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Kimberly Williams (born October 14, 1974) is a former professional basketball player who played two seasons for the Utah Starzz of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA).

Early life and college career

Born and raised in South Side, Chicago, Williams graduated from Marshall High School in 1993 and was Illinois "Ms. Basketball" as a senior.[1][2]

She helped guide the Westark Community College (now University of Arkansas-Fort Smith) to back-to-back appearances in the NJCAA Women's Basketball Championship. The team were national runner-us in 1994 and won the national championship in 1995, going 67–2 cumulatively in Williams' two seasons.[3] She was the first women's basketball player from Arkansas-Fort Smith to be drafted in the WNBA.[3]

Williams transferred to DePaul University, where she played from 1995 to 1997. As a senior at DePaul in 1996–97, Williams was Conference USA Player of the Year after scoring 25.1 points per game, second highest nationally, and leading C-USA in assists (5.6 apg) and steals (4.52 spg).[4]

Professional career

Drafted in the fourth round (28th overall) by the Utah Starzz in the 1997 WNBA draft, Williams played her debut game on June 21, 1997 in a 61 - 73 loss to the Sacramento Monarchs and recorded 6 points, 3 rebounds and 1 steal.[5] Williams played 58 games in her first two seasons (both with Utah), and averaged 7.8 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.8 assists.[4]

WNBA Comeback Attempts

After her sophomore season in 1998, Williams never played in the WNBA again, but she did sign multiple contracts amongst different teams from 1999 - 2002. On April 6, 1999, the Minnesota Lynx selected Williams third overall in the 1999 WNBA expansion draft, but Williams was waived two months later on June 8 and never played for the Lynx.[4][6]

After not being signed by any team and missing the 2000 season entirely, she was signed by the Cleveland Rockers on April 30, 2001. However she was waived a week later on May 8 and went on to miss the entire 2001 season as well.[7]

On April 30, 2002, Williams signed a contract with the Los Angeles Sparks but was waived two weeks later before the season started on May 13.[8] And once again, she was not signed by another team and missed the entire 2002 season. After 2002, she did not attempt a WNBA comeback again. And thus, her final WNBA game ever was played on August 17, 1998 in a 64 - 75 loss to the Phoenix Mercury where she recorded 2 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal on 11% FG shooting (1-11 FG).[9]

Career in Other Leagues

Following the 1998 WNBA season, Williams played overseas, beginning with Sporting in Greece from 1998 to 1999, followed by Holon in Israel from 1999 to 2000 and Fiskobirlik in Turkey from 2000 to 2001.[10]

In 2004, Williams returned to the United States with the Chicago Blaze of the National Women's Basketball League, playing two seasons.[10][11]

Williams played in Europe and Israel from 2004 to 2014, most recently with Dynamo Kyiv from 2012 to 2014.[10] Williams left Ukraine as military conflicts between Russia and Ukraine began.[12]

Williams signed with the Chicago Lady Steam of the Women's American Basketball Association in 2014.[10] She returned to DePaul University later that year to finish her bachelor's degree.[12]

Career statistics

Legend
  GP Games played   GS  Games started  MPG  Minutes per game  RPG  Rebounds per game
 APG  Assists per game  SPG  Steals per game  BPG  Blocks per game  PPG  Points per game
 TO  Turnovers per game  FG%  Field-goal percentage  3P%  3-point field-goal percentage  FT%  Free-throw percentage
 Bold  Career best ° League leader

WNBA

Regular season

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
1997 Utah 28 10 21.7 38.4 26.5 77.4 2.9 2.1 1.4 0.3 2.0 8.1
1998 Utah 30 10 18.1 40.8 32.1 73.5 1.9 1.5 1.4 0.2 2.2 7.6
Career 2 years, 1 team 58 20 19.8 39.6 29.0 75.5 2.4 1.8 1.4 0.2 2.1 7.8


College

Year Team GP GS MPG FG% 3P% FT% RPG APG SPG BPG TO PPG
1995–96 DePaul 27 - - 46.4 37.5 71.8 3.3 5.8 3.8 0.1 - 17.6
1996–97 DePaul 29 - - 41.1 34.9 70.0 4.0 5.6 4.5 0.3 - 25.1
Career 56 - - 43.1 35.1 70.9 3.6 5.7 4.2 0.2 - 21.5
Statistics retrieved from Sports-Reference.[13]

Honors and awards

College

  • 2x first team NJCAA All-American
  • MVP of NCJAA national tournament as a sophomore
  • Conference USA Player of the Year
  • Third team Associated Press All-American
  • Kodak/WBCA All-District honors
  • First team All-Conference USA honors
  • Second team All-Conference USA honors.[14]
  • University of Arkansas-Fort Smith Athletic Hall of Fame
  • Lions Athletic Hall of Fame[15]

References

  1. ^ DeSimone, Bonnie (June 20, 1997). "Ex-blue Demon's Purple Jersey Fits Her Fine In Utah". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  2. ^ Deardorff, Julie (January 3, 2015). "Ms. Basketball of Illinois 1993: Marshall's Kim Williams". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Hall of Fame: Kim Williams". University of Arkansas-Fort Smith. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  4. ^ a b c "Kim Williams Player File". WNBA. Archived from the original on April 30, 2001. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  5. ^ "Sacramento Monarchs at Utah Starzz, June 21, 1997". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  6. ^ "Kim Williams WNBA Stats - Basketball-Reference.com". Basketball-Reference.com.
  7. ^ "TRANSACTIONS (Published 2001)". The New York Times. 2001-05-08. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  8. ^ "WNBA.com: 2002 WNBA Transactions". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  9. ^ "Phoenix Mercury at Utah Starzz, August 17, 1998". Basketball-Reference.com. Retrieved 2023-08-16.
  10. ^ a b c d "Kimberly Williams". basketball.eurobasket.com. Retrieved 2021-05-31.
  11. ^ "National Women's Basketball League - League". 4 February 2005. Archived from the original on 4 February 2005.
  12. ^ a b "Williams Goes From Ukraine to the Hall of Fame". DePaul University. February 24, 2015. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  13. ^ "Ashley Joens College Stats". Sports-Reference. Retrieved July 7, 2024.
  14. ^ "Hall of Fame - University of Arkansas-Fort Smith Athletics". uafortsmithlions.com.
  15. ^ "Five named to UAFS Athletic Hall of Fame - Talk Business & Politics". 7 February 2011.
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