Oklahoma's Madi Williams named to Dawn Staley Award watch list
Junior guard Madi Williams has been named to the Dawn Staley Award late season watch list, the Phoenix Club of Philadelphia announced Friday.
The award, named for Philadelphia native and current South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, is given to the most outstanding collegiate guard in the country; a player who exemplifies the skills that Staley possessed during her career (ball handling, scoring, her ability to distribute the basketball and her will to win).
Williams is one of 16 players on the watchlist. She is joined by Iowa State’s Ashley Joens as the only Big 12 players on the list.
The Sooners’ leading scorer, Williams accounts for 20.6 points per game to rank fourth in the Big 12. Her 48.6 percent (88-for-181) field goal percentage places her fifth among Big 12 players and first among the league’s guards.
On Jan. 3, Williams dropped 45 points to break the OU single-game record previously held by the Sooners’ all-time leading scorer and current assistant coach Courtney Paris. Williams’ 45 points are the most scored in a game this season by a Big 12 player and the second most in Division I basketball.
The junior from Fort Worth has scored in double figures in each of the last 29 games of her career dating back to last season. Williams tallied her 1,000th career point on Jan. 23 as she logged 29 at Baylor.
The Phoenix Club of Philadelphia will name four finalists in mid-March, and the winner will be announced on NCAA Women's Final Four weekend.
