USC has named Cleveland Cavaliers’ assistant Lindsay Gottlieb as the new women’s basketball head coach.

💥We got GOTT! 💥
The Trojan Family is extremely excited to announce the hiring of new women’s basketball head coach Lindsay Gottlieb!
Welcome to Troy, coach!#FightOn ✌️ pic.twitter.com/M7ZNX5gCpG

— USC Women's Basketball (@USCWBB) May 10, 2021

Gottlieb signed a four year contract with the Cavaliers in 2019, making her the first former NCAA women’s head coach to be hired by an NBA team. Prior to that, she was the head coach at Cal where she led the Golden Bears to a Final Four berth and a Pac-12 regular-season title in 2013. 

Reportedly, USC was aggressive in pursuing Gottlieb to bring her back to the Pac-12 conference in hopes of restoring USC basketball to an elite level. 

Gottlieb brings with her even more coaching experience, having led UCSB to the NCAA and WNIT tournaments before being hired away by Cal. Several of her former athletes, including New York’s Layshia Clarendon and Los Angeles’ Kristine Anigwe, have had successful careers in the WNBA.

Unrivaled basketball returns to action on Friday night, with the 3×3 league's weekend games bolstered by Thursday's huge off-court business breakthrough with the WNBA Players Association (WNBPA).

The offseason league officially secured a licensing deal with the WNBPA, allowing Unrivaled to sell merchandise showcasing player names, images, and likenesses both in-person and online.

Without a brokered licensing deal, Unrivaled faced limitations in its attempts to capitalize on its near-instant popularity, as the league could previously only use non-player-specific team branding.

The WNBPA’s willingness to help Unrivaled push the envelope — despite the lengthy negotiation — sets an important precedence for increased monetization opportunities across women’s sports.

"This is a sign of the Players Association’s responsibility to its players, to its members to monetize the rights fully," WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson told Front Office Sports on Thursday. "Their group rights don’t need to be limited to WNBA-only associated products."

While the player-specific merchandise isn't available just yet, fans can expect customized jerseys, T-shirts, and even game-used memorabilia to hit shelves soon — especially as the league’s March 10th regular-season finale nears.

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Postseason line looms as Unrivaled hits Friday's court

As the 3×3 basketball stars return to work this weekend, Unrivaled co-founder Breanna Stewart’s Mist and her NY Liberty teammate Sabrina Ionescu’s Phantom BC will both be hunting a bit of magic to boost them above the postseason cutoff line.

Trailing the pack with twin 3-7 records, the squads square off against each other on Friday, each aiming to step up into playoff contention with a win.

With all Unrivaled teams taking the weekend's court hoping to create separation from the bottom of the standings, Vinyl BC has arguably the most to lose. Currently sitting in fourth place on the league table, Arike Ogunbowale's squad faces an uphill climb against the third-place Laces on Friday and the league-leading Lunar Owls on Saturday to maintain their precarious postseason positioning.

How to watch Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball games this weekend

The Vinyl will kick off Unrivaled's weekend action against the Laces on Friday at 7:15 PM ET, with the Mist taking on the Phantom one hour later. Both games will air live on TNT.

Saturday's games will air on truTV beginning at 6 PM ET, when the Lunar Owls battle Vinyl BC before the Mist tip off against Angel Reese's Rose BC.

After the second day of competition, Korean golfer A Lim Kim holds a one-stroke lead at the LPGA Tour's HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore — with New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim, and the UK’s Charley Hull hot on her heels.

World No. 9 Hull kept pace in second after the first day of competition, but No. 3 Ko pulled ahead to sit one stroke behind No. 34 A Lim Kim after two days of play.

Meanwhile, No. 29 Hyo Joo Kim sliced seven strokes off her first-round performance to pull level with Hull in third place after a strong second round.

The USA's top contenders thus far are No. 69 Sarah Schmelzel and recently minted first-time LPGA champion No. 30 Yealimi Noh, both of whom currently sit one stroke behind Hull in a five-way tie for fifth place.

Elite LPGA golfers lock in on high-stakes battle

The field in Singapore features nine of the world’s Top-10 players and 13 of the Top 15, with the only top-ranked absences coming from US stars No. 1 Nelly Korda and No. 15 Rose Zhang.

