[7] On November 11, 2015, she was named in the WNBL's Team of the Week for Round 5 after recording 12 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists against the Adelaide Lightning on November 8.^[8] On January 13, 2016, she earned Team of the Week honors for a second time.^[9] On February 16, she was named WNBL Player of the Month for January.^[10] She led the Lynx to a second place regular season finish with a 16–8 win–loss record, and went on to score a game-high 23 points in the team's semi-final win over the first-seeded Townsville Fire.^[11] With the win, the Lynx advanced to the WNBL grand final for the first time since 1999.^[12] There they were outclassed by the defending champion Townsville (who made it to the grand final via the preliminary final), losing the best-of-three series 2–0. Laney appeared in all 27 games for the Lynx in 2015–16, averaging 15.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game.

Laney returned to the Chicago Sky for the 2016 WNBA season. On June 8, she was ruled out for the rest of the season after tearing her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). The injury occurred during the second quarter of the Sky's June 3 game against the Washington Mystics.^[13]

On February 7, 2018, Laney signed a training camp deal with the Connecticut Sun.^[14]

Laney had a breakout season in 2020 with the Atlanta Dream; she was named to the WNBA All-Defensive Team^[15] and won the Most Improved Player Award.^[16] In 2021 she signed with the New York Liberty.^[17]