Women’s Basketball

Christie Sides, Northwestern’s associate head coach, resigned just before the season began to take a WNBA job, head coach Joe McKeown said Thursday.

Before the Wildcats’ 88-70 win over Oakland, an athletic department spokesman said Sides had resigned. McKeown confirmed during the postgame news conference that Sides made her decision “a couple of weeks ago.”

No announcement has been made regarding Sides’ new destination, but McKeown said Sides would return to the WNBA, where she worked for six seasons before joining the Wildcats.

“She came from the pros and wanted to go back to the pros,” McKeown said. “The cycle in that league for hiring is right now.”

Sides, who spent one season in Evanston, was considered a significant hire when she arrived in October 2016. She was promoted to associate head coach in May.

Following Sides’ departure, director of player development Kate Popovec will assume an assistant coaching role, McKeown said. He suggested that current assistant Tiffany Coppage will fill the associate head coaching job.

Sides’ departure was just one of two significant personnel changes announced before Thursday’s game. Junior guard Amber Jamison is taking a “leave of absence” from NU.

Peter Warren contributed reporting.

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Twitter: @ckpaxton