Williams named OUA's top player

Jylisa Williams is a once-in-a-generation player.

There was no doubt she was the most valuable  university woman’s basketball player in Ontario and on Wednesday the OUA made it official, naming her the player of the year.

Her stats stand for themselves.

Williams, a native of Atlanta, led the nation is scoring, pouring in 28.8 points a night. She set a new single-season scoring record in the OUA with 548 points, and broke a 32-year-old record when she dropped 50 points on the Toronto Varsity Blues last month. Four times she topped the 40-point mark, including an opening-round playoff win over Western, her finale at the Thunderdome.

Defensively she topped the league in steals, averaging four a game, and hauled in 9.3 rebounds a night, second in the OUA.

And while she’d trade it all in for an OUA championship and a trip to next weekend’s national championship in Laval, Que., a humble Williams admitted it was  pretty cool feeling when she got the call.

“Wow,” she said.

“Words can’t even explain it. It’s a great accomplishment. But like I told someone earlier, my main goal is to get a banner and an OUA championship.”

Her route to the top has been fraught with obstacles.

A star in high school in Atlanta, she landed at Georgia State. But midway through her second season Williams left the team and eventually wound up in Alaska, serving a two-year stint in the U.S. army.

She spent a year at Alberta’s Olds College, arriving in Thunder Bay in 2013.

She joined the Wolves midway through last season, scoring 39 points in her debut and hasn’t looked back.

Her teammates couldn’t be happier with her success.

“She definitely deserves (the award),” said Thunder Bay’s Katelyn Andrea.

“I’m honoured to have gotten the chance to play with her. She’s a great person and a great athlete overall. She always brought energy to our team. She was always our greatest leader and everyone always looked up to her.”

Guard Corina Bruni, who patrolled the Wolves backcourt alongside Williams, said she couldn’t be happier or more proud of her teammate.

“She deserves it more than anybody and the idea was always that she was probably going to get it, but now that she’s got it, it makes me feel so good that her hard work is rewarded so much. She doesn’t just score points, she contributes absolutely everywhere.”

Lakehead coach Jon Kreiner said the OUA got it right.

“I felt if she didn’t get it, there should be an investigation maybe,” Kreiner joked, two days before his Thunderwolves take on the Windsor Lancers in one of two OUA semifinals.

It’s huge, he added, a first in team history.

“In every way possible it’s a positive, from celebrating the success the program is having this year to just honouring the hard work and the passion that Jylisa has put into our program.”

Williams, who runs out of eligibility after this season, hopes to play professionally next season.