Kristen Mann

American professional basketball player

Kristen Cherie Mann (born August 10, 1983) is an American former professional basketball player who played for the Minnesota Lynx, Atlanta Dream, Indiana Fever, and Washington Mystics of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She played college basketball for the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.

Born in Lakewood, California on August 10, 1983, Mann is the daughter of Kathy Deeds and Gene Mann. She has two brothers, Mack and Guy, and one sister, Payton, all younger than her. Mann is of Samoan descent. She went to Foothill High School, playing both basketball and softball. She played first and third base for her high school softball team, and the Foothill Knights won the state and national titles in 2000. In basketball she holds 25 school records, and was a Nike All American.

Mann went to the UC Santa Barbara, alongside fellow WNBA player Lindsay Taylor, and graduated in 2005 with a degree in Women's Studies. She played basketball all four years at UCSB, and played softball for the 2003 season. She played first base and was a designated hitter with a batting average of .263 for the season. Some of her college awards are being First Team All Big West in 2003–04 & 2002–03, 2001–02 Big West Freshman of the Year, 2004–05 John Wooden All American, and being awarded the Kristen Lohman trophy. The Gauchos won the Big West tournament championship in 2002–03. During the summer of 2003 Mann was a member of Team USA and helped win the gold medal in the inaugural FIBA World Championship for Young Women in Sibenik, Croatia.

She is also a singer/songwriter and has released recordings with Gabriel Mann, no relation, but was a college friend under the band name Sapphica. She plays the acoustic guitar and sings for the duo. She has also released music as a solo artist under her name, Kristen Mann.