PICTURED: Beth Baker (Left) and Lori Kerans (Right)
NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) announced today the naming of two conference women’s basketball awards in honor of former Wheaton coach Beth Baker and former Millikin coach and student-athlete Lori Kerans.
Beginning in 2018-19, the CCIW Coach of the Year award will be named the “Beth Baker Coach of the Year” award, while the CCIW Most Outstanding Player award will be named the “Lori Kerans Most Outstanding Player” award.
“Beth Baker and Lori Kerans were pioneers of CCIW women’s basketball over the course of their extensive coaching careers,” CCIW Commissioner Chris Martin said. “I can think of no better way to honor these two coaches than with the naming of these conference awards.”
Baker coached the Thunder for 24 seasons (1986-2010) and compiled a record of 434-188 including a 248-100 record against CCIW competition. She is the winningest coach in school history and her 248 conference wins is the second-highest total in CCIW history. Under Baker’s direction, the Thunder won six CCIW regular season titles, three CCIW Tournament titles, and made seven NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament appearances.
Kerans retired this past season following a 32-year career directing the Millikin women’s basketball program (1986-2018). She finished with an overall record of 556-276 including a 295-169 record against CCIW competition. Kerans is the winning coach in Millikin and CCIW history and led the Big Blue to 11 of their 14 NCAA Division III Women’s Basketball Tournament appearances including a national title in 2005. She also guided the program to 11 CCIW regular season titles and 13 20-win seasons. A 1985 graduate of Millikin, Kerans was a four-year basketball letter winner and a three-year softball letter winner. As a senior during the NCAA Tournament, Kerans was named the Central Region’s Most Valuable Player and was a Final Four All-Tournament Team selection.
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The College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) was founded in 1946 and currently services nine member institutions including Augustana College (Rock Island, IL), Carroll University (Waukesha, WI), Carthage College (Kenosha, WI), Elmhurst College (Elmhurst, IL), Illinois Wesleyan University (Bloomington, IL), Millikin University (Decatur, IL), North Central College (Naperville, IL), North Park University (Chicago, IL) and Wheaton College (Wheaton, IL). During the 2016-17 academic year, the CCIW honored over 1,900 academic all-conference recipients, 10 CoSIDA Academic All-Americans, 33 CoSIDA Academic All-District recipients, one CoSIDA Academic All-American of the Year and over 100 all-Americans.