Williams Proves Twice as Nice : Women’s basketball: Already a standout volleyball player, she gives UCLA a boost in her second sport.

It took only a couple of minutes for UCLA women’s basketball Coach Billie Moore to trash her plan for Natalie Williams.

The proposed slow transition from volleyball to basketball shifted into a fast break after Moore watched Williams make two trips down the court at her first practice last season.

Moore walked over to assistant coach Kathy Olivier.

“Forget about slowly,” Moore said. “She’s going to play--now.”

Moore didn’t win two national championships by being cautious, and she wasn’t about to waste talent such as Williams’.

By then, Williams had already established herself as one of the elite volleyball players in the country, having led the Bruins to a national championship, which they repeated this season. Success quickly followed when Williams crossed over to basketball, even though she had not played competitively since high school.

After averaging 14.2 points and 10.3 rebounds, the 6-foot-1 forward-center was voted to the All-Pacific 10 freshman team last season.

Now, she has taken another leap forward on the basketball court. She is averaging 19.9 points and 11.3 rebounds for the Bruins (9-5, 2-2).

Recently, against third-ranked Stanford, Williams scored a personal-best 28 points and had 15 rebounds, 10 on offense.

Stanford barely held on, winning at Palo Alto, 95-92, but Cardinal Coach Tara VanDerveer thought she was suffering a flashback.

“Someone shouldn’t be that good in two sports,” VanDerveer said, jokingly.

“I watched her single-handedly beat Stanford in volleyball last fall in the (NCAA) regionals. And then she almost did it to us again in basketball.”

Then VanDerveer considered the possibilities if Williams were to concentrate only on basketball.

“I’m glad she’s playing volleyball,” she said. “That’s the truth.”

Williams is the most prominent two-sport female athlete at Westwood since Jackie Joyner-Kersee starred in basketball and track.

Many days, however, the glamour is lost on Williams.

“I would like a break once in a while,” she said. “There’s times where I’d just like to sleep for a week during basketball season and forget about everything.

“Physically, I’m not tired. I think just emotionally and mentally sometimes it’s a lot to handle with school, traveling, practice and games.”

But the Bruins are a different team with Williams in the lineup.

“I think the whole team improves when she’s in there,” VanDerveer said.

Said Moore: “The players on our team know she makes us better. She was one of the things we were missing. Rehema Stephens and Nicole Anderson were giving us good outside shooting, but we really didn’t have a physical player, a power player. Natalie brings the last piece of the puzzle, since she’s a dominating player inside. And she’s also very dominant on the boards.”

Basketball was Williams’ No. 1 sport when she was growing up in Taylorsville, Utah, a suburb of Salt Lake City. But her high school coach told her there were more opportunities in volleyball, and that she could be one of the best in that sport.

So Williams shifted her focus to volleyball and her studies during her first year at UCLA.

Williams ended up in Westwood because of former USC volleyball coach Chuck Erbe, who, during Williams’ recruiting visit, took her to a game at Pauley Pavilion.

“I hadn’t even thought about UCLA,” Williams said. “I was amazed at the campus and Westwood. For someone living in Salt Lake it was, like, ‘Wow!’ ”

Months later, she was leading the Bruins to the NCAA semifinals in volleyball. Moore’s patience was rewarded the next season.

Another Bruin coach, Sharron Backus, is still waiting to see if Williams will resume her softball career.

Tri-athlete?

For now, Williams says the answer is no.

Although it’s unusual for someone to have a shot at All-American status in two sports, that can be partly explained by Williams’ background. Williams says her mother, Robin Barker, was an athlete in high school, despite the lack of organized sports programs.

And her father, Nate Williams, starred at Utah State, then played for nine years in the NBA.

Williams didn’t meet her father until she was 16, and, until recently, was somewhat reluctant to talk about him. Their relationship has improved, however, and he went from his home in Vallejo to watch her game at California last week.

“After the game, he’ll say, ‘You know, I could make you the best post. I’ve just got to teach you some moves,’ ” she said. “We’ve played one on one before, and he’s put me in my place. He still can play. I went up for a jump shot, and he stuffed it back down.”

That’s one of the few times someone has stopped Williams--in any sport.

Williams held the state long jump record in high school. She ran on a relay team. She was able to make it down the mountain her first time on skis. And, unlike that other noted cross-trainer, Bo Jackson, Williams wouldn’t need a double to play hockey. She can skate.

There is one more thing she has in common with Jackson--the same birthday, Nov. 30. And for Williams, those are enough similarities.

“Well, he’s had some injuries,” she said. “That’s one thing I don’t want to have in common.”