After more than 1,000 games and over 600 wins, associate head coach Beth Couture retired from coaching after 39 years on the sidelines, including her final seven at Purdue.
Couture promoted to the Boilermakers' Associate Head Coach on Aug. 1, 2019. She came to Purdue in 2016, after one season as the associate head coach at Cleveland State University, and her short stint with the Vikings came after head-coaching stints at Converse College, Butler University and Presbyterian College.
Her final two seasons were perhaps the most important of her career as she assisted Katie Gearlds' transition from NAIA to Division I.
Couture's final campaign in West Lafayette continued the Boilermakers' forward drive back to the national stage.
Couture was instrumental in the transition to the Katie Gearlds' Era just 47 days before the season. Couture worked with inside and perimeter players during the season, as the Boilermakers returned to the postseason for the first time since 2017-18 with a second round appearance in the WNIT. Purdue laced a program record 239 3-pointers, while holding opponents to a Big Ten best 4.8 triples per game. Madison Layden, Jeanae Terry and Abbey Ellis all garnered All-Big Ten nods in 2021-22.
Going through her fifth season at Purdue in the midst of a pandemic, Couture guided perhaps the biggest developed pieces in the Boilermakers' roster. Senior Fatou Diagne posted a career-high 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game to earn All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. Daigne posted the second-longest streak of double-doubles in program history with four in a row during conference play. Freshman Ra Shaya Kyle also developed into an efficient performer off the bench, averaging 5.3 point and 3.8 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game.
Couture’s fourth season at Purdue had the Boilermakers in line to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, prior to the event’s cancelation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2019-20 Boilermakers featured a trio of 1,000-point scorers in Dominique Oden, Karissa McLaughlin and Ae’Rianna Harris for the first time since 2007. Working with the guards, Couture helped Purdue record an assist on 62% of its made field goals.
Her first three seasons with the Boilermakers were impressive, helping tutor an impressive group of guards that includes Ashley Morrissette, Dominique Oden and Karissa McLaughlin. She helped the Boilermakers to a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and one of the most impressive late-season runs in program history in 2016-17, and in 2017-18 and 2018-19 saw some of the top individual season performances in program history as Oden and McLaughlin set some of the top marks in the Boilermaker record books. Oden has already climbed to No. 18 on Purdue's all-time scoring list, while McLaughlin was a First Team All-Big Ten pick in 2019 and tied the Boilermakers' single-season 3-point record.
Couture started her coaching career at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, where she was an assistant coach for two seasons before serving as the head coach of the Blue Hose for 13 seasons. She compiled 258 wins, posting 20-plus victories eight times, including a 28-2 mark in 1999-00, as Presbyterian won the South Athletic Conference championship and was ranked as high as fourth in NCAA Division II.
Couture led Presbyterian to six NCAA postseason appearances, four SAC tournament titles and three SAC regular-season titles. Her squads achieved 10 all-league honors, including three SAC Players of the Year and two SAC Freshmen of the Year, and Couture was a four-time SAC Coach of the Year recipient.
Butler introduced Couture as its head coach in 2002, and she quickly built a winning program, amassing 193 wins in 12 seasons. The Bulldogs posted four straight 20-win seasons from 2008 to 2011 and had five WNIT appearances during her tenure. She is the all-time winningest coach in Butler women’s basketball history and mentored 15 Bulldogs to all-league honors, including the 2009-10 Horizon League Player of the Year and a pair of Horizon League Sixth Players of the Year.
Couture spent the 2014-15 campaign as the head coach at NCAA Division II Converse College, and then joined Cleveland State as the associate head coach of the Vikings for 2015-16. All told, she has amassed 455 victories as a head coach.
Not only has Couture been successful on the sidelines, but she was also a standout on the court at Erskine College, where she was named a Kodak All-American during her senior season. She was a two-time District 6 Player of the Year, four-time Erskine Most Valuable Player and scored more than 2,000 points during her collegiate career. Couture was inducted into the Erskine College Hall of Fame in 1989.
