MANHATTAN, Kansas – The academic accolades continue for K-State women’s basketball student-athlete Peyton Williams, as she was named the 2020 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second straight season in an announcement by the league office on Tuesday. Williams is the first women’s basketball student-athlete in league history to earn the honor twice.
A product of Topeka, Kansas, Williams is the fourth player in program history and the fifth time overall to earn Big 12 Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors and the fourth time in the Jeff Mittie era. Since the inaugural honor in 2013, K-State leads the Big 12 with five honors (Brittany Chambers, 2013; Kindred Wesemann, 2016; Shaelyn Martin, 2018; Williams, twice).
Williams, a double major in anthropology and international studies with a minor in political science, was stellar in the classroom as she collected a number of honors including: 2020 CoSIDA Academic All-America Second Team, three CoSIDA Academic All-District VII honors, three-time Academic All-Big 12 First Team, 2019 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, the 2019 Big 12/Dr. Gerald Lage Academic Achievement Award recipient and 2016-17 Big 12 Academic All-Rookie Team.
In the 2019-20 season, Williams earned her second straight All-Big 12 First Team honor by averaging 15.4 points, field goal percentage (.465), free throw percentage (.758) and rebounding (11.0 rpg).
Williams was third in the league in rebounds per game, offensive (3.7 orpg) and defensive (8.2 drpg) rebounds. She also ranked among the top-10 in the league in scoring (ninth), field goal percentage (sixth), blocks (10th), double-doubles (7th) and minutes played (5th).
For the second straight season, Williams averaged a double-double in league play with 15.6 points and 10.3 rebounds. She is the first player in program history to complete two Big 12 seasons with a double-double.
A product of Topeka, Kansas, Williams is the first player in program history to record two or more seasons with 300 or more rebounds as she had a career-high 308 rebounds in the 2019-20 season.
In addition to her honors in the classroom, Williams has collected numerous honors for her play on the court. A preseason candidate for every national award including the Wade Trophy, Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award, Williams was the first player in program history with the combination of 1,500 or more points, 900 or more rebounds, 200 or more assists, 150 or more steals and 100 or more blocks. She ranks among the top-15 in program history for career points (9th; 1,553), rebounds (3rd; 967), blocks (5th; 119), field goals made (10th; 585) and free throws made (5th; 333).
K-State endured four season-ending injuries in the 2019-20 season which depleted the roster by early December. However, the Wildcats (16-13, 10-8 Big 12) tied for fourth in the Big 12 and won seven of their last 10 games in the league.
The Wildcats completed the season with a winning record for the sixth straight season. The Wildcats had their 2020 postseason destination derailed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which canceled the 2020 Phillips 66 Big 12 Women’s Basketball Championship, the 2020 NCAA Tournament and the 2020 Postseason WNIT.
Kansas State returns nine letter winners for the 2020-21 season. K-State also welcomes in graduate transfer Sydney Goodson, redshirt freshman Jada Thorpe from injury and freshmen Taylor Lauterbach and Jada Moore.
