Williams is Proud to be a Temple Owl

GAMEDAY FEATURE STORY

by Cathy Bongiovi, Athletic Communications

Basketball has always been the easy part for junior Tyonna Williams. Life was the hard part.

One of four children, and the only girl, Williams was raised by her grandparents in suburban Maryland.

"Both my parents were addicted to drugs," Williams shared. "And my grandma—I call her my savior and my little angel—because she definitely saved my life. I promise you without my grandparents in my life, I wouldn't be here talking to you."

Williams can't remember the first time she touched a basketball.

"They tell me I picked up a ball when I was two, and I haven't let it go since," she said. "But I can remember starting organized basketball when I was about seven."

"The biggest influence getting me into basketball I'd have to say would be my grandparents and my first organized basketball coach. They pushed me; they really supported me in what I wanted to do. They saw I had a passion for basketball, and they helped me get to where I am today."

Today Williams is a three-year starter for the Temple Owls and one of the few upperclassmen on a very young team. She is a leader and a coach while learning more about the game she loves.

A first-team All-Met honoree by The Washington Post as a senior at Riverdale Baptist High School, Williams was named the Team MVP and team captain. She averaged 18 points, five rebounds, five steals, and four assists per game in leading the nationally ranked team to a 30-6 record as a senior. Williams also lettered in volleyball and softball.

But Williams wanted to play basketball in college.

"I was recruited by a lot of schools," Williams recalled.

But there was really one choice for her.

"That's easy—Coach Cardoza," Williams said of why she chose Temple. "When she was recruiting me, she was just different. There were a lot coaches that would come in and tell me I could be the star of the team, but when Coach Cardoza was recruiting me, she preferred to tell me the things that she didn't like that I was doing on the court.

"I found out she was already my coach; she'd be coaching me from the sidelines. I'd just look over, and if I made a bad play, I could see the look that she'd give me like 'don't make that play again' and when we would talk on the phone, she would tell me the things I needed to do to get better and my attitude. She was already a coach, and I looked at her like a mother-figure. I eventually opened up to her, and I don't open up to a lot of people, but she was someone I trusted. I can trust her with my deepest, darkest secret. She is just like a mother-figure, and I have so much respect for her. She was definitely the reason I came to Temple."

As a true freshman in 2011-12, Williams played in 31 games with two starts.

Last season as a sophomore, Williams was moved from her natural position of shooting guard to point guard. She started all 32 games, just one of two players to do so. At point, she led the Owls with 5.0 assists per game.

"I don't know what my position is," Williams said with a laugh. "I look at my position as being a leader on this team, and whatever position Coach needs me at, that's what I'll do."

As a junior this season, Williams has started every game, and she leads all players in the American Athletic Conference in free throw shooting. Williams earned Philadelphia Big 5 Player of the Week, OwlSports.com co-Player of the Week, and American Athletic Conference Honor Roll honors following career game against Auburn. She paced the Owls with a career-high 29 points, tying her career-high with five treys, in the win. She nailed two free throws as time expired to seal the Owls' victory and shot a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe in 38 minutes of action.

And Williams has moved back to shooting guard, well, sort of. With true freshman Feyonda Fitzgerald stating at point guard, Williams takes over point when Fitzgerald needs a break. She also coaches her younger teammate.

"I just see her making a lot of the same mistakes I made last year," Williams said. "When I see her making the mistakes and getting frustrated, I try to tell her, 'It's o.k. Don't get too upset about it and try not to do it again. Just realize that you're going to make mistakes.' She just can't get down on herself, because she's a freshman at the end of the day. She needs to be able to rebound off of that and still lead us."

Playing its inaugural season in the American Athletic Conference this season has been an adjustment. The Owls play each opponent twice, and the competition includes top-ranked Connecticut and Top 10 Louisville, who played each other in last year's National Championship game.

Predicted to finish ninth of the 10 teams by the media, Temple is holding its own in the middle of the standings with just a handful of game to go before the Conference tournament and postseason play.

"The sky is the limit honestly," Williams said of her team's postseason chances. "We just have to bear down and get some wins under our belts. It's been an up-and-down season. But we know the type of team we can be and the team we want to be. Of course, getting to the NCAA Tournament is a big goal for us, but right now we're just taking it one game at a time."

The criminal justice major, who has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll each year, would like to work in sports after graduation.

"My passion is basketball, so after I graduate, I want to go into coaching," Williams revealed. "Coaching has always been my first real dream, and hopefully I can get somebody to take me under their wing and hire me as a videographer or grad assistant. I definitely want to get into the coaching field."

When basketball is over, Williams intends to use her degree.

"As a career, if it's not coaching, I want to be a homicide detective," she said. "I want to be somebody who helps people. I've lost a lot of people due to homicide, and their killers weren't found. I just want to be somebody who can bring closure to other people's families, because I know how much it hurts."

Until then, Williams has plenty of goals to attain first.

"I want to make it to the NCAA Tournament. I've been here for two years, and I haven't made it yet; that's a big goal of mine," Williams said. "I'm passionate. I love this sport. I love putting a Temple jersey on my chest each and every time. I just couldn't be more proud to say I'm a Temple Owl."

Temple University Athletics

Williams is Proud to be a Temple Owl

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