Northwestern Women's Basketball Hires New Head Coach After Joe McKeown Retirement

The Northwestern University Wildcats women's basketball program has announced its seventh head coach following the retirement of longtime leader Joe McKeown.

A three-time Atlantic Ten Conference Coach of the Year for George Washington and the 2020 Big Ten Coach of the Year with Northwestern, McKeown enjoyed a stellar 40-year head coaching career, which kicked off with a three-year stint at New Mexico State.

He boasted a 785-453 overall record, appearing in the NCAA Tournament 19 times. His teams also won four conference tournament championships.

During his 18 seasons at Northwestern, he posted a 276-279 overall record, leading the Wildcats to a pair of NCAA Tournament berths in 2014-15 and 2020-21.

Northwestern's New Head Coach Is....

Now, Northwestern is bringing aboard ex-Princeton Tigers head coach Carla Berube. Since 2019, she had guided Princeton to five March Madness runs, including a pair of second-round appearances, plus nine combined regular season and tournament Ivy League titles.

“I’m incredibly honored to join the women’s basketball program at Northwestern University,” Berube said through a school press statement. “This is a place where academic and athletic excellence go hand in hand, and I’m excited to build a championship culture that reflects that standard. Competing in the Big Ten Conference requires toughness, discipline, and a relentless commitment to growth. We are going to embrace that challenge and build a team that competes with pride and goes to battle for one another every night.”

Berube, 50, posted a 384-96 head coaching record (105-20 inter-conference) while serving as the head coach at Tufts, plus a 147-29 record at Princeton.

As a player, Berube won a collegiate title with the University of Connecticut Huskies in 1995.

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