Getting your
Trinity Audioplayer ready...SAN FRANCISCO — Courtney Williams heard the crowd. Every time she scored, she found the nearest heckling fan and talked trash. Every time the boos rained down, she smiled. She blew kisses. She pressed her hands together into a heart.
She gave the Ballhalla faithful exactly what they wanted. A villain. And she reveled in every second of it.
“These folks can’t stand me and I love it,” Williams said.
Williams called Valkyries fans bullies in an Instagram Live stream earlier this week, and by Friday night, Chase Center had the receipts.
The crowd booed her name during pregame introductions. They booed every time she touched the ball. And Williams responded by scoring 21 points, grabbing 12 rebounds and dishing out five assists in the Lynx’s 81-75 win over the Valkyries.
The drama was equal parts self-inflicted and earned. Williams made the comments in good fun, even admitting she loves the hostile crowd. But that didn’t stop Golden State’s fans from turning the volume up to full.
With Minnesota having won all eight meetings against the Valkyries, Williams arriving as the night’s antagonist felt less like a storyline and more like a natural conclusion. The boos had no real bad blood behind it, but the energy was enough for the veteran point guard to come away in awe.
“They got an amazing fan base, man, and they fan base is not that nice,” Williams said. “But I love it because I mean, who don’t want to play in this type of environment.”
The beef between Williams and the Valkyries fan base started on Thursday.
In an Instagram Live stream with former teammate and fellow Studbud Natisha Hiedeman, Williams threw some shade at the Chase Center crowd.
“Their fan base don’t be caring,” Williams said in the stream. “What I’m saying is that their fan base is like little bullies, They don’t even know us. We came out and they were just booing us, talking all this trash. I’m saying their actual team, like the people that they have over there, them folks is not like that. They don’t act like how their fan base is.”
Williams seemed to be speaking tongue-in-cheek, but Valkyries fans certainly did not see it that way.
Williams’ comments sparked a strong reaction from Valkyries fans defending their honor. When gametime rolled around on Friday night, there were fan-made signs all throughout Chase Center poking fun at Williams’ 11-0 loss to Valkyries starting point guard Veronica Burton in the Unrivaled 1-on-1 tournament.
However all the boos and jeers started to slowly fade once Williams started to hit shots. Williams made sure they didn’t forget for long.
She went 6-for-16 from the field, knocked down both of her 3-point attempts and went a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. She played much bigger than her 5-foot-8 frame, grabbing 10 defensive rebounds.
Minnesota dominated the paint – 38 points in the paint to the Valkyries’ 22 – and Williams was central to the relentlessness. She converted five of her six second-chance opportunities. With every made shot in the fourth quarter, her gestures to the crowd got more and more animated.
It started with a few screams at nearby taunting fans and ended with Williams throwing up heart signs to the upper bowl.
“That was the epitome of it. We needed Courtney Williams and (Kayla McBride) to step up,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “Courtney’s first five minutes were forgettable. And then she played the remainder of the game exactly how we needed her to do. She provided the compete for us.”
Golden State led 46-41 at halftime. Minnesota went on a 10-0 run in the third quarter to flip it, and Williams was the engine of that stretch — crashing the offensive glass, getting to the rim, drawing fouls. The Lynx went on to win by six, their eighth straight victory over the Valkyries.
When it was over, Williams had the last word. And she didn’t need a microphone.