Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Whatever happened to former Akron East and Lakeland standout Aslea Williams?

AKRON, Ohio - Excuse Aslea Williams if she did not mourn the elimination of Ohio University and Ohio State from the NCAA men's basketball championship chase. She had her own national championship to celebrate.

Williams, who was a two-time Akron City Series All-Star while playing for East in 2007 and 2008 and earned junior-college honors at Lakeland, was a member of the Shaw University team that defeated Ashland, 88-82, in overtime, for the women's NCAA Division II national championship last month in San Antonio.

"I still don't believe it," Williams said in a phone interview from Raleigh, N.C., where Shaw is located. "It's the greatest feeling in the world as far as accomplishments in college basketball are concerned. There's no better way to finish your senior season."

Williams, a 6-1 forward, averaged 15.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game for Shaw, which was unranked at the start of the season but finished with a 29-6 record. Shaw had a two-year mark of 54-18 with Williams in the lineup.

Williams averaged 17 points and 12 rebounds at East and in two years at Lakeland before transferring to Shaw, where she is two semesters away from earning a degree in criminal justice. Her father, Donny, is an Akron police officer.

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