2022-23 Player Review: McKayla Williams

Through the first two seasons of her college career, McKayla Williams generally let her defense do the talking, and that resulted in consistent minutes as a menace on the defensive end. That game took a big leap in this past season.

Still a defensive-first player, Williams was forced into a larger role on the offense simply because the dominos kept falling elsewhere around her. The team needed her to score as they battled through injury after injury, and, for the most part, Williams responded admirably.

After averaging just 2.3 shot attempts per game last season, Williams cranked that up to seven for her junior showing. There is nothing that will necessarily jump out across stat line for Williams, she shot a respectable 34.2 percent from long range and 80 percent from three line. But again, offense hasn’t been her calling card while at Gonzaga.

With fewer bodies than normally available, Williams played major minutes this season—second on the team in fact, only behind Kaylynne Truong. Here is the interesting thing: Williams played 30.8 minutes per game and only logged 1.9 fouls per game. As a defensive specialist who often times finds herself guarding some pretty legitimate offensive opponents, doing so without fouling is a gift, and it is one the Zags needed this season.

There is a decent chance that Williams sees a drop in minutes next season, only because the Zags will hopefully have all the players available they were supposed to have. Her defense gets her the minutes, regardless. So we can expect to see plenty of more quality play from Williams for her senior season next year.