Oklahoma's Madi Williams Lands Big 12 Honor

It's the second time this season and the fifth in her career that Williams has won the league's weekly award, but she's making a case for national accolades as well.

John E. Hoover | Jan 23, 2023

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Oklahoma Sooners

By OU Athletics Media Relations

For the second time this season and fifth time in her career, Oklahoma redshirt senior Madi Williams was named the Big 12 Conference Player of the Week, the league announced Monday.

Williams was critical in then-No. 15 Oklahoma's two victories last week, guiding the conference-leading Sooners (16-2, 6-1) to a 27-point road win over TCU and a double-digit comeback win over in-state foe Oklahoma State in Bedlam.

The Fort Worth, TX, product averaged 22.5 points on 63 percent shooting last week, but her all-around performances are what powered the Sooners.

In the win over TCU, Williams became the first Big 12 player since at least 2009 to post 19 points on 80 percent shooting with five assists while playing under 25 minutes in a conference game. The forward added seven rebounds and three steals in the dominant win over the Frogs. In OU’s double-digit comeback win over Oklahoma State, Williams scored 26 points, 17 in the second half. She added four rebounds and three assists in the winning effort.

Williams is averaging a team-high 16.9 points this year with 6.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. Per the Big 12 and Her Hoop Stat, she is the only player in the country to average 27 points, 10 rebounds and four assists per 40 minutes as the unanimous All-Big 12 honoree is making her case for a host of national awards.

Williams and the Sooners take the floor Wednesday when they travel to Austin for a matchup between the league's top two teams in the standings. Tipoff versus Texas (15-6, 5-2) is slated for 7 p.m. on the Longhorn Network.

Published Jan 23, 2023

JOHN E. HOOVER

John is an award-winning journalist whose work spans five decades in Oklahoma, with multiple state, regional and national awards as a sportswriter at various newspapers. During his newspaper career, John covered the Dallas Cowboys, the Kansas City Chiefs, the Oklahoma Sooners, the Oklahoma State Cowboys, the Arkansas Razorbacks and much more. In 2016, John changed careers, migrating into radio and launching a YouTube channel, and has built a successful independent media company, DanCam Media. From there, John has written under the banners of Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, Fan Nation and a handful of local and national magazines while hosting daily sports talk radio shows in Oklahoma City, Tulsa and statewide. John has also spoken on Capitol Hill in Oklahoma City in a successful effort to put more certified athletic trainers in Oklahoma public high schools. Among the dozens of awards he has won, John most cherishes his national "Beat Writer of the Year" from the Associated Press Sports Editors, Oklahoma's "Best Sports Column" from the Society of Professional Journalists, and Two "Excellence in Sports Medicine Reporting" Awards from the National Athletic Trainers Association. John holds a bachelor's degree in Mass Communications from East Central University in Ada, OK. Born and raised in North Pole, Alaska, John played football and wrote for the school paper at Ada High School in Ada, OK. He enjoys books, movies and travel, and lives in Broken Arrow, OK, with his wife and two kids.