Maggie Dixon Classic

Maggie Dixon Classic
SportWomen's college basketball
Number of teams2-4
Current stadiumSchollmaier Arena
Current locationFort Worth, Texas
Played2006–present
Last contest2023
TV partner(s)N/A; Formerly on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU
Sponsors
Aeropostale (2007–08)
Advance Auto Parts (2013–15)
Host stadiums
Christl Arena (2006)
Madison Square Garden (2007–15)
Carnesecca Arena (2016)
Reed Arena (2017)
Schollmaier Arena (2018–23)
Host locations
West Point (2006)
New York City (2007–16)
College Station (2017)
Fort Worth (2018–23)
Maggie Dixon Classic
SportWomen's College basketball
Founded2006
No. of teams2-4
Country United States
Venue(s)Madison Square Garden, New York
TV partner(s)ESPN; ESPN2; ESPNU (2013)

The Maggie Dixon Classic is an annual early-season women's college basketball tournament that was first played in 2006. The classic is played in honor of Maggie Dixon who, in April 2006, just after leading the Army women's basketball team to their first-ever NCAA tournament, died suddenly due to an arrhythmia caused by a previously undiagnosed heart condition.

On November 12, 2006, the first Maggie Dixon Classic was played at the Christl Arena in West Point, New York, where Maggie coached her only season with the Lady Knights. Since this edition of the Maggie Dixon Classic, every other classic had featured a four-team, two-game doubleheader. The 2006 Maggie Dixon Classic was the only edition of the event to feature a men's game; in which the Pittsburgh Panthers coached by Jamie Dixon, Maggie's brother, defeated Western Michigan by a final score of 86–67.

In 2007, the Maggie Dixon Classic was moved to the historic Madison Square Garden in New York City and has been held there ever since. The Maggie Dixon Classic has also produced the eventual national champions in 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2013. Also in 2010, the UConn women's basketball team tied UCLA's 88-game win streak from the 1970s. The Huskies would eventually break the record and end their winning streak at 90 games.

On January 4, 2015, Immaculata University and Queens College played in the Maggie Dixon Classic as a commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the first game played between women's basketball teams in the Madison Square Garden.[1] The second game of that doubleheader featured the UConn Huskies and St. John's Red Storm.

In 2016, the Classic was moved to the campus of DePaul University in Chicago, the school where Maggie Dixon served as an assistant coach under the direction of Doug Bruno. Upon moving to Chicago, the Classic was also restructured from its traditional format to a four-team knockout tournament. In 2017, Classic Games were moved to the Wintrust Arena; which opened in October of that year.

DePaul has won both Maggie Dixon Classics played in Chicago.

TCU and Texas A&M took part in the event in 2017 at Reed Arena in College Station, Texas. Since 2018, the Classic has been played annually at Schollmaier Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, on the campus of TCU. The Horned Frogs hosted Dixon's former team, Army, in 2018 and again battled the Black Knights in the most recent edition of the Classic in 2023.

Past Results and Appearances

Date Location Winning team Losing team
November 12, 2006 Christl Arena
(West Point, New York) 		Pittsburgh (men) 86 Western Michigan (men) 67
Ohio State 77 Army 41
December 8, 2007 Madison Square Garden
(New York City) 		Duke 51 Pittsburgh 49
Rutgers 75 Army 68
December 14, 2008 Rutgers 59 Army 38
Connecticut[2] 77 Penn State 63
December 13, 2009 Baylor 68 Boston College 55
Tennessee 68 Rutgers 54
December 19, 2010* Texas A&M 79 Rutgers 50
Connecticut[3] 81 Ohio State 50
December 11, 2011 Baylor 73 St. Johns 59
Tennessee 84 DePaul 61
December 9, 2012 Rutgers[4] 73 Louisiana Tech 46
Duke 60 St. Johns 42
December 22, 2013 St. Johns 72 Texas A&M 70
Connecticut[5][6] 80 California 47
January 4, 2015 Queens College 76 Immaculata University 60[1]
Connecticut 70 St. Johns 54[7]
December 28, 2015 Connecticut 83 Maryland 73[8]
November 11, 2016 McGrath-Phillips Arena
(Chicago, Illinois) 		UAB 59 Gardner-Webb 49
DePaul 99 Appalachian State 58
November 12, 2016 Appalachian State 72 Gardner-Webb 67
DePaul 90 UAB 80
November 17, 2017 Wintrust Arena
(Chicago, Illinois) 		Saint Louis 79 Ole Miss 64
DePaul 110 Delaware State 71
November 18, 2017 DePaul 86 Saint Louis 78
Ole Miss 110 Delaware State 58
December 6, 2017 Reed Arena

