University Southern California Trojans
Women's Basketball Hosts Drake
June 21, 1999 | Women's Basketball
November 24, 1998
Tonights Game
The Women of Troy hosts Drake on Wednesday (Nov. 25) in the Lyon Center at 7 p.m. USC is 1-0 in the all-time series with Drake.The only meeting between the teams was in 1988.
Preseason Schedule
The women's basketball team will head to Cancun, Mexico to play in the Torneo Cancun de Basquetbol, facing Old Dominion on Friday (Nov. 27), at 9 p.m. CST and Southwest Missouri State on Saturday (Nov. 28), at 6:30 p.m. CST.
LAST GAME
USC defeated Fresno State on Sunday (Nov. 22). Senior center Adrain Williams scored a game-high 22 points and added seven rebounds and three assists. Senior guard Kristin Clark had 13 points, four assists and a game-high nine rebounds, while sophomore forward Tashara Carter added 10 points.
1997-98 RECAP
The women's basketball team, under head coach Chris Gobrecht, finished 12-15 overall and 7-11 in the Pacific-10 Conference in 1997-98. The team returns nine letterwinners, including four starters. The Women of Troy will look to senior guard Kristin Clark and senior center Adrain Williams to lead the team. Clark earned All-Pac-10 first team honors in 1997-98 and was USC's leading scorer. Williams earned All-Pac-10 honorable mention honors and was the team's leading rebounder and was second in scoring.
NCAA women's basketball West Regionals
The way to San Jose is through L.A. See who marches on to the Women's Basketball Final Four at the 1999 NCAA West Regional hosted by USC, March 20 & 22 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena.
Notes
USC returns nine players from last years squad that finished (12-15 overall, 7-11 sixth in the Pac-10). The Women of Troy return their entire front court for the 1998-99 season and is bolstered by a pair of newcomers, freshman Carmen Krause and junior transfer Aimee Copp. Junior guard Kim Clark, a midfielder for USC's soccer team, broke her leg in a soccer game (Nov. 1) and will be out indefinitely. Junior guard Kiyoko Miller, who underwent reconstructive surgery on her right shoulder, is practicing with the team and may join the squad for the Pac-10 season. Returning to the lineup later in the season for USC will be junior guard Erica Mashia. Mashia, who was forced to miss the 1997 and 1998 seasons with a career-threatening hip injury, was a Pac-10 freshman team selection in 1996 and is known for her abilities behind the three-point arc and free throw line.
Chris Gobrecht
Twenty years after graduating from USC in 1977 to embark on a coaching career, Gobrecht returned to campus to take the helm of the Women of Troy basketball program. On May 8, 1997, she replaced Fred Williams, who left after two years as USCs coach. Gobrecht, 42, who played basketball and volleyball while at USC, has been a head coach at the Division I level for 20 years, having guided programs at Cal State Fullerton (six years), Washington (11) and Florida State (one). She was a two-time Pacific-10 Coach of the Year (1987-88) with the Huskies and has amassed a 332-208 career mark. She reached the 300-victory plateau on Jan. 19, 1995, at the age of 39, making her one of the youngest coaches to do so in America. Gobrecht is the second winningest coach in the Pac-10 after 12 years in the conference with a record of 149-77. She has also coached at the national and international levels. She was an assistant for a 1990 USA Basketball select team which traveled to Czechoslovakia and Italy. In 1989, she led the East Team to a silver medal in the U.S. Olympic Festival. Under her maiden name of Chris Geiger, she was a three-year starter on USC's basketball team. She also played volleyball for the Women of Troy for two years. She received her bachelor's degree in public affairs from USC in 1977. Gobrecht has also had success sending her players to the next level. Five of her former players at Washington are competing professionally in the United States. Four are in the ABL: Traci Thirdgill (1990), Colorado Xplosion; Karen Deden (1991), New England Blizzard; Rhonda Smith (1995) and Tara Davis (1994), Seattle Reign. Laure Savasta (1997) played for the Sacramento Monarchs of the WNBA.
Gobrecht's thoughts
"My years of experience tell me there is something there. The question is, how long it will take to find it. We have a lot of excitement about having a full squad this year. At this point everything is relative. Compared to a year ago, it's heaven."
