Tennessee

When Lindsay Gottlieb put together a nonconference schedule she believed to be the hardest in the country, USC’s coach knew it would be an uphill climb. But that was the point. She wanted her team to be tested nightly, to play on “the biggest stages.”

“It’s not a schedule designed to win every nonconference game by an average of 40 points,” Gottlieb said earlier this month.

But after losing twice through a five-game gauntlet to start the season, a blowout nonconference win was precisely what the doctor ordered for USC.

Any pent-up frustration still lingering from USC’s last-second loss to Notre Dame was promptly taken out on Tennessee Tech on Tuesday in an 85-44 win for the Trojans.

“It was a really tough loss the other night,” Gottlieb said. “No doubt about that, for all of us. But the only thing you can do is utilize those lessons that are painful to get better.”

It was a particularly big night for freshman Jazzy Davidson, who bounced back from an eight-turnover performance in South Bend to tally her first collegiate double-double. Davidson nearly crossed that threshold before halftime Tuesday, and she finished the game with 20 points, 16 rebounds, 4 assists and two blocks.

The 16 boards, Davidson said, was the most she could remember having in a single game.

“She has a will to go get that thing,” Gottlieb said.

Davidson and Londynn Jones were once again USC’s most reliable options on offense. Jones, who was held scoreless in the loss to Notre Dame, poured in a season-high 20 points. Together, they made16 of 23 from the field, while the rest of the team shot a combined 17 of 40.

USC also got a critical contribution from sophomore big Vivian Iwuchukwu, whose work inside gave the Trojans their most consistent frontcourt threat of the season on Tuesday. After playing strictly a reserve role a year ago, Iwuchukwu scored 11 points on five-of-six shooting in a performance Gottlieb said was indicative of her progress so far this season.

But it was USC’s defense that really overwhelmed Tennessee Tech. The Trojans were especially suffocating underneath, blocking 15 shots — their most since 1984, when they tallied a program-record 18.

“What was impressive about this is our length that we can put in a number of different places,” Gottlieb said. “Laura [Williams] had a couple. Kai [Milton] had a couple. But you also had Jazzy and [Kennedy Smith].”

USC’s length was so difficult for Tennessee Tech to deal with that it managed just nine total buckets inside the arc.

“There was an emphasis for us just being the hardest-working team tonight,” Davidson said. “I think our defense really showed that.”

USC held Tennessee Tech scoreless for the first five minutes of the game, then the first six minutes of the second quarter. Midway through the second, Davidson had more total points than the Golden Eagles had as a team.

It didn’t get any easier for Tennessee Tech from there, as the Trojans rolled to a resounding victory, bouncing back as best as they could have hoped.

Nov. 9 (UPI) — A medical helicopter crashed in Middle Tennessee over the weekend, leaving a nurse dead and its two other crew members seriously injured, according to officials.

Vanderbilt LifeFlight, operator of the aircraft identified the deceased victim Sunday evening in a statement as Alan Williams, a registered nurse and flight nurse and paramedic. One of the two victims hospitalized was identified as Andrew “Andy” Sikes, critical care flight paramedic. The identity of the aircraft’s pilot was not made public out of respect for the pilot’s family, Vanderbilt LifeFlight said.

The two injured crew members were receiving care at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

“Our hearts and deepest sympathies are with our Vanderbilt LifeFlight colleagues, their families and loved ones during this difficult time,” the company said in a statement.

No patient was aboard the flight when it crashed Saturday in the 7100 block of Cairo Bend Road in Lebanon, Tenn., located about 31 miles east of Nashville.

The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office, where the crash occurred, said in a statement that the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board were taking over the investigation into the crash.

The NTSB confirmed it was investigating. It identified the aircraft in a statement as an Airbus Helicopter EC130T2.

Nov. 7 (UPI) — President Donald Trump on Friday pardoned former baseball star Darryl Strawberry, and former Republican Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and his chief of staff, Cade Cothren.

The two politicians were sentenced in September after federal corruption convictions.

Strawberry, 63, pleaded guilty in 1995 to tax fraud and served 11 months in a Florida state prison. Strawberry was ordered to pay $350,000 in restitution.

He played 17 seasons with the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants as an outfielder and designated hitter. He won four World Series — three with the Yankees and one with the Mets.

“President Trump has approved a pardon for Darryl Strawberry,” a White House official told The New York Post. “Mr. Strawberry served time and paid back taxes after pleading guilty to one count of tax evasion.”

He also had three years’ probation.

“Following his career, Mr. Strawberry found faith in Christianity and has been sober for over a decade — he has become active in ministry and started a recovery center which still operates today,” the official also told CNBC.

Strawberry was suspended from Major League Baseball in 2000 after failing a drug test.

Casada, 66, was sentenced to 36 months in federal prison after being convicted on 17 charges that include wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Cothren, 38, was sentenced to 30 months after being found guilty on all 19 charges.

The sentences were lower than what was possible.

“Yes, the president called me today and granted me a full pardon,” Casada told NBC News. “I am grateful of his trust and his full confidence in my innocence through this whole ordeal.”

The investigation into the Tennessee lawmakers began when Trump was first president. Raids of both men’s homes took place in January 2021. They were arrested in August 2022 and convicted in May 2024, shortly after Trump began his second term.

“The Biden Department of Justice significantly over-prosecuted these individuals for a minor issue involving constituent mailers — which were billed at competitive prices, never received a complaint from legislators, and resulted in a net profit loss of less than $5,000,” a White House official told NBC News. “The Biden DOJ responded with an armed raid, perp walk, and suggested sentences exceeding 10 years — penalties normally reserved for multimillion-dollar fraudsters.

District Judge Eli Richardson, who oversaw the case and issued the sentence was appointed by Trump.

Casada and Cothren used Phoenix Solutions to illegally funnel money to themselves for campaign and government-funded work, the Justice Department said. That included a $52,000 mail program for state legislators.

A false name, Matthew Phoenix, was used to run the company.

Casada resigned as speaker in 2019 after a no-confidence vote amid another scandal involving the two men. They were accused of exchanging sexually explicit messages about a woman.

Casada said in an apology that the texts were “not the person I am.”

Prominent Republican and country music star John Rich called for Trump to pardon them.

Cothren’s biography on X reads: “by Biden’s DOJ for standing with Trump. Convicted for refusing to break. Redeemed by grace – and not done yet.”

Trump has issued more than 1,700 pardons and commutations in both terms. That includes around 1,500 people involved in the Capitol attack on January 6, 2021.

Among Trump’s pardons during his second term are politicians: Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, and Republicans: former Tennessee state Sen. Brian Kelsey, former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland, former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm of New York, and former Las Vegas City Council member Michele Fiore. Also, he commuted the sentence of former U.S. Rep. George Santos, also a Republican, for time served of three months.

Like Blagojevich, Strawberry appeared on Trump’s TV show, The Celebrity Apprentice. In 2010, he competed to win money for his foundation.