SEATTLE -- The Minnesota Lynx are off to a 10-1 start this season thanks to the next-level play of their point guard, Courtney Williams. After joining the Lynx last season, she became a key piece to their run to the WNBA Finals. This season, she is prepared to play any role to bring them back to that stage and get over the hump. With her impact this year involving more of her playmaking, Williams has gained the respect of her team and her opposition across the league.

As she enters her ninth season, Williams is ready to do her part to lead Minnesota to a championship. She played a key role in their run to the Finals last season, but they fell to the New York Liberty in five games, losing 3-2. Before the Lynx’s game against the Seattle Storm, Williams mentioned how she used last year’s loss as fuel to win this season.

“[We’re] out on a mission this year, so [we’re] not taking nothing for granted,” Williams said before Minnesota’s 94-84 loss to Seattle. “[We’re] coming out, playing every game like [we’re] trying to get back and win it…That’s our chip on our shoulders.”

Williams has been playing with extra motivation to return to the Finals, and she’s treating every game like the championship. In her career, Williams has been known as a scoring point guard. While her ability to score at multiple levels continues to bother defenses, her playmaking has evolved this season. Williams is second in the league in total assists with 66, averaging a team-high six per game. She described incorporating her playmaking ability this season as adding another layer to her game.

“I think [playmaking] adds on a layer to my game,” Williams said. “I know my whole career, if I knew how to score the basketball (I’d succeed). Now I’m getting more respect for my playmaking.”

She is making a great career as a scoring point guard, but this season she is adding a new element to her game with her playmaking. Williams’ passing has been important to the Lynx’s success early on this season. Head Coach Cheryl Reeve complimented her leadership in the point guard role, while expressing how she affects the team.

“Courtney’s now in her third year of being in that space of leading an offense and assisting and playmaking for her team,” Reeve said. “Our team is at [its] best when Courtney is in that space…. She knows when to find [her teammates], how to find them, and she knows that if she’s not playmaking and playing well in [the] pick-and-roll, then she’s making everyone else’s life a little bit harder.”

Williams is an important part of the Lynx, and her playmaking has become reliable for their early success this season. With any point guard who excels at playmaking, their teammates are the beneficiaries. Williams’ superstar teammate and MVP favorite, Napheesa Collier (Nuh-FEE-sa KOL-yer), spoke about her development as a point guard and being able to place the ball where she needs it to be successful.

“(Having Williams) is obviously really beneficial, getting people the ball where they need it,” Collier said. “I think each year, seeing Courtney get better and better at being a point guard and putting us in positions to be successful (is beneficial).”

Collier is having a great start to the year, thanks in part to Williams’ playmaking, getting the ball exactly where she and her other teammates need it. Throughout her career, Williams never played the point guard role. She was more of a combo-guard known for her dynamic scoring ability. While she can still score at a high level, Williams has become more of a leader in the last three years. Her all-around game is frustrating for opposing teams to play against, and she demonstrated that in a previous game this season. Before losing to Minnesota in Minneapolis, Storm Head Coach Noelle Quinn discussed what she learned about Williams' offseason from Skylar Diggins, who played with her at Unrivaled.

“[Skylar] had a lot of time with Courtney at Unrivaled, and she would tell me a lot that she enjoyed playing with her,” Quinn said. “She’s super competitive, but also she’s a great teammate. An amazing leader, and that’s what you see with Courtney.”

Although Quinn has coached against Williams before, she learned more about her leadership and how she’s a great teammate. Quinn further described how Williams fits with the Lynx and the different ways she can bother a defense.

“To me (Williams is reminiscent of) a heartbeat for them…,” she said. “…From the outside perspective, when she’s able to score at a high clip, when she’s able to get some deflections on the defensive end and rev up her engine, I think the team changes their dynamic tremendously. [Williams] is really tough to guard when she catches fire.”

While Williams may not be the primary option for Minnesota, she is still a dangerous player to gameplan against with her ability to hurt defenses in different ways. Although she’s never been the heartbeat of any of her previous teams, Williams remains focused on doing whatever the Lynx needs her to do to win.

“(I’m willing to do) Whatever the team needs me to do,” she said. “Whether that’d be scoring, playmaking, hustle plays, I just want to do whatever it takes to win. That’s the role that I take on.”

Williams’ approach is doing whatever she needs to do to win, which is why her play style fits Minnesota so well. Diggins, who leads the league in total assists with 67, played with Williams in the three-on-three league, Unrivaled. She described how her longevity in the league is thanks to her work ethic and a key to her playmaking ability.

“You see why people (like Williams) have been in this league as long as they have been, because of their habits and work ethic…,” Diggins said. “[Williams’] IQ is high. Any team she’s on usually gets better,…any team she usually leaves gets worse. That’s the effect she has on the team anywhere she goes.”

Williams’ work ethic, established habits, and IQ have been keys to her longevity and impact throughout her career. As the Lynx continue their season, Williams’ impact is not only felt by her team, but also by the opposition. With Minnesota off to a historic start, they are becoming more dangerous thanks to Williams taking her game to the next level.