Her team had just lost to the No. 1-ranked team in the country, but that wasn’t the main thing USC women’s basketball coach Lindsay Gottlieb wanted to talk about Saturday night. “It doesn’t need to be this way,” said an emotional Gottlieb, who after the 79-51 defeat by UConn had first heard about the mass shooting in which two people died and several more were wounded at her alma mater, Brown University. Gottlieb played two seasons at Brown, in the 1996-97 and 1998-99 seasons, the latter of whic
“It doesn’t need to be this way,” said an emotional Gottlieb, who after the 79-51 defeat by UConn had first heard about the mass shooting in which two people died and several more were wounded at her alma mater, Brown University.
Gottlieb played two seasons at Brown, in the 1996-97 and 1998-99 seasons, the latter of which as a student assistant and part-time player.
The fifth-year USC coach said she had “a million text messages” about the shooting after getting to the locker room.
‘Sending thoughts and prayers to my teammates who have kids there,” Gottlieb said, her voice breaking at times. “To the parents who have to worry about their children. We’re the only country that lives this way. The college football cycle has been in the news a million times, and are we going to report about this? Like, it’s the guns. We’re the only country that lives this way.”
Gottlieb said the daughter of one of her former Brown teammates was taking refuge in the basement of a school library.
“Hopefully, everyone is safe and praying for peace for those who’ve lost people. And that’s that, it’s more important than basketball. We can all be better.”
Earlier, the top-ranked Huskies rolled to a 39-17 lead at halftime and never looked back. Azzi Fudd (17 points), Ashlynn Shade (15), Sarah Strong (14) and Blanca Quiñonez (12) each scored in double figures. Kennedy Smith and Londynn Jones combined for 30 points for the 16th-ranked Trojans.
This is Gottlieb’s 16th year as a head coach. She has coached at UC Santa Barbara, Cal and USC and has guided her teams to the NCAA Tournament 11 times.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
USC Trojans, Central Connecticut State Blue Devils, Women's College Basketball
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