TAMPA, JAN. 15, 2016 – At the halfway point of the season, senior Courtney Williams (Folkston, Ga.) has led the Bulls to an 11-4 record (4-1 in The American) and ranks 10th in the country in points per game. The senior's efforts haven't gone unnoticed as Williams was named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top-20 list, announced Friday.
A group of potentially the 20 best women's basketball players in the country, Williams is one of nine guards to be named to the watch list, chosen by a poll of national college basketball experts.
2015 John R. Wooden Award winner Breanna Stewart of UConn headlines this year's preseason Top 30 list. Joining Stewart are teammates Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck, and Courtney Williams of USF.
Six conferences were represented on the list and the Big Ten leads the way with seven selections, followed by The American and SEC with four; the ACC and Pac-12 with two; and the Big 12 with one selection.
Williams joins fellow watch list member Brittany Martin (Oklahoma State) as just one of two players in the country averaging over 20 points, eight rebounds and two assists per game. Williams ranks 10th in Division I with 22.2 points per game and has six double-doubles this season. The senior has collected three 30-plus point performances this season and has scored 15-plus points in all but two games in her senior year. Williams is 127 points away from scoring her 2,000th career point and needs just 68 points to move to second in USF's career points record books.
Williams began the season as an AP Preseason All-America Honorable Mention and at the top of the Naismith Trophy and Ann Meyers Drysdale Preseason Watch Lists.
The 40th annual presentation of the John R. Wooden Award will take place during the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show presented by Wendy's. The Wooden Award Weekend, April 7-9, 2016, will honor the male and female Wooden Award winners, the top-five All-Americans, and the Legends of Coaching recipient, Coach Tubby Smith.
Since its inception, the John R. Wooden Award has contributed close to a million dollars to universities' general scholarship fund in the names of the All-America recipients. The Award has also sent more than 1,000 underprivileged children to week-long college basketball camps in the Award's name. Additionally, the John R. Wooden Award partners with the Special Olympics Southern California (SOSC) each year to host the Wooden Award Special Olympics Southern California Basketball Tournament. The day-long tournament, which brings together Special Olympics athletes and the All-Americans, takes place at the Los Angeles Athletic Club the weekend of the John R. Wooden Award presentation.
The Bulls continue to climb in the polls, and have reached their highest rankings in program history. USF has been ranked as highly as No. 18 in the Associated Press poll and No. 16 in the USA Today Coaches Poll this season; both are the highest rankings in program history. USF has appeared in both polls every week and placed as highly as No. 11 on some ballots.
USF has made 11 postseason tournament appearances and had three NCAA Tournament berths in Head Coach Jose Fernandez's 15 seasons. The all-time winningest coach in program history, Fernandez has guided USF to six 20-win seasons, two WNIT final four appearances, the 2009 WNIT championship and won more than 260 games.
– #GoBulls –
