TOWSON, Md. - Eons ago, just before the late local television news, a solemn-toned announcer would ask the audience, “It's 11 o'clock. Do you know where your children are?”

In the present day, Nyree Williams' parents don't even have to wonder where their daughter is each night at 11 p.m. She's parked in front of a television set, watching her favorite show, The Golden Girls.

That's right. The Tiger women's basketball team's fierce inside enforcer, leading rebounder and blocked shot artist is cuddled up in front of the tube, watching a show that premiered before Williams was even born and whose premise is about four senior citizen women sharing a house and their feelings in Miami.

“I just love the show,” Williams said with a laugh before Sunday's 56-52 win over Georgia State. “I love the concept. It was really before its time. It's like a really old show, but they were great actresses. I love it.”

Her love of all things Rose, Dorothy, Blanche and Sophia is just one of the interesting oddities about Williams, who has given the Tigers a vital presence in the middle and a chance to make some noise in the Colonial Athletic Association race.

Start with the idea that Williams, a redshirt sophomore forward in her first season at Towson after transferring from North Carolina, leads the Tigers in rebounding and blocks and is third in scoring.

Her prowess on the boards has been a key to the Tigers' success. She passed the 1,000 rebound mark at Howard High in Ellicott City in her junior season and has been either the leading rebounder or tied for the lead in 11 of the Tigers' 18 games this season.

Her high water marks this season include a 15-carom game against Canisius and a 14-rebound game in Towson's win over defending CAA champion James Madison.

“It (rebounding) just comes naturally to me,” said Williams. “Rebounding isn't really about athleticism or jumping. It's about heart. If the ball's in the air, it's a 50/50 ball and it's my goal is to get every 50/50 ball, no matter who you are. I don't look at it as a strategy. If I see the ball, I get it by any means necessary.”

Here's the funny thing - for all her fierceness on the court, Williams doesn't consider herself a basketball fan, which is extra odd given that her mother and grandmother are crazy New York Knicks fans.

Indeed, the amount of hoops Williams watches each week is roughly equal to the amount of game film she takes in or to the amount of individual video the coaches provide for her to work on her game.

Asked if she'd veg out in front of a TV set and take in basketball on a non-game day, Williams said with a laugh, “I'd rather go to the mall.”

In an alternate universe, Williams said, she might have been a swimmer as her aunt and uncle were scholarship swimmers at Auburn and Indiana. Or she might have been a gymnast on Towson's renowned team since that was a big passion when she was a kid.
The problem was she reached the height of 5-foot-3 by the time she was eight and kept growing to her present height of 6-foot-1.

“I see them (Towson's gymnasts) and they swing on the bar and I feel like I could reach up and touch the bar and my feet would still be on the ground,” said Williams. “So, it just wouldn't work out.”

Her Tiger basketball teammates are glad gymnastics didn't work out and are thankful to Nyree Williams for her being their friend.