Allison Guth leaves Yale women’s basketball to take over as head coach at Loyola Chicago

Allison Guth leaves Yale for Loyola Chicago in her home state of Illinois after seven years and a 99-74 record at the helm in New Haven. (Ivy League Digital Network)

After seven years at Yale women’s basketball’s helm, Allison Guth is headed home.

Loyola Chicago announced Friday that Guth has taken over as head coach of the Ramblers after winning 99 games and setting the single-season program win record twice during her tenure in the same role at Yale.

An Arlington Heights, Ill. native, Guth began her coaching career at Loyola Chicago in 2005, spending two seasons there as an assistant coach and also serving as recruiting coordinator.

Guth led Yale to a program-high 19 wins in the 2017-18 and 2019-20 seasons. The 2017-18 Bulldogs became the first Ivy women’s basketball team ever to win a postseason tournament by claiming the Women’s Basketball Invitational title.

Yale went 99-74 (.572) overall and 43-41 (.512) under Guth. Yale qualified for the Ivy League Tournament by finishing in the top half of the conference three times in five opportunities.

Guth took the head job at Yale in May 2015 after serving as an assistant and recruiting coordinator in New Haven from 2010 to 2012 under her predecessor as head coach, Chris Gobrecht, who was head coach at Yale from 2005 to 2015.

Yale had announced in 2018 that the school had signed Guth to a contract extension through the 2023-24 season.

From 2012 to 2015, Guth was an assistant and recruiting coordinator at Northwestern.

Guth is a graduate of Illinois, where she made her way into the program as a walk-on before earning a scholarship. She helped the Illini to a 2003 NCAA Tournament berth.

Loyola had announced on March 24 that then-head coach Kate Achter’s contract would not be renewed. Achter had led the program to its first postseason appearance in 2020-21, a WBI berth.

The Ramblers went 18-12 and 10-8 in Missouri Valley Conference play in 2021-22, both highs under Achter, who leaves behind a record of 67-110 (36-72 Missouri Valley) in six seasons. The Ramblers’ 18 wins were the program’s most since the 1988-89 season, but the team was not selected for any postseason tournament.

Loyola Chicago is joining the Atlantic 10 Conference next season after nine years in the MVC.

Yale’s coaching staff now consists of assistant and former Harvard captain Emma Golen entering her fifth year on staff, assistant John Miller entering his fourth year on staff, and director of women’s basketball operations Rashana Miller (who served as assistant at Loyola Chicago alongside Guth and is entering her second season at Yale).