Central Arkansas Christian’s Christyn Williams led the USA Women’s U17 National Team to a bronze medal in the FIBA U17 World Championship in Spain June 22-July 2.
Williams, a 5-10 junior-to-be ambidextrous guard/forward who has an offer from UConn among her 24 scholarship possibilities, led the Americans to a 6-1 record, falling only to Australia in the semifinals at Zaragoza, Spain. She led Team USA in scoring and minutes played against the Czech Republic, Italy, Brazil and France.
CAC coach Steve Quattlebaum was rightfully proud of his star.
“She represented our school and our whole state with a lot of class and played really well,” he said. “She played the most minutes, led the team in scoring and seemed to me to be one of the leaders on the team, and remember this is a 17-year-old team and she just turned 16.
“One of the benefits will be that future outstanding players in Arkansas will get opportunities like this because of her being such a great player and teammate.”
In pool play, Team USA opened with a 104-45 win over South Korea and completed Group C competition 3-0 after wins over the Czech Republic, 72-63; and Italy, 59-55. In the round of 16, the Americans knocked off Brazil, 79-62; before dumping France in the quarterfinals, 56-45. They fell to Australia in the semis, 73-60; but beat China for the bronze medal, 65-50.
Australia beat Italy for gold, 62-38.
The loss was the only one for the Americans in 30 games of this competition. According to the USA Basketball web page, the FIBA U17 World Championship for Women, held every two years, started in 2010. USA Basketball’s U17 team won the tournament in 2010, ‘12 and ‘14.
The loss didn’t mar Williams’ overall experience, though.
“USA Basketball was so much fun despite the fact that we didn’t get gold, but everything happens for a reason,” she said in a text. “I can’t even describe the experience. I got a glimpse of how college is going to be; I got to tour different parts of Europe; I built relationships with new coaches and my teammates.
“It was so many things we did in a short period of time, which made it go by so fast. (I am very sad.)”
Williams, who went from uninvited walk on to an alternate for the U16 team last year, was an invitee in 2016. She survived five cuts as the number of athletes was culled from 139 at the start of the trials to 101, then 73, 41, 18 and the final 12.
“It was a long process in making the team, but us 12 worked really hard the entire time, and I am forever grateful to have gone through the process with that specific group,” she said.
Her stats were telling throughout the competition.
Against South Korea, Williams had four points, four rebounds, one assist and one block in 16 minutes.
Against the Czech Republic, she recorded 12 points, two rebounds, one assist and two steals in 30 minutes.
Against Italy, she had 20 points, three rebounds and two steals in 37 minutes.
Against Brazil, she had 19 points, including a 7-of-7 performance from the foul line, 10 rebounds and two assists in 38 minutes.
Against France, she put up 17 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists in 38 minutes.
Against Australia, Williams finished with two points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal and four fouls in 28 minutes.
Against China, she had nine points, one rebound, one assist, one block and one steal in 29 minutes.
For the tournament, she set a USA U17 record for free throw percentage, making all 15 of her attempts.
Final standings for the tournament were Australia, 6-0; Italy, 5-2; USA, 6-1; China, fourth, 4-3; Czech Republic, fifth; 4-3; Spain, 5-2; Canada, 5-2; France, 2-5; Japan, 4-2; Latvia, 3-3; Mali, 3-4; Portugal, 1-5; Brazil, 2-4; Mexico, 1-6; South Korea, 0-6; and Nigeria, 0-3.
Williams, who led CAC to a Class 4A state runner-up finish as a sophomore, has started all 69 games during her Mustang Mountain career. Her stats include 1,678 points, 650 rebounds, 73 assists, 150 steals and 62 blocked shots. She has career highs of 47 points last season and 14 rebounds as a sophomore.
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