Couture promoted to the Boilermakers' Associate Head Coach on Aug. 1, 2019. She came to Purdue in 2016, after one season as the associate head coach at Cleveland State University, and her short stint with the Vikings came after head-coaching stints at Converse College, Butler University and Presbyterian College.
Her final two seasons were perhaps the most important of her career as she assisted Katie Gearlds' transition from NAIA to Division I.
Couture's final campaign in West Lafayette continued the Boilermakers' forward drive back to the national stage.
Couture was instrumental in the transition to the Katie Gearlds' Era just 47 days before the season. Couture worked with inside and perimeter players during the season, as the Boilermakers returned to the postseason for the first time since 2017-18 with a second round appearance in the WNIT. Purdue laced a program record 239 3-pointers, while holding opponents to a Big Ten best 4.8 triples per game. Madison Layden, Jeanae Terry and Abbey Ellis all garnered All-Big Ten nods in 2021-22.
Going through her fifth season at Purdue in the midst of a pandemic, Couture guided perhaps the biggest developed pieces in the Boilermakers' roster. Senior Fatou Diagne posted a career-high 8.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game to earn All-Big Ten Honorable Mention. Daigne posted the second-longest streak of double-doubles in program history with four in a row during conference play. Freshman Ra Shaya Kyle also developed into an efficient performer off the bench, averaging 5.3 point and 3.8 rebounds in 11.3 minutes per game.
Couture’s fourth season at Purdue had the Boilermakers in line to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, prior to the event’s cancelation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2019-20 Boilermakers featured a trio of 1,000-point scorers in Dominique Oden, Karissa McLaughlin and Ae’Rianna Harris for the first time since 2007. Working with the guards, Couture helped Purdue record an assist on 62% of its made field goals.
Her first three seasons with the Boilermakers were impressive, helping tutor an impressive group of guards that includes Ashley Morrissette, Dominique Oden and Karissa McLaughlin. She helped the Boilermakers to a second straight NCAA Tournament appearance and one of the most impressive late-season runs in program history in 2016-17, and in 2017-18 and 2018-19 saw some of the top individual season performances in program history as Oden and McLaughlin set some of the top marks in the Boilermaker record books. Oden has already climbed to No. 18 on Purdue's all-time scoring list, while McLaughlin was a First Team All-Big Ten pick in 2019 and tied the Boilermakers' single-season 3-point record.
Couture started her coaching career at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, where she was an assistant coach for two seasons before serving as the head coach of the Blue Hose for 13 seasons. She compiled 258 wins, posting 20-plus victories eight times, including a 28-2 mark in 1999-00, as Presbyterian won the South Athletic Conference championship and was ranked as high as fourth in NCAA Division II.
Couture led Presbyterian to six NCAA postseason appearances, four SAC tournament titles and three SAC regular-season titles. Her squads achieved 10 all-league honors, including three SAC Players of the Year and two SAC Freshmen of the Year, and Couture was a four-time SAC Coach of the Year recipient.
Butler introduced Couture as its head coach in 2002, and she quickly built a winning program, amassing 193 wins in 12 seasons. The Bulldogs posted four straight 20-win seasons from 2008 to 2011 and had five WNIT appearances during her tenure. She is the all-time winningest coach in Butler women’s basketball history and mentored 15 Bulldogs to all-league honors, including the 2009-10 Horizon League Player of the Year and a pair of Horizon League Sixth Players of the Year.
Couture spent the 2014-15 campaign as the head coach at NCAA Division II Converse College, and then joined Cleveland State as the associate head coach of the Vikings for 2015-16. All told, she has amassed 455 victories as a head coach.
Not only has Couture been successful on the sidelines, but she was also a standout on the court at Erskine College, where she was named a Kodak All-American during her senior season. She was a two-time District 6 Player of the Year, four-time Erskine Most Valuable Player and scored more than 2,000 points during her collegiate career. Couture was inducted into the Erskine College Hall of Fame in 1989.