Korda is sitting out the Asia leg of the LPGA Tour for the second year in a row. She will also miss the upcoming tournaments in Thailand and China before making a scheduled return at Arizona's Ford Championship in late March.

Korda’s absence hasn’t lightened the Women's World Championship competition, however, as the tournament’s $1.8 million purse remains in close contention halfway through the event's four rounds.

"I don’t think I typically play really well on this golf course and I thought this year would be a good year to kind of turn that around," reigning Olympic gold medalist Ko told reporters following the second round.

"The scores haven’t really been that low these past couple days," she added. "I'm just trying to focus on me and hopefully just keep climbing up the leaderboard."

How to watch the LPGA Tour at the Women's World Championship

The third round of the LPGA Tour's 2025 HSBC Women’s World Championship tees off at 8:30 PM ET on Friday, with live coverage on the Golf Channel.
 

Retired WNBA star Layshia Clarendon is being inducted into the LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame, with the former LA Spark earning recognition for contributions both on and off the court on Thursday.

After coming out in a 2015 Players Tribune article, Clarendon made history as the league's first openly trans and nonbinary player. They played 11 seasons in the WNBA, repping half of the league's 12 teams by the time they retired in 2024.

The 2017 All-Star's off-court endeavors included advocating for justice and inclusivity across all sectors. They became the first vice president of the WNBA Players Association in 2016, helped negotiate the league's game-changing 2020 CBA, and served on the league's Social Justice Council, among other accomplishments.

"Layshia made a huge impact on and off the court throughout their outstanding basketball career," said former LA coach Curt Miller. "Lay was a true professional, showing up each day with a desire to help our teams compete and improve."

"Off the court, Lay is a trailblazer and impacted so many with their bravery to be authentic and unapologetic while consistently fighting for the marginalized."

Current USC manager Lindsay Gottlieb, who coached Clarendon at Cal, echoed Miller's assessment.

"The way the W looks and feels right now is largely a testament to the people that have been doing the work," she said. "And there's no one more important in that realm than Layshia."

Clarendon joins first LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame class in 10 years

First established in 2013, the LGBTQ Sports HOF honors coaches, athletes, advocates, and executives "who have made an enduring impact on the sports world through leadership, visibility, and commitment to inclusion."

The HOF grew to 49 inductees through 2015. It then lay dormant for a decade before the Sports Equality Foundation resurrected it.

The SEF plans to announce additional members of the 2025 class in the coming weeks.

This year's cohort will be officially inducted in Las Vegas on August 10th. Then, Clarendon will join past honorees like tennis icon Billie Jean King, USWNT star Megan Rapinoe, WNBA standout Brittney Griner, and golf legend Patty Sheehan in the LGBTQ HOF.

In partnership with sportswear giant Nike, the NWSL dropped a slate of fresh kit designs on Thursday morning, with sleek collars, understated patterns, centered crests, and other detailing highlighting the league's 2025 jerseys.

After last year's league-wide jersey reset, the NWSL is now entering the second year of its collaboration with Nike, with all 14 teams debuting at least one new jersey this season.

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Notably, each matchday jersey will again feature the Ally Financial logo on the left sleeve, as the bank continues its investment in women's soccer as the NWSL's official banking partner.

Along with each club's new kits, the NWSL has also updated its goalkeeper uniforms league-wide, with 2025 keeper jerseys coming in bright green, blue, and yellow colorways.

Additionally, this season's kits for 2024 expansion team Bay FC will feature the club's full branding for the first time. The squad's primary jersey employs a deep navy obsidian base with poppy red accents — colors chosen to represent strength, confidence, and boldness.

"This suite of jerseys, featuring bold designs, vibrant colors and accompanying lifestyle products like the anthem jacket, represent another key step in growing the NWSL’s footprint within the global marketplace," NWSL VP of consumer products Katie Eaton said in the league's press release.

"As we continue to elevate our product offerings, we’re focused on blending sport and lifestyle in ways that authentically connect with players and fans alike."

To that end, the NWSL's online shop includes full customization for the first time ever, allowing fans to feature any of the league's 2025 athletes on their new kits.

Where to buy the new 2025 NWSL jerseys

Alongside Thursday's jersey unveilings, the NWSL concurrently released the refreshed kits and other 2025 merchandise for fans to purchase in advance of the league's season kick-off on March 14th.

All jerseys for the NWSL's 14 clubs are currently available online and at select retailers.