Northwestern women’s basketball has its new commander-in-chief.
Just 25 days after Joe McKeown coached his final game as Northwestern’s head coach, the university has hired his replacement in former Princeton head coach Carla Berube. Berube was hired by the Tigers in 2019 and led them to six NCAA Tournament appearances, two NCAA second-round berths and nine Ivy League championships (regular season + tournament).
“I’m incredibly honored to join the women’s basketball program at Northwestern University,” Berube said in a Northwestern press release. “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.”
Northwestern athletic director Mark Jackson said that he prioritized three goals while searching for a new head coach: alignment with Northwestern culture, NCAA Tournament experience, and someone who can navigate an “elite academic environment in the most competitive athletic conference in the country.” Berube checks the box of having NCAA Tournament experience, alongside experience coaching at Princeton, the No. 1-ranked university in the United States per U.S. News.
Alongside her Ivy League championships and NCAA Tournament berths, Berube has also coached three of Princeton’s four WNBA draft picks — Bella Alarie (No. 5 overall, 2020), Abby Meyers (No. 11 overall, 2023) and Kaitlyn Chen (30th overall, 2025). Before Princeton, she coached at Tufts University for 17 seasons, where she helped the Jumbos advance to four Final Fours.
Berube played for the University of Connecticut from 1993 to 1997, where she was part of the Huskies’ 1995 NCAA championship team. Notably, she told CT Insider in 2024 that she’d “take the call” if her alma mater offered her the head coaching job. Current UConn head coach Geno Auriemma is under contract until 2029.
At Northwestern, Berube will look to revive a program with a storied history but little recent success. The Wildcats have combined for just 10 Big Ten wins across the last four seasons, missing the conference tournament for the past two seasons. They haven’t reached the NCAA Tournament since the 2020-21 season and haven’t sniffed double-digit wins since 2022. That said, the Wildcats did start the decade with arguably their most successful season ever, recording a 26-4 record and the Big Ten regular-season title during the 2019-20 season.
Princeton finished the 2025-26 season with a 26-4 record (12-2 Ivy League), sweeping the Ivy League regular season and tournament titles. It entered the NCAA Tournament as a No. 9 seed, falling 82-68 to No. 8 Oklahoma State in the first round.
