Olivia (Lett) Birt became the tenth head coach of the Illinois Springfield Women's Basketball Program when she joined the program in fall 2024.
UIS was selected 10th in the 2024-25 preseason poll and with reasonable expectations Coach Birt led the Stars to a 5-23 record in her first year with the program. Even without a GLVC Championship Bid, the Lady Stars were still able to have a successful year in many ways. A highlight of the season was the Stars going on a 3 game win streak, racking up wins against Saint Ambrose, Indianapolis, and Truman State. 9 of the teams losses on the year were within 10 points or less, showing the Stars capability in matching their opponents efforts. The Stars ranked 43rd in all D-II Women's Basketball averaging 10.6 steals per game.
The Stars were successful off the hardwood as well under Coach Birt. The Women's Basketball team contributed to a set a University record of earning a 3.59 GPA in the fall 2024 semester. As well as setting a University record for semester GPA, the Women's Basketball team was a part of earning the GLVC Team Academic All Conference award for 2024-25. Individual awards were earned as well. Kayla Rice was named to the Second team All-GLVC for her athletic achievement and performance, as well as being selected to the CSC Academic All-District Team.
Birt came to Springfield from Decatur, Ill., where she was the head coach for women's basketball at Millikin University. She led Millikin to a 105-48 record in six seasons in which the team won two regular season CCIW titles and two CCIW tournament titles. The Big Blue ended the 2023-24 season in the NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Tournament and boasted a 23-6 overall record.
She has expressed enthusiasm about remaining in Central Illinois and building something special at UIS, while also expressing deep appreciation for her six years at Millikin and the support she received from the Decatur community.
Before Millikin, she spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Chicago, preceded by three seasons as an assistant at Illinois Wesleyan University.
As a player, then known as Olivia Lett, she starred at Illinois Wesleyan, helping lead the Titans to the 2012 NCAA Division III National Championship. A standout at Pana High School, she went on to play professionally in Spain, where her team reached the Liga Femenina 2 finals and she was named to both the All-Imports First Team and the All-League Second Team.
In 2017, she was selected to the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) “30 Under 30” program, which honors rising coaches for leadership, community service, and impact on the sport.
Lett earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics from Illinois Wesleyan in 2012 and later completed a Master of Science in Sport Management at Illinois State University.
Lett Year-by-Year Coaching Record
| Year |
School |
Overall |
Conference |
Place |
Postseason |
| 2018-19 |
Millikin |
8-17 |
4-12 |
8th |
|
| 2019-20 |
Millikin |
16-10 |
9-7 |
4th |
CCIW Tournament |
| 2020-21 |
Millikin |
11-3 |
8-3 |
2nd |
COVID Canceled Post Season |
| 2021-22 |
Millikin |
14-2 |
23-7 |
1st |
CCIW Champions, CCIW WBB Tournament Champions |
| 2022-23 |
Millikin |
24-5 |
15-1 |
1st |
CCIW Champions, NCAA D-III WBB Championships |
| 2023-24 |
Millikin |
23-6 |
13-3 |
3rd |
NCAA D-III WBB Championships |
| 2024-25 |
UIS |
5-23 |
4-16 |
14th |
|
| 2025-26 |
UIS |
0-0 |
0-0 |
|
|
|
UIS |
5-23 |
4-16 |
|
|
|
Overall (Including Post-Season Record) |
110-76 |
76-49 |
|
