Women's Basketball
- Title:
- Head Women's Basketball Coach
- Email:
- rcohan@usc.edu
Now entering her fifth season as head coach at USC, Lindsay Gottlieb has guided Women of Troy to historic runs with back-to-back NCAA Elite Eight appearances in 2024 and 2025. Also a two-time finalist for the Werner Ladder National Coach of the Year award, Gottlieb led USC to its second-ever Pac-12 Tournament title in 2024 and its first-ever Big Ten regular-season title in 2025. USC also earned a No. 1 seed in the 2024 and 2025 NCAA Tournaments, marking the first time in over 40 years the program has done so.
In a season that saw JuJu Watkins become USC’s third Naismith Trophy winner, Gottlieb’s 2024-25 Trojans reached the Elite Eight and earned the most wins by the program since 1986 with their 31-4 overall record in its first season as members of the Big Ten Conference. USC also rose to its highest national ranking since 1984 in holding a spot at No. 2 in the nation the week of March 4, 2025. Gottlieb was named the Big Ten Coach of the Year in helping the Trojans to a 17-1 mark and winning the regular-season title.
By the close of USC’s first Elite Eight appearance in 30 years, Gottlieb’s 2023-24 team had posted a 29-6 overall record — marking the most wins since Linda Sharp’s 1985-86 team. Ranked No. 3 in the nation entering the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the Trojans achieved their highest national ranking since standing at No. 3 in the final AP poll of 1986.
Along the way, USC’s 2023-24 season was also highlighted by a standing-room-only crowd at Galen Center to see the Trojans beat rival UCLA, a record-setting 51-point game by freshman JuJu Watkins in USC’s first win at Stanford since 2002-03 and the honor of hosting — and winning — the NCAA First and Second Rounds to earn a trip to the Sweet 16.
With 15 total seasons as a collegiate head coach, Gottlieb has collected a 328-164 overall record. With USC, Gottlieb has tallied a 93-36 record in four seasons of work with the Trojans to date.
A former Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach, Gottlieb also spent eight seasons at California, where she led the Golden Bear women to seven NCAA appearances with a trip to the Final Four. She was announced as the USC women’s head coach on May 10, 2021.
In her first season with the Women of Troy, Gottlieb navigated a competitive Pac-12 conference as USC posted a 12-16 overall record and went 5-12 in conference play in 2021-22. In her second season with the Trojans, USC’s 2023 NCAA Tournament run featured a 21-win campaign.
In 2022-23, Gottlieb guided the Trojans back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. Her 2022-23 USC team went 21-10 overall and served up an upset of then-No. 2 Stanford along the way.
Gottlieb became just the seventh female NBA assistant when she was hired by the Cavs in June of 2019 and the first NCAA women’s head coach to be hired by an NBA team. Cavalier players praised her knowledge of the game, leadership and communication skills.
Prior to her move to the NBA, Gottlieb spent eight seasons (2012-19) as the head coach at Cal, posting a 179-89 (.668) overall record and advancing to the NCAA tourney all but once. Seven of her teams won at least 20 games, including the 2013 squad that went 32-4 (a school record for wins) and made it to the program’s first-ever NCAA Final Four. She was the 2013 Pac-12 Coach of the Year and a Naismith National Coach of the Year finalist and was just the seventh NCAA women’s coach since 1990 to reach the Final Four in the first two seasons of being hired.
Her 179 overall victories still stand as the second-most in Cal history. Her teams finished in the top half of the Pac-12 standings six times, including tied for the regular season title in 2013 (a program first) at 17-1 and second twice. Her Cal players were named All-Americans 10 times and six were WNBA Draft selections.
Gottlieb made her mark immediately at Cal, taking a senior-less team in 2012 to the second round of the NCAAs with a 25-10 overall record and a second place Pac-12 finish. Her 2013 Final Four team snapped Stanford’s 81-game conference winning streak. The Golden Bears were 22-10 in 2014 (second in Pac-12) and 24-10 in 2015 (third in Pac-12), advancing to the NCAA second round both seasons. After dipping to 15-17 in 2016, Cal rebounded with a 20-14 season in 2017 and got to the NCAA second round. Her final two Golden Bear squads were 21-11 in 2018 (NCAA first round) and 20-13 in 2019 (NCAA second round).
Gottlieb was an assistant at Cal for two seasons (2006-07) and then the Golden Bears’ associate head coach in 2008. The Golden Bears had their first winning season in 13 years in 2006 and played in the NCAAs each season. She worked primarily with the post players, with Ashley Walker and Devanei Hampton both becoming All-Americans (Hampton was Cal’s first Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2006 and Walker was the program’s first WNBA draftee when she went in the 2009 first round).
Gottlieb then became the head coach at UC Santa Barbara for three years (2009-11), where she posted a 56-39 (.589) record and led the team to trips to the NCAA (2009) and WNIT (2011) tourneys. She won 75 percent of her Big West games (36-12), captured Big West regular season championships in 2009 and 2011 and the Big West tournament crown in 2009, and was named the 2009 Big West Coach of the Year when UCSB was 22-10 overall and 15-1 in league play. She was the first coach in school history to win 20 games in her debut season. The Gauchos went 15-17 in 2010 and 19-12 in 2011 (falling in WNIT play to USC).
She also was an assistant at Syracuse (2000-01), New Hampshire (2002) and Richmond (2003-05). The Spiders won at least 20 games all three seasons and earned postseason berths in the 2003 and 2004 WNIT and 2005 NCAA tourneys.
Gottlieb played basketball at Brown, serving in the unique role of player and student assistant coach in her 1999 senior season. She earned her bachelor’s degree in political science from Brown in 1999 and has a master’s degree in philosophy of education from Syracuse.
Gottlieb prepped at Scarsdale (N.Y.) High. She was sidelined her senior year with a knee injury, which led her to consider a coaching career.
Gottlieb and her husband, Patrick, have a son, Jordan, and daughter, Reese.
