For women’s college basketball coaches, motherhood is no longer something to keep quiet

Arizona coach Adia Barnes had never given a more important halftime speech. The Wildcats were in their first national title game in 2021, and they trailed at the half by five to familiar foe Stanford. It was Barnes’ fifth season with the program and the furthest Arizona had ever advanced in the postseason.

Barnes rushed back to the locker room, hoping to use every second of the halftime window — she needed to address her team … but she also had to pump for her 6-month-old daughter Capri. She hadn’t had time during the busy pregame, and now Barnes needed to relieve some pressure to ensure that she didn’t leak on the sideline (on national TV, no less) during the second half. So she quickly pumped, and then threw a breastfeeding cover over her chest as she talked to her players.

As the Wildcats returned to the court, Barnes lagged behind, storing her milk in the locker room fridge before joining them. Barnes still isn’t sure who, but someone told ESPN that she had pumped during halftime, and it was discussed on the TV broadcast.

“I was upset after the game. I was like, who would tell (someone) that?” Barnes said. “I never wanted anybody to know. … I was always doing it on the DL. I didn’t want people to think that hinders my ability to do my job.

“I…