(College Station, Texas)

Texas A&M 71 TCU 58
December 1, 2018 Schollmaier Arena

(Fort Worth, Texas)

TCU 63 Army 38
December 1, 2019 TCU 77 Boise State 65
Florida State 80 Texas A&M 58
November 21, 2021 North Carolina 79 TCU 49
Duke 74 Alabama 71
November 20, 2022 South Florida 66 TCU 59
Oklahoma 89 UT Arlington 80
November 19, 2023 Army West Point 88 TCU 51

Appearances

  • As of the 2015 Maggie Dixon Classic, excluding the men's game from 2006. Teams in bold text won their game.
Rank School Times Years participated
1 TCU 6 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 23 2
Rutgers 5 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012
UConn 5 2008, 2010, 2013, 2015 (Jan.), 2015 (Dec.)
St. John's 5 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017
Army 5 2006, 2007, 2008, 2018, 2023
3 Texas A&M 4 2010, 2013, 2017, 2019
4 Duke 3 2007, 2012, 2021
DePaul 3 2011, 2016, 2017
5 Tennessee 2 2009, 2011
Baylor 2 2009, 2010
Ohio State 2 2006, 2010
6 Queens College 1 2015 (Jan.)
Immaculata 1 2015 (Jan.)
California 1 2013
Louisiana Tech 1 2012
Boston College 1 2009
Penn State 1 2008
Pittsburgh 1 2007
Maryland 1 2015 (Dec.)
Appalachian State 1 2016
UAB 1 2016
Gardner-Webb 1 2016
Delaware St. 1 2017
Ole Miss 1 2017
St. Louis 1 2017
Army 1 2018
Boise State 1 2019
Alabama 1 2021
North Carolina 1 2021
South Florida 1 2022
UT Arlington 1 2022

Maggie Dixon Courage Award

Since the 2009 Classic, the family of Maggie Dixon has presented the Maggie Dixon Courage Award. This award is presented to an individual who exhibits courage in the face of adversity and continues to exemplify Dixon's mantra of never allowing adversity get in the way of achieving a dream. The award is always presented by Dixon's sister Julie Dixon Silva and by Dixon's older brother Jamie Dixon.

Edition Recipient School/affiliation
2009 LTC Kim Kawamoto former Army women's basketball player
C. Vivian Stringer Rutgers women's basketball head coach
2010 Tierra Rodgers California women's basketball player
2011 Pat Summitt Tennessee women's basketball head coach
2012 Joe Heskett Army wrestling head coach
2013 Tracey Ryan registered nurse at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UMPC)
2015 Geno Auriemma UConn women's basketball head coach

References

  1. ^ a b Feinberg, Doug (Sep 19, 2014). "MSG to honor first women's basketball game at arena". Norwich Bulletin. Retrieved 19 Sep 2014.
  2. ^ "College Basketball Roundup: No. 1 UConn women top Penn State, 77-63". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. December 15, 2008. Retrieved 19 Sep 2014.
  3. ^ Hays, Graham (2010-12-19). "Celebrate, not compare, UConn & UCLA". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2024-04-03.
  4. ^ Hutchinson, Dave (December 9, 2012). "Rutgers' women race past Louisiana Tech, 73-46, in Maggie Dixon Classic". The Star Ledger. Retrieved 19 Sep 2014.
  5. ^ "Roundup: No. 1 Connecticut routs No. 20 Cal 80-47". USA Today. December 22, 2013. Retrieved 26 Jan 2014.
  6. ^ Adamec, Carl. "Final: UConn 80, California 47". SNY.TV. Retrieved 26 Jan 2014.
  7. ^ Elliott, Rich (4 January 2015). "Game report: No. 2 UConn 70, St. John's 54". CT Post. Hearst Media Services Connecticut. Retrieved 10 Jan 2015.
  8. ^ Courant, Hartford (2015-12-29). "Early Turnovers Aside, UConn Women Earn Tough Win Against Terrapins, 83-73". courant.com. Retrieved 2024-04-03.