« Women’s Basketball 2017-18

Gabby Williams

School
UConn
Position
Forward
Major
Urban and Community Studies

Classroom

Gabby Williams is a member of the director of athletics’ honor roll after garnering a 3.306 GPA in urban and community studies.

Character

Williams was forced to take on an important leadership role following the departure of Moriah Jefferson, Breanna Stewart and Morgan Tuck in 2016, and she flourished in that role during the 2016-17 season. She took the underclassmen under her wing, and her selfless personality off the court manifested on the court when she became the first post player in school history to lead the Huskies in assists. She has an engaging personality and a true concern for those in the community.

Community

Williams has been a part of the Foundation for Life’s “Bikes for Kids” (January 2015) through which she conducted a basketball clinic for high-achieving students in downtown Hartford, followed by a donation of bicycles. She produced a Kindness Video (November ’15) for the students of Greene Hills Elementary School on the importance of being kind to one another. She publicized Go 4 the Goal Shoelaces (February 24, 2016) by wearing gold shoelaces for 2/24 game vs. SMU to support awareness and research for childhood cancers.

Williams has been a part of a toiletry collection (November ’15 through present) in which she led the collection of unused toiletries from hotel stays for the duration of the season to be donated to in-need members of local communities. For the American Red Cross Blood Drive (February 2016), she greeted donors and encouraged student body to help save lives in ‘competition’ with other universities. For the Toys for Tots Drive (December ’15, ‘16), she collected toys with USMC officers at Men’s and Women’s basketball games for CT area children before the winter holidays.

Williams was involved with the Mansfield 5K Kids Run (July 2016) by helping set up and take down all necessary equipment at the youth fun run, greeting families and cheering on youth participants. For the Mansfield Festival (September 2016), she played games with local kids, took pictures and engaged in positive interactions with the community. Lastly, she participated in Athlete’s for Hope (September 2016).

Competition

The 2017 WBCA National Defensive Player of the Year, Williams became the 43rd member of UConn’s 1,000-point club on February 22, 2017, en route to leading the Huskies to a 36-1 record and 10th consecutive appearance in the Final Four. The Sparks, Nevada, native was honored as a consensus first-team All-American following the 2016-17 season and earned a unanimous selection to the Preseason American Athletic Conference First Team in 2017. Williams saved some of her best play for the 2017 NCAA Tournament as she was selected to the NCAA All-Bridgeport Region Team. She became the first UConn post player to lead the team in assists in 2017-18 and also earned a spot on the 2017 All-NCAA Tournament Team.