Courtney Williams (basketball)

Courtney M. Williams (born May 11, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Atlanta Dream of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Williams completed her high school basketball career at Charlton County High School. She signed with the University of South Florida and enrolled at the school in the fall of 2012.[1]

Courtney Williams
Williams in 2019
No. 10 – Atlanta Dream
PositionPoint guard
LeagueWNBA
Personal information
Born (1994-05-11) May 11, 1994
Folkston, Georgia
NationalityAmerican
Listed height5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Listed weight133 lb (60 kg)
Career information
High schoolCharlton County
(Folkston, Georgia)
CollegeSouth Florida (2012–2016)
WNBA draft2016 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8th overall
Selected by the Phoenix Mercury
Playing career2016–present
Career history
2016Phoenix Mercury
2016–2019Connecticut Sun
2017–2018Perth Lynx
2020–presentAtlanta Dream
Medals
Representing the USA
World University Games
2015 South Korea Team Competition
Pan American Games
2015 TorontoTeam

High school career

She played basketball for the Indians at Charlton County High School. Her mother Michelle Williams (then Michelle Granger)[2] had also played basketball for the same high school 22 years earlier. Michelle set the single-game scoring record when she scored 40 points. In her junior season, Williams took over the record by scoring 42 points in a game.[3]

Collegiate career

Freshman

Williams was a solid role player coming of the bench in her first season with the South Florida Bulls. she appeared in every game and started in 3. She averaged 7.4 points, 3.4 rebounds and .88 assists over 33 games.[1]

Sophomore

In Williams sophomore year she averaged 30.4 minutes a game compared to her 15.3 coming off the bench the season before. She finished the year with 16.3 points a game along with 7.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists. She was named All-Conference First team and was an Honorable Mention for the All-American team.[1]

Junior

She was a starter in every game and averaged 20.3 points per game which led the AAC. Overall she was the ninth leading scorer in the country with 20 or more points in 20 different games. During one stretch of 10 game she scored over 20 points in each game which is the longest streak in the nation at the time.[1]

Senior

In her senior year Williams hit 308 field goals which was second in the nation among all Division I teams. She scored 763 points which was eighth best among all Division I players.[4]

Williams was inducted into the University of South Florida Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.

South Florida statistics

Source[4]

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
2012-13 South Florida 33 245 41.9 32.4 72.5 3.4 0.9 0.8 0.4 7.4
2013-14 South Florida 36 586 43.8 27.4 76.7 7.5 2.4 1.0 0.5 16.3
2014-15 South Florida 35 710 42.0 36.9 78.9 7.5 3.3 1.6 0.9 20.3
2015-16 South Florida 34 763 42.6 38.2 69.7 8.4 2.6 1.3 0.9 22.4
Career South Florida 138 2304 42.6 35.3 74.6 6.7 2.3 1.2 0.7 16.7

USA Basketball
Courtney Williams in the World University gold medal game against Canada

Williams was selected as one of 12 players to play for the US at the 2015 World University games, held in Gwangju, South Korea in July 2015. The USA team opened with a win over Italy. In the second game against China, Williams was the leading scorer with 18 points. The USA team won the next two points to earn a berth in the semifinal against Japan. The USA team was down by 15 points, but came back to tie the game up and send the game into overtime. The teams matched scores in the first overtime and went into double overtime for the first time in World University Games history. With 10 seconds left in the second overtime, Japan cut the lead to two points but Williams hit two free throws to secure the victory. Williams recorded a double double, scoring 17 points and securing 10 rebounds. The gold-medal game was against Canada. The USA won the gold-medal 82–63 with Williams again contributing a double double, with 15 points and 10 rebounds.[5]

Professional career

Williams was selected as the eighth overall pick by the Phoenix Mercury in the 2016 WNBA draft. She was surprised by the selection as she did not think she had had significant discussions with the Mercury. Williams has identified Diana Taurasi as a player who “I look up to and who I compare my mentality to”, and now she will be playing on the same team as Taurasi.[6] After appearing in a handful of games for the Mercury, Williams was traded to the Connecticut Sun on June 26, 2016.[7]

On August 10, 2017, Williams signed with the Perth Lynx for the 2017–18 WNBL season.[8] Williams was named to the WNBL Team of the Week on 14 November 2017, after a 26-point performance against the University of Canberra Capitals. The following week, Williams was named WNBL Player of the Week, after tallying 37 points, 15 rebounds and 13 assists across a pair of victories. Williams was a key contributor in the Perth Lynx's historic 14 game winning streak, resulting in the team finishing the regular season on top of the ladder. Williams finished the WNBL regular season averaging 21.7 PPG, 6.5 RPG, 4.1 APG, 2.25 STPG and 0.9 BLKPG.[9]

On February 19, 2020, Williams was traded to the Atlanta Dream as part of a three-team trade.[10]

Awards and honors

Personal

Williams is the daughter of Michele and Donald Williams, and has one sister, Doniece.

References
  1. "Courtney Williams Bio". GoUSFBulls.com. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  2. "Courtney Williams - WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA". WNBA.com - Official Site of the WNBA. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  3. "To star guard, mom knows best". The Oracle. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  4. "NCAA Statistics". web1.ncaa.org. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  5. "2015 World University Games". www.usab.com. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  6. "USF's Courtney Williams goes No. 8 in WNBA draft to Phoenix". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on 2016-04-27. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  7. Knight, Joey (June 26, 2016). "Courtney Williams traded to Connecticut". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on August 28, 2016. Retrieved August 27, 2016.
  8. "PERTH LYNX LAND WNBA STAR COURTNEY WILLIAMS". PerthLynx.com. August 10, 2017. Retrieved August 10, 2017.
  9. "Courtney Williams Stats - WNBL". WNBL. Retrieved 2 January 2018.
  10. "Dream Acquire Courtney Williams In Three-Team Trade". WNBA. Retrieved 19 February 2020.
  11. "Courtney M. Williams". www.usab.com. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  12. Courant, Hartford. "UConn Women Dominate AAC Awards List". courant.com. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
  13. "2016 American Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Regular Season Awards Announced". theamerican.org. Retrieved 2016-04-15.
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