Elizabeth Olatayo Williams (born June 23, 1993) is a British-born Nigerian-American basketball player for the

Chicago Sky The Chicago Sky are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Sky compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference. The franchise was founded prior to the 2 ...

of the

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is an American professional basketball league. It is composed of twelve teams, all based in the United States. The league was founded on April 22, 1996, as the women's counterpart to the Natio ...

(WNBA). She was the longest standing member of the

Atlanta Dream The Atlanta Dream are an American professional basketball team based in Atlanta, playing in the Eastern Conference in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was founded for the 2008 WNBA season. The team is owned by real e ...

until she signed with the Mystics. After immigrating from Colchester, Essex, England, she played her college career at Duke University. Then, she was drafted by the

Connecticut Sun The Connecticut Sun are an American professional basketball team based in Uncasville, Connecticut that competes in the Eastern Conference of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). The team was established as the Orlando Miracle in ...

4th overall in the

2015 WNBA Draft The 2015 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2015 WNBA season. The Seattle Storm picked first. This year's draft was unusual in that two players with remaining college eligibility declared for the draft—Jewell Loyd of Notre Dame, who ...

, and was traded to Atlanta after only one year with the Sun.

USA Basketball career

2009 U16 Mexico City

Williams was selected to be a member of the first ever U16 team for USA Basketball. The team competed in the First FIBA Americas U16 Championship For Women held in Mexico City, Mexico in August 2009. She led the team leader in rebounds, with 5.2 per game, and averaged 13.4 points per game, second highest on the team. She tied

Breanna Stewart Breanna Mackenzie Stewart (born Baldwin; born August 27, 1994) is an American professional basketball player for the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). In high school, Stewart was the National Gatorade Player o ...

for the most number of blocks per game, recording 7 per game. She helped the team to a 5–0 record and the gold medal at the competition. The win secured an automatic bid to the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship. Williams was named the Most Valuable Player in the Championship.

2010 U17 France

Williams continued with the team as it became the U17 team. The team competed in the 2010 FIBA U17 World Championship for Women, held in Rodez & Toulouse, France during July 2010. Williams helped the team win the gold medal and an 8–0 record. She was the leading scorer, averaging 13.5 points per game and hit 61.8% of her shots, highest on the team and second highest among all participants. She led the team in rebounds, averaging 7.6 per game. She recorded 16 blocks, second highest on the team. Williams started strong, recording a double-double in the opening game against France, and again, with 20 points and 14 rebounds in the second game against Russia.

U19 World Championships Chile

In 2011, Williams was selected to be on the USA basketball U19 team at the U19 World Championship, held in

Puerto Montt, Chile Puerto Montt (Mapuche: Meli Pulli) is a port city and commune in southern Chile, located at the northern end of the Reloncaví Sound in the Llanquihue Province, Los Lagos Region, 1,055 km to the south of the capital, Santiago. The commune spa ...

.The USA won their first five games, but then came up short, losing to Canada 64–52. They were still qualified for the medal round, and played France in the quarterfinal. The USA was down by as much as 13 points early in the game, but took a lead with just over a minute to go in the game and ended up with the win 70–64. The USA took an early lead in the semi-final against Brazil, and went on to win to qualify for the gold medal game. The final game was against Spain. Williams was one of three USA players with 15 points in the game, along with Stefanie Dolson and

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis Kaleena Jordan Mosqueda-Lewis (born Kaleena Jordan Lewis, November 3, 1993) is an American professional basketball player who is currently a free agent. Prior to enrolling at the University of Connecticut she played for Mater Dei High School in S ...

who helped the USA win the gold medal 69–46. Williams averaged 8.9 points per game and 5.0 rebounds per game to help the US to an 8–1 record and the gold medal in the Championship game.

College career

Williams played at Duke for four seasons. During her last year she averaged 14.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. Her assist average was the highest of any center in the country in the Atlantic Coast Conference women's basketball league. She ended her career with 426 total blocks, the ninth highest in NCAA history.

WNBA career

Connecticut Sun (2015)

Williams was drafted fourth overall by the

in the

2015 WNBA draft The 2015 WNBA draft was the league's draft for the 2015 WNBA season. The Seattle Storm picked first. This year's draft was unusual in that two players with remaining college eligibility declared for the draft—Jewell Loyd of Notre Dame, who ...

. Her rookie season was her only season with the Sun, where she averaged 3.3 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 0.9 blocks per game.

Atlanta Dream (2016–2021)

She was traded to the Atlanta Dream for the 2016 WNBA season. For 2016, after experiencing increased per game averages of 11.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, and 2.3 blocks, she won the

WNBA Most Improved Player Award The Women's National Basketball Association's Most Improved Player Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the 2000 WNBA season, to the most improved player of the regular season. The winner is selected b ...

Activism

Williams led a basketball driven campaign to force Atlanta team owner Senator

Kelly Loeffler Kelly Lynn Loeffler (, ; born November 27, 1970) is an American businesswoman and politician who served as a United States senator for Georgia from 2020 to 2021. Loeffler was chief executive officer (CEO) of Bakkt, a subsidiary of commodity and ...

to renege on her comments about the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police br ...

movement. Williams was also a part of a campaign consisting of Atlanta Dream players to elect Loeffler's opponent,

Raphael Warnock Raphael Gamaliel Warnock ( ; born July 23, 1969) is an American Baptist pastor and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Georgia since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he assumed office on January 20, 2021. Since 2 ...

, the eventual winner of the 2020-21 special election for US senator of Georgia.

Washington Mystics (2022–present)

In an article for

The Players' Tribune ''The Players' Tribune'' is a new media platform that produces daily sports conversation and publishes first-person stories from professional athletes. The platform was founded by former professional Major League Baseball player Derek Jeter in ...

published on February 4, 2022, Williams detailed the circumstances and her rationales behind her decision to sign with the

Washington Mystics The Washington Mystics are an American professional basketball team based in Washington, D.C. The Mystics compete in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) as a member club of the league's Eastern Conference (WNBA), Eastern Conference ...

for her eighth WNBA season.

Honors

* 2015—WBCA All-America team * 2015— WBCA National Defensive Player of the Year * 2010—MVP USA Basketball FIBA Americas U16 Championship

Personal life

She was born in England to Nigerian parents. Williams' younger brother,

Mark Mark may refer to: Currency * Bosnia and Herzegovina convertible mark, the currency of Bosnia and Herzegovina * East German mark, the currency of the German Democratic Republic * Estonian mark, the currency of Estonia between 1918 and 1927 * F ...

, played college basketball at

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and sovereign princes. As royalty or nobility, they are rank ...

and was selected 15th overall by the Charlotte Hornets in the

2022 NBA draft The 2022 NBA draft (branded as the 2022 NBA Draft presented by State Farm for sponsorship reasons), the 76th edition of the National Basketball Association's annual draft, was held on June 23, 2022, at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. The ...

Statistics

College career

Source

WNBA

Source

Regular season

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Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

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Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

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Playoffs

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2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

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2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Elizabeth 1993 births Living people All-American college women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in China Atlanta Dream players Basketball players from Virginia Centers (basketball) Connecticut Sun draft picks Connecticut Sun players Duke Blue Devils women's basketball players Liaoning Flying Eagles players McDonald's High School All-Americans Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Power forwards (basketball) Sportspeople from Virginia Beach, Virginia Princess Anne High School alumni Fenerbahçe women's basketball players Washington Mystics players Women's National Basketball Association All-Stars