Linda was raised in Cypress and attended John F. Kennedy HS where she was the starting point guard in the later 1960s. She then went to Fullerton College before transferring to Cal State Fullerton to play for coach Billie Moore. She helped the Titans to a national third place finish in the 1972 AIAW Championships. She began coaching at Mater Dei HS and was selected after three seasons to move to USC as an assistant coach and then was promoted to head coach in 1977. The Trojans took off with her leadership.

In 12 seasons she had a 271-99 overall record and won the school’s only two NCAA Championships in 1983 and ‘84 and was college runner-up in 1986. She won the WCAA, Wade and Sporting News Coach of the Year honors. She was the Pac-10 Coach of the Year three times. She was the first head coach for the Los Angeles Sparks and later assisted Cheryl Miller with Phoenix. She went back to college coaching in Texas before retiring with over 500 wins over her coaching career. She was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2001.