BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Bea Gorton, Indiana Women's Basketball's first head coach and an IU Athletics Hall of Famer, passed away peacefully on Tuesday, July 14 in Carol Stream, Ill.
Gorton was Indiana's inaugural women's basketball varsity head coach who led the program from 1972-76 and later inducted to the IU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014. A pioneer for the program and women's college basketball game, Gorton compiled an overall record of 79-28 (.738), the top winning percentage in school history, and led IU to the Elite Eight of the AIAW national tournament in 1972 and 1974, and an AIAW Final Four appearance in 1973.