Williams didn\u2019t miss a single game in the regular season and has helped spark the Lynx to a 3-0 start in the postseason. A season that began with Williams going out of her way to place all the pressure and expectations that come with it squarely on her shoulders.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to start this off by saying, I myself in that final game, I dropped the ball, bro,\u201d Williams said way back before the season started in just the second episode of the Courtney\u2019s Daddy and Her podcast<\/a>, which she does with her father, Don. \u201c\u2026 I know we talked about the controversial call, but just from my seat, I\u2019m thinking like, \u2018Damn bro if I did what I\u2019m supposed to do it doesn\u2019t even come down to that.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Williams put those words into action over the offseason, through training camp, and ignited Minnesota\u2019s historically hot start. One of the league\u2019s true iron women \u2014 she hasn\u2019t missed a game in over three years \u2014 Williams is accustomed to intense offseason regiments, but heading into 2025 off a heartbreaking Finals defeat and playing in Unrivaled, even Williams admitted she pushed herself to a level she hadn\u2019t yet reached for.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI came into the game just telling myself, \u2018The work gonna show,\u2019\u201d Williams said after the season opener<\/a>. \u201cI\u2019ve been in the gym, getting here early, getting shots up. This is the first time in my career I done did that. I hate to say that, but it\u2019s the truth. It\u2019s the first time I actually did just that extra, like when it comes to my handles, my shot, my three. So, like I said, I think the work\u2019s just showing at this point.\u201d<\/p>\n Order \u2018Rare Gems\u2019 and save 30% If you enjoy Megdal\u2019s coverage of women\u2019s basketball every Wednesday at The IX Sports, you will love \u201cRare Gems: How Four Generations of Women Paved the Way for the WNBA.\u201d Click the link below to order<\/a> and enter MEGDAL30 at checkout to save 30%!<\/p>\n The work showed all season to the tune of Williams\u2019 first all-star selection since 2021, a goal Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said Williams made for herself before the season started. Her 13.2 points per game marked her highest scoring output since that 2021 season and her 271 total assists shattered Minnesota\u2019s franchise record for assists in a single season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of course a number of total records fell in 2025, to be expected in the first season ever with the 44-game schedule. Williams eclipsed the previous Lynx record of 230 with seven full games to spare.\u00a0<\/p>\n Despite a long stretch of phenomenal play in 2025, it didn\u2019t immediately translate into a phenomenal 2025 playoffs for Williams. In two games against the Valkyries in the opening round, Williams shot 7-for-19 from the field and just 1-for-6 from three on the series. However, always the closer, it didn\u2019t stop Williams from sinking a cold-blooded middy to put the Lynx up 75-72 in the final minute of Game 2 against the Valkyries, a game the Lynx eventually won 75-74 to cap a 17-point comeback.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cCourtney took one dribble and pulled up on the right elbow and that\u2019s just her money shot to put us up three,\u201d Kayla McBride<\/a> said after Game 2 in San Jose. \u201cThat\u2019s just who she is. She\u2019s a hooper and she made a big time play.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n When Williams is going good and those midrange jumpers are finding nothing but the bottoms of the nets, playing defense against her hardly seems fair. No matter what the box score says at the end of the game, though, Williams\u2019 confidence and mentality stays the same. <\/p>\n \u201cWe were on her the whole game. I said, \u2018Court, I\u2019ve got to have my big three,\u2019\u201d Reeve said after Minnesota\u2019s series-clinching win in San Jose. \u201cPlaying these guys for these four games [in 12 days], I don\u2019t know if Courtney really played that well against these guys, but I think she got herself to this place. We counted on her heavily for her energy, for her belief, and for her hyping her teammates, and she\u2019s the type that wants that shot.<\/p>\n \u201cShe doesn\u2019t care what happened. It\u2019s why we call her \u2018Dory.\u2019 She forgets everything else that happened, so she was just going to stand there for us and be tough and try to make a shot and she did.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Famous yet forgetful fish from the Disney-Pixar universe voiced by an even more famous daytime TV host aside, Williams\u2019 selective short memory has helped to make her one of the most dangerous lead guards in the game. It also helped to spur her semifinals Game 1 performance against the Phoenix Mercury, which not even Dory could forget anytime soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n Williams flirted with a playoff triple-double, netting 23 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, and tied a single-game franchise postseason record with 5 steals. When a frustrated Lynx team went into the halftime locker room trailing physical Phoenix 47-40, Reeve needed some heavy lifting from her \u2018Big Three\u2019 again. Williams would not be waiting to the final moments of the fourth quarter to put the game away this time. <\/p>\n \u201cShe was part of the conversation at halftime,\u201d Reeve said during the postgame press conference. \u201cShe\u2019s like, \u2018Can we try this? Can we do this?\u2019 So, she kind of put her money where her mouth was and tried to change things for us and make things a little more difficult [for Phoenix]. She was our deflection winner, [tied a playoff] career-high five steals, tied a franchise record in steals. So yeah, Court was terrific.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Sign up in September and check out The Ice Garden for free!<\/p>\n In case you missed it, The Ice Garden<\/a> is now part of The IX Sports family!<\/p>\n The staff of The Ice Garden has paved the way for women\u2019s hockey coverage from the college ranks to international competitions. Of course, that includes in-depth coverage of the PWHL too.<\/p>\n If you love Hockey Friday, sign up in September to sample all the incredible work of The Ice Garden.<\/p>\n Phoenix didn\u2019t have an answer for Williams in the second half. She shot 60% from the field, dished out four assists in the fourth quarter alone, and matched Phoenix\u2019s bigs like Alyssa Thomas<\/a> and Satou Sabally<\/a> on the boards with five second half rebounds. An area of her game where she doesn\u2019t always get credit, but always takes pride in.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cRebounding is all about your energy and effort,\u201d Williams said postgame. \u201cWe understand it\u2019s the playoffs, man, so we don\u2019t want to lose because of 50\/50 balls or rebounds. I think you take pride in it. I think we all take pride in that. You know, you can\u2019t see your teammates out there crashing and you just standing, that ain\u2019t no good look. I think [that\u2019s something] we all take pride in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Williams\u2019 confidence lit the fuse that ignited Minnesota\u2019s second half explosion in Game 1. The Lynx ran away with the game late, outscoring Phoenix 42-22 in the second half. There\u2019s still a long road for the Lynx to travel in these playoffs to climb the mountain that was denied to them so cruelly last year. No matter what happens in the games to come, whether they be Courtney Williams all-star games or \u2018Dory\u2019 games, there\u2019s no doubt No. 10 will relish the opportunity to get the ball in her hands with the game on the line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Howard Megdal, founder and editor of The IX Basketball and The IX Sports, wrote this deeply reported book. \u201cRare Gems\u201d follows four connected generations of women\u2019s basketball pioneers, from Elvera \u201cPeps\u201d Neuman to Cheryl Reeve and from Lindsay Whalen to Sylvia Fowles and Paige Bueckers.<\/p>\n