WIU’s Gravina reaches 200-victory plateau as Leathernecks open with back-to-back wins

MACOMB, Ill. — The winningest coach in the history of the Western Illinois University women’s basketball program reached a milestone moment two games into the season.

JD Gravina, now in his 14th season coaching the Leathernecks, won his 200th game at WIU with last Saturday’s 89-83 victory at the University of Omaha. WIU is 2-0 this season and 200-193 since Gravina took over in 2011.

Last season, he passed Leslie Crane, who coached from 1998-2011, as the program’s winningest coach. Crane went 192-185 in her 13 seasons at the helm. Her winning percentage of .509 is slightly better than Gravina’s .508 percentage. Bea Yeager, the first coach in program history from 1971-82, owns the school record with a .515 winning percentage.

WIU is Gravina’s third coaching stop. He began his coaching career in 2005 at McPherson College, where he went 21-33 in two seasons. He then spent four seasons as the head coach at Quincy University, guiding the Hawks to a 93-28 record and three NCAA Division II national tournament appearances.

Overall, Gravina has a 314-254 career coaching record.