Bea A. Gorton (July 27, 1946 – July 14, 2020) was an American

college basketball In United States colleges, top-tier basketball is governed by collegiate athletic bodies including National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), the United States Collegiate Athleti ...

coach. Gorton was the first women's coach of the

Indiana Hoosiers women's basketball The Indiana Hoosiers women's basketball team is the intercollegiate women's basketball program representing Indiana University Bloomington. The school competes in the Big Ten Conference in NCAA Division I. The Hoosiers play home basketball games ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

, starting in 1971. She was a coach in the

Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women The Association for Intercollegiate Athletics for Women (AIAW) was founded in 1971 to govern collegiate women's athletics in the United States and to administer national championships (see AIAW Champions). It evolved out of the Commission on Interc ...

(AIAW). She led IU to the AIAW Final Four in 1973, and the AIAW Elite Eight in 1972 and 1974. After that year she took the

to the

National Women's Invitation Tournament The National Women's Invitational Tournament (NWIT) was a post-season tournament for women's intercollegiate basketball programs that was contested from 1969 to 1996. The original sponsorship information appears to have been lost over the ensuin ...

. After she left IU after the 1975–76 basketball season, Gorton advised the AIAW organization until 1980. Gorton was inducted into the school's Hall of Honor in 1988 and Indiana's Hall of Fame in 2014. Gorton had a master's degree in

sports medicine Sports medicine is a branch of medicine that deals with physical fitness and the treatment and prevention of injuries related to sports and exercise. Although most sports teams have employed team physicians for many years, it is only since the ...

and earned her doctorate in

biomechanics Biomechanics is the study of the structure, function and motion of the mechanical aspects of biological systems, at any level from whole organisms to organs, cells and cell organelles, using the methods of mechanics. Biomechanics is a branch of ...

at Indiana while coaching. Gorton died on 14 July 2020, aged 73.

References

1946 births 2020 deaths American women's basketball coaches Basketball coaches from Wisconsin College women's basketball players in the United States Indiana Hoosiers women's basketball coaches Sportspeople from Lugo Sportspeople from Racine, Wisconsin Wheaton College (Illinois) alumni {{US-basketball-coach-stub