Olivia Cochran began playing basketball in fifth grade.
She came by the sport honestly. Her mother, Tara Williams, was an All-SEC player at Auburn before suiting for the Phoenix Mercury during the WNBA’s 1997 inaugural season. She then was dispersed to the Detroit Shock in the 1998 expansion draft. Three years later, Williams was playing professionally in Israel when she found out she was pregnant with Cochran. Williams came back to the States, where she gave birth and played for the Birmingham Power in the National Women’s Basketball League. Williams made the decision to leave basketball to raise her daughter, something she has described as a “win-win situation.”
On Feb. 6, Cochran, now a fifth-year senior for the Louisville Cardinals, hit a career milestone when she scored 1,500 career points and helped Louisville beat California, 70-63. She told Swish Appeal that the feat is a “great accomplishment” that she said is owed partly to her teammates, who gave her the shots she needed to hit the goal.
Today, we honored Olivia Cochran with a special ball, presented by Coach Walz, in recognition of her achievement of reaching 1,500 career points. Congratulations on this incredible milestone!#GoCards pic.twitter.com/JrWREuuqVB
— Louisville Women’s Basketball…
 future. The Louisville fifth-year senior forward spoke to Swish Appeal about her accomplishments, as well as what’s next.){kind=link}