Hall of Fame career: Former Yellow Jacket went on to break Pfeiffer University records [Fort Mill Times, S.C.]

Dec. 24--FORT MILL -- You wouldn't know it to look at her, but in her heyday, former Fort Mill and Pfeiffer University athletic standout Candace Phifer Hatley was a take-no-prisoners competitor.

"When I played basketball, I wasn't about finesse, I was more like a bulldozer that demanded the ball," said Hatley, who played center as a member of the Fort Mill Yellow Jackets and Pfeiffer Falcons.

"I always had a grimace on my face when I played, because I just wanted to win."

By the time she finished her collegiate career in 2000, Hatley amassed a laundry list of accomplishments. As a member of the Division II Falcons, Hatley holds the school records in career rebounding (979), games played (107), free throws made (457) and attempted (656). She is ranked third in career points (1,589), second in field goal percentage (.533), was the team MVP in 1997, 99 and 2000, and was all-conference in her final two years of eligibility.

But that was just one of the two sports she participated in at Pfeiffer. In Cross Country, she was the team MVP and all-conference for all four years of eligibility. Her stellar career in both sports earned her a place in the Pfeiffer University Sports Hall of Fame, where she was inducted on Sept. 23.

"I never worried about stats when I played sports," Hatley said. "I was always super-competitive to a fault, and was considered a leader, not by being vocal, but just by getting it done out there."

Though she will be remembered for helping to build both the basketball and cross country programs at her alumni, Hatley credits her athletic upbringing in Fort Mill for laying the foundation for her future accolades. Moving to Fort Mill in the fourth grade, Hatley began playing basketball at a competitive level in middle school, her interest spurred by many a night shooting hoops with her father David. From there, she entered Fort Mill High School, and the six foot-tall Hatley started at center all four years of her high school career. Under head coach Pam Pittman, Hatley and the Yellow Jackets finished 20-3 in her senior season, culminating with a playoff run that was halted in the quarterfinals.

After graduating in 1995, Hatley was the only player from her team to play basketball at the collegiate level.

Hatley also ran cross country at Fort Mill, and even attempted track her freshman year, but the latter didn't appeal to her. Still, she saw the track season all the way through to the end, and this "can't quit" mentality was what propelled her to success in other sports.

"I didn't enjoy track, but I did it for the whole year because I was raised to finish anything I started," Hatley said. "My parents got me into sports at an early age, and I was allowed to try anything under one condition: I couldn't quit under any circumstances."

Her athletic roots in the Carolinas aside, Hatley can now be found in Indianapolis, where she moved with husband and college sweetheart Joseph Hatley in 2001. Working in the risk-management department for a mutual funds company, Hatley also has a 3 year-old daughter, Teagen, who she describes as "already quite the runner herself."

Hatley hasn't picked up a basketball since her playing days at Pfeiffer, but her ferocious competitive side still lingers just below the surface. As a member of a 15k trail-run series that stages seven races throughout Indiana, Hatley won her age group in 2011, the first year she ever participated. Hatley is currently training in preparation for a 26.2-mile breast cancer awareness marathon that will take place in Jacksonville, Fla.

While she now considers herself a "wife, mother and career woman," Hatley credits her sports career for instilling a focus and dedication that she has used to find happiness off the court and trail.

"I think the biggest thing sports taught me was discipline," Phifer said. "I had to balance sports and school, and it gave me a sense of responsibility that I carried with me on to the next stages of my life."

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