Wellesley, Mass., native collects award for first time in her career
EASTON, Mass. (February 18, 2013) – Stonehill College junior guard Mary Louise Dixon (Wellesley, Mass./Wellesley) has been named the Northeast-10 Conference's Player of the Week for women's basketball by the league office this afternoon.
Dixon earns Player of the Week honors for the first time in her career after averaging a triple-double to lead Stonehill to a 2-0 week. She averaged 17.5 points, 11 rebounds, ten assists and a steal for the Skyhawks, shooting 47.1-percent (8-for-17) from the field, including 2-for-5 (40%) from three-point range, and converted all 17 free-throw attempts for the week.
Dixon posted just the third triple-double in the 42-year history of the Stonehill women's basketball team to lead the Skyhawks to a key 103-93 triumph over the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Wednesday. She totaled 19 points, aided by a school-record 17-for-17 effort at the free-throw line, a career-best 16 assists and team and career-high matching 13 rebounds for the first Stonehill triple-double since Jillian Middlemiss accomplished the feat in a win over Southern Connecticut State University in January 2003. Dixon's 17 made free-throws also matched the program record set by former All-American Kelsey Simonds against Bryant University in 2008 and she also came within two assists of the program's single-game mark. She followed that up by coming just a rebound shy of a double-double in Saturday's 70-58 win at Saint Michael's College as she totaled 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including 2-for-3 from three-point range, a game-high matching nine rebounds, four assists (just one turnover) and two steals.
Dixon is averaging a team-high 13.3 points per game this season (13th NE-10), adding 6.9 rebounds (17th), a team-best six assists (2nd NE-10 and nationally) and 1.3 steals in 32.9 minutes (11th) per game in 23 starts. She is shooting 43.3-percent (86-for-199) from the field and a Conference-leading 87% (114-for-131) from the free-throw line (20th nationally) for the year. She has posted three double-doubles, including last week's triple-double, and has led Stonehill in scoring nine times. Her free-throw percentage currently ranks fifth on the program's single-season list, while her assist average is sixth highest all-time at Stonehill.
Dixon, a third team All-Northeast-10 Conference selection as a sophomore, enters this week's games 105 points shy of becoming the latest 1,000-point scorer in program history. She has totaled 895 points, 415 rebounds, 362 assists and 133 steals in 88 career games played. Dixon ranks second in program history with her .851 career free-throw percentage, while ranking 11th in assists and her 32.9 career minutes per game average is best in program history. An NE-10 All-Rookie team selection as a freshman, Dixon's .888 (87-for-98) free-throw percentage ranked third in the NE-10 and is the third-highest single-season average in program history.
Dixon has earned NE-10 Commissioner's Honor Roll three semesters at Stonehill, as well as Athletic Director's Honor Roll once.
Stonehill (20-3, 16-3 NE-10), ranked 18th in last week's USA TODAY Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division II poll, is back in action on Wednesday night when it hosts Southern New Hampshire University for a Northeast-10 Conference matchup in Merkert Gymnasium at 5:30 p.m. The Skyhawks host No. 2-ranked Bentley University on Saturday, February 23, as part of Stonehill Alumni Day at 1:30 p.m.
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