Last Tuesday IUPUI beat Cleveland State 61-54 in the Horizon women’s tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to next week’s NCAA tournament. The Jaguars overcame a pair of forfeits in November by winning each of their final 5 games to make its 1st-ever trip to the NCAA tourney. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with IUPUI SR Macee Williams about being a 4-time(!) conference POY and getting her master’s degree.
You grew up in Indiana: what made you choose IUPUI? The family atmosphere and the fact that my dad liked the school, which made me fall more love in it. It makes it easy for my hometown community to come and support me in person.
In 2018 you were named conference ROY: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I had a good setup when I came here: the prior post player had graduated so I just tried to contribute in any way that I could. My coach gave me a lot of confidence and believed in me.
You are a 2-time team captain: what is the key to being a good leader? Our team is so close so I just make sure that everyone is doing good. It happens both on and off the court: you have to be there for each other no matter what.
In 2020 you won the Horizon tourney title but missed out on the 1st-ever NCAA tournament berth in school history when the season was cancelled due to COVID, and in November you had to forfeit a pair of games due to positive cases within your program: how frustrating has it been to be a basketball player during a pandemic? It has been very frustrating: I know that it is challenging for everyone but it has been especially so for our team. Taking those forfeits was very frustrating because we just wanted to play: it did not seem fair to us to be the only team in the conference to have to forfeit so while other teams got to make up their games.
In December you scored 19 PTS in a 1-PT win at Iowa: how on earth were you able to hold Caitlin Clark (the nation’s leading scorer this year) to 19 PTS/6-16 FG? I have to give it up to my teammate Rachel McLimore: her defense was pretty stellar and it just set the tone.
This year you were named conference POY for the 4th straight year: what did it mean to you to receive such outstanding honors? It is nice to get my name out there because I want to play pro basketball after this year. Coming from a mid-major school we are always overlooked by the WNBA so it is kind of nice. I also give it up to my teammates because they all make me look good.
You are the all-time leading scorer in school history: what is the secret to being a great scorer, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? It would be kind of cool to see a teammate like Rachel break the record. She sets me up really well but it all starts with working hard in practice, which transfers over to the games.
You have already earned your undergraduate degree in sport management and are now pursuing a master’s degree in elementary education: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? Coach P (Austin Parkinson) really emphasizes that “student” comes before “athlete”. No matter what our schedules are like we always go to class, and the professors are so supportive of what we do.
Last Tuesday in the Horizon tourney title game you had 19 PTS/18 REB in a 7-PT win over Cleveland State en route to being named conference tourney MVP and clinching a spot in the NCAA tourney: how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most, and what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? We all play well together as a team, and when everyone else gets going I feel good. The game was a little sweeter than normal because we missed out on the NCAA tourney a couple of years ago due to COVID. The locker room celebration was very fun.
What kind of seed do you think you deserve, and what kind of seed do you think you will get? I am unsure, but it does not matter for us because we were able to compete with teams like Iowa/Michigan and have showed what we are capable of. If we can come in ready to go then anything can happen.
The Hoops HD Selection Committee – Initial Board
Tonight, our Hoops HD staff members will begin debating the selection of our NCAA Tournament field via Zoom conference call. Before we begin these proceedings – our staff sent two lists to our committee chairman Chad Sherwood – one list (List A) consisted of up to 36 teams that we would consider to be NCAA Tournament locks (meaning they would be in our field no matter what happens the reast of the way). Teams that were listed on all but two ballots on List A were immediately placed in the at-large portion of the Selection Board.
The second list (List B) was teams listed Under Consideration – teams that got at least 4 votes among both boards were placed in the Under Consideration portion of the Selection Board. Teams that won their regular season title (and considered the top seed in their conference tournaments in the event of ties) were automatically added to the Under Consideration board as well.
And here is what our committee came up with:
You may have also noticed a number of teams in the Under Consideration column listed in red – they have all been eliminated from their conference tournaments as of the time this column was published (notable bubble teams include BYU, Michigan, Wake Forest and Xavier).
Tonight, our plan is to name our 2022 Centenary and Stallings Award winners (click HERE for a history of the awards) and do an initial scrub of the teams Under Consideration. Once that is done, we will add at least 4 more teams to the at-large board; more spots could also be filled depending on what happens in conferences like the Big East and Big 12 where a bid thief is no longer possible.