Broken Foot Will Sideline Winthrop’s Erica Williams For Remainder of the Season
ROCK HILL SC—Winthrop women’s basketball head coach Kevin Cook confirmed on Tuesday that 5-10 junior forward Erica Williams, the leading scorer in the Big South Conference, will miss the remainder of the season due to a broken bone in her left foot.
Williams (Rex, GA), who is averaging 16.4 points a game this season, was injured in the final minutes of the Jan. 30 game against Charleston Southern. On Sunday, Cook was hopeful the injury was not as serious as first thought and that Williams would miss only a few weeks, but surgery has been scheduled to repair the break, meaning she will be out for the rest of the season.
Williams, who was an All-Big South First Team selection in 2015, has been a stalwart offensive player for the Eagles. She has led the Eagles in scoring in 14 of the 18 games in which she has played this season, and during her career Williams has scored in double figures in 70 of 80 games. Back on Nov. 15 against Duke, she became the 18th player to join the Winthrop 1,000 Point Club and she will end her junior year as the eighth all-time scorer with 1,274 career points.
Winthrop, which has been devastated by injuries this season, was picked to finish second in the Big South’s preseason poll back in October, but are 2-10 in the league and 3-17 overall. The Eagles have nine games remaining before the Big South Conference Championship Tournament, March 10-13, in Asheville, NC.
Williams becomes the third player to suffer a season-ending injury. The Eagles lost Big South Preseason First Team selection Schaquilla Nunn to a broken foot just one week before Winthrop’s first game, and then lost starting point guard Jimecheia Banks to a broken ankle during the early minutes of the Jan. 9 game at Radford.
Freshman center Arianne Whitaker returned to action against UNC Asheville this past Monday after missing seven games due to a concussion and starting guard Aliyah Kilpatrick has missed the last two games due to a tender ankle. Sophomore center Ezinne Mbamalu has missed the last five games due to an assortment of injuries.
