Kristina Williams joined the Lewis & Clark coaching staff prior to the 2017 season and was named the head coach in June 2018. She held the position from 2018-21 until she resigned in Mar. 2021.
Before Williams returned to Palatine Hill as an assistant coach, the Pioneers had won 11 games over two seasons. Under the new staff, the team’s core group of six student-athletes finished their upperclassmen seasons with 30 wins and qualified for the 2017 and 2018 NWC tournaments.
Following her four years competing for the Pioneers from 2009-13, Williams coached at Oak Ridge High School in California before pursuing a master’s degree at Smith College in Massachusetts. There, she was on the women’s basketball coaching staff and served as a graduate assistant strength and conditioning coach.
Williams led the Pioneers to the Northwest Conference title in 2013, the same year she earned her second Northwest Conference Player of the Year award. She was named an All-American following her senior season in 2013 and finished her career second all-time in school history for scoring (1,790 points). Williams is in the top 10 in rebounds, assists and steals as well. Over her four seasons at Lewis & Clark, she was selected the Lois Smithwick Female Athlete of the Year, the department’s top award, three times.
Since 1993, the Pioneers have the third-most outright NWC titles in the nine-team conference. Following the 2016-17 season, Ayisat Afolabi was named an All-American, the first since Williams, and was selected the Lois Smithwick Female Athlete of the Year. The next year, Miyah Leith was named Lewis & Clark’s top female student-athlete and finished her career seventh all-time in scoring. In 2018-19, Delsie Johnson was named NWC Freshman of the Year.
