Bloomington, Ill. - The 2002-03 Illinois Central College women's basketball team was inducted into the Illinois Basketball Coaches' Hall of Fame at the annual IBCA Hall of Fame banquet on Saturday evening at Illinois State University. Class of 1999 alums Marlena Williams and Beth Zeone were also inducted into the Hall of Fame for their individual playing careers.

The team won the 2003 NJCAA Division II National Championship with a record of 33-3 and had a then-program record of 28 consecutive wins. Petra Manakova, Amy Fuller, and Shannon Williams each made the All-Tournament team, with Manakova being named the Most Valuable Player. Manakova and Fuller went on to be named All-Americans for the 2002-03 season.

Attending the banquet were: Meghan (Slade-Smith) Otwell, Kali (Birkey) Kitt, Sarah Pacheco, Ashley Shepherd, head coach Lorene Ramsey, and assistant coach Steve Garber.

Other members on the team were: Latrice McMichel, Olivia Rosas, Shannon Williams, Laura Scheirer, Tadaricka Malone, Lucie Cenkova, Almetta Pitts, Christelle N'Garsanet, Daria Mieloszynska. Laura Chriswell and Greg Martin also served as assistant coaches.

Williams, a Manual grad, scored 1,017 points and grabbed 515 rebounds as a Ram while averaging 20.5 ppg and 10.1 ppg as a senior.  She was a two-time National Champion at ICC and a two-time All-American. She was named the MVP of the 1998 National Tourney and went on to play at the University of Missouri where she totaled 759 points in 62 games. 

Zeone, who prepped at Dunlap, scored 2,275 points for the Eagles and led DHS to a fourth place finish at state in 1996 and Elite Eight appearance in 1997. She was also on the two National Championship teams and was the MVP of the 1999 National Tournament and a 1st Team All-American as a sophomore. Zeone played at Oakland University where she amassed 954 points.

Earlier in the day, current ICC coach Karrie Redeker was honored as Co-Collegiate Coach of the Year at the annual IBCA Coach of the Year luncheon. Redeker's 2024-25 Cougars had an 8th place National Tourney finish (their 5th Nationals' appearance in the last 8 years), were M-WAC Regular Season Co-Conference Champs, and posted a 27-9 overall record.