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Maria Williamson, Head Women's Basketball Coach

Maria (Noucas) Williamson was hired as UChicago's head women's basketball coach in August 2020.

The 2021-22 Maroons posted a 14-10 overall record in Williamson's on-floor debut season. Senior forward Klaire Steffens was a WBCA Honorable Mention All-American while also receiving D3hoops.com Second Team All-Region status and First Team All-UAA honors. Junior guard Grace Hynes was a Second Team All-UAA selection as well. The Maroons ranked third in the conference with 60.7 points allowed per game while forcing a league-high 18.8 turnovers per game.

Williamson spent the previous four seasons serving as assistant women's basketball coach and recruiting coordinator at Loyola University Chicago. The Ramblers increased their win total each year of her tenure, with the 2019-20 team posting the program's best overall record in seven campaigns.

Her prior assistant coaching experience includes three years at Dartmouth College and four years at Navy. She was the recruiting coordinator and ran the defense for the Big Green, leading the squad to a pair of top 100 defensive rankings nationally. Navy qualified for the NCAA Tournament in three-straight seasons during her time while simultaneously winning the program's first three Patriot League Tournament titles.

Williamson makes her return to the NCAA Division III landscape – she was a four-year letterwinner in women's basketball for Bowdoin College. During her four years on the roster, the Polar Bears posted a cumulative record of 100-19 (.840 winning percentage). Bowdoin made four NCAA postseason appearances, advancing to Elite Eight twice and the second round twice. Williamson was a First Team All-Conference selection as a senior point guard. She is still ranked ninth in the school's career records with 300 assists.

Williamson graduated from Bowdoin in 2009 with a bachelor's degree in sociology. She later earned her master's degree in coaching and leadership from Ohio University in 2013.

Year

Overall W-L

Pct.

UAA W-L

Pct.

 
2021-22 14-10 .583 7-7 .500  
2020-21* *Season cancelled due to COVID-19 Pandemic

Totals

14-10

.583

7-7

.500

2 years
Michelle Bilek, Assistant Women's Basketball Coach

Michelle Bilek enters her fourth season as a full-time assistant women's basketball coach for UChicago in 2021-22.

The 2021-22 Maroons posted a 14-10 overall record. Senior forward Klaire Steffens was a WBCA Honorable Mention All-American while also receiving D3hoops.com Second Team All-Region status and First Team All-UAA honors. Junior guard Grace Hynes was a Second Team All-UAA selection as well. The Maroons ranked third in the conference with 60.7 points allowed per game while forcing a league-high 18.8 turnovers per game.

In 2019-20, UChicago posted a 21-6 overall record and won the UAA title. The team qualified for the NCAA tournament for the fourth year in-a-row, advancing to the second round. Taylor Lake, Mia Farrell and Miranda Burt all surpassed 1,000 career points. Lake was named the UAA Player of the Year, as well as receiving All-American honors from D3hoops.com and the WBCA. Sain and her coaching staff garnered UAA Coaching Staff of the Year for the fourth time in six years.

The 2018-19 Maroons reached the NCAA postseason for the third-straight season, finishing with a 19-7 overall record. Olariche Obi became the 13th UChicago player to score 1,000 career points.

Bilek brings familiarity with the University Athletic Association (UAA). She arrived at UChicago after spending the 2017-18 season as an assistant coach at fellow conference school New York University. That season, the Violets posted an 18-11 overall record. Bilek also coached and mentored All-American guard Kaitlyn Read, who was picked as the Jostens Trophy winner as well as the UAA Player of the Year.

Prior to her experience at NYU, Bilek served as the Director of Basketball Operations at Columbia University from 2013-17. Her wide breadth of responsibilities included travel arrangements, team equipment, budgeting, academic liaison, community service, summer camps, filming and special events.

Bilek spent seven summers as a basketball camp counselor as well. The Mount Prospect, Ill. native worked camps hosted by Loyola Academy, Trinity High School and Northwestern University.

As a collegian, Bilek played four years of basketball for Illinois Wesleyan University. She was part of the Titans squad that reached the NCAA Final Four in 2011 and won the NCAA Division III national championship in 2012. She was picked as a team captain in her senior season.

Bilek graduated from IWU in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary education – child and family studies.

Dolly Yuan, Assistant Women's Basketball Coach

Dolly Yuan enters her third season as an assistant on the UChicago women’s basketball coaching staff in the 2021-22 season.

The 2021-22 Maroons posted a 14-10 overall record. Senior forward Klaire Steffens was a WBCA Honorable Mention All-American while also receiving D3hoops.com Second Team All-Region status and First Team All-UAA honors. Junior guard Grace Hynes was a Second Team All-UAA selection as well. The Maroons ranked third in the conference with 60.7 points allowed per game while forcing a league-high 18.8 turnovers per game.

As a college basketball player, Yuan was a three-year starter at point guard for Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She averaged 7.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game in her career, while earning Second Team All-Conference honors. She ranks third in career free throw percentage (.757) and tied for sixth in career assists (282) in MIT history. Yuan graduated in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering.

Yuan is also a quantitative trader for IMC Financial Markets in Chicago.