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
Position	Point guard
League	WNBA
Personal information
Born	(1994-05-11) May 11, 1994 Folkston, Georgia
Nationality	American
Listed height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Listed weight	136 lb (62 kg)
Career information
High school	Charlton County (Folkston, Georgia)
College	South Florida (2012–2016)
WNBA draft	2016 / Round: 1 / Pick: 8th overall
Selected by the Phoenix Mercury
Playing career	2016–present
Career history
2016	Phoenix Mercury
2016–2019	Connecticut Sun
2017–2018	Perth Lynx
2020–present	Atlanta Dream
Medals Representing the USA World University Games 2015 South Korea Team Competition Pan American Games 2015 Toronto Team

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. 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]

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

• 2014—AAC First team[11]
• 2014–15 added to watchlist for the Wooden Award, Dawn Staley award, the Naismith Trophy, and the Wade Trophy[11]
• 2015—AP All-America honorable mention[11]
• 2016—AAC First team (unanimous)[12][13]
• 2016—AAC Scholar-Athlete[12]

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.

External links

• Media related to Courtney Williams at Wikimedia Commons