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68 IllustrateD volume 24, issue 4 f w o m e n ' s b a s k e t b a l l f e a t u r e : d e e d e e w i l l i a m s BY KYLE CHARTERS KCharters@GoldandBlack.com D ee Dee Williams thinks of others more than herself. The characteristic is prevalent in all aspects of her life, but exemplified on the basketball court, where she's long been content to work without accolades as long as Purdue wins. But as her career nears an end, that sort of "go- with-the-flow" attitude, as she terms it, hasn't been good enough, especially after teammate KK Houser went down with a season-ending injury. It was around that time in early February that Williams experienced an awakening, spurred by conversations with coaches and teammates — the message has been similar over the years, but without fully sinking in — that she was need- ed now. Perhaps it was Williams' mother, Charlene Williams, who finally broke through. "Dee Dee is a kid who doesn't like to disappoint anyone," Charlene Wil- liams said. "She does a lot of thinking on the court. 'Am I the one who is supposed to take this shot? Does my coach want me to pass it to someone else?' And that's just too much thinking. I tell her to be confident in her decisions: You're out on the court for a reason, and if you're con- fident and trust yourself, then you gain the trust of your teammates and your coaches. "… You've got to let her be her, but then when it's time to step up and do what you need to do, you need to do it. If you do anything less than that, then you're letting down others." Bingo. The message has resonated with Dee Dee Wil- liams, who has experienced a string of games that's arguably the best of her career. And it couldn't have come at a better time. Purdue very well could have been left reeling following the injury to Houser — the Boilermakers' leading scorer is out of the season after tearing her left ACL — but that's not been so. Instead, Purdue rallied to three straight victories in mid-Feb- ruary, vaulting itself into the top half of the Big Ten and erasing doubt that it could miss the NCAA Tour- nament. Williams has played an integral part. The 6-foot guard averaged nearly eight points per game in the first three following Houser's injury, more than quadruple her previous season aver- age. In fact, add in the Feb. 2 Mich- igan State game when Houser was injured, in which Williams' scored eight, and her four-game output of 31 points matched her total from the first 21 games of the season. Williams hit two three-pointers in an 18-point comeback win vs. Iowa, the second triple helping the Boilermakers close to within a couple late. And she had a critical three in a rally at Michigan the game before. "She's shooting in practice, without hesi- tation," Coach Sharon Versyp said. "She knows she's another offensive threat for us, where as she didn't feel Tom Campbell Dee Dee Williams isn't hes- itating any longer, one of the reasons why she's playing her best at the end of her career. Awakening Williams playing her best ball right now "When the opportunity to step up comes, you can't have fear. I told her 'No fear, no regrets.'" Charlene Williams' advice to daughter Dee Dee Williams