Army coach Dixon remembered at service
A month ago, 28-year-old Army coach Maggie Dixon left the Christl Arena court on the shoulders of jubilant cadets after leading the women’s basketball team to its first NCAA tournament berth.
On Friday, Dixon was mourned in a chapel across the U.S. Military Academy’s campus, a day after she died following a sudden episode of irregular heartbeat.
Dixon died Thursday night at Westchester Medical Center in Valhalla, N.Y., academy spokesman Lt. Col. Kent Cassella said.
An autopsy conducted Friday found that Dixon had an enlarged heart and a problem with a heart valve, according to the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s office. The valve problem could have caused her heart to beat irregularly and ultimately stop.
About 500 people filled the Catholic Chapel, including her family and players who remembered her as equal parts coach, big sister and best friend. On the cover of the memorial service program was a picture of a beaming Dixon, her left index finger jabbing skyward as she was carried off the court following the historic win.
Those who spoke universally recalled Dixon’s exuberance, humor and the guidance she offered when things weren’t going well.
Cadets, who made up about three-quarters of the crowd, were excused from classes to attend.
Dixon was hospitalized Wednesday in critical condition after collapsing at a friend’s house, where she had gone for afternoon tea, said her older brother, Pittsburgh men’s basketball coach Jamie Dixon.
•Former player Sharon Versyp will return to Purdue as coach after one year at Big Ten rival Indiana.
Lacrosse
Lawyers move quickly
Not content to wait for the results of DNA tests, attorneys representing members of the Duke University lacrosse team are increasingly pointing to other evidence they say will clear their clients of allegations that three players raped an exotic dancer.
Durham attorney Kerry Sutton contended that numerous e-mails written in the hours after the woman said she was attacked at a house just off the Duke campus also bolster the players’ claims that nothing happened that night.
Sutton, who represents team co-captain Matt Zash, said she believed the woman fabricated her story and “quickly got in over her head with the story she’s telling.”
Miscellany
World record falls
American swimmer Ryan Lochte finished in 1 minute, 53.31 seconds to set a world record in the men’s 200-meter individual medley at the FINA World Championships in Shanghai, China.
•Serena and Venus Williams have withdrawn from next week’s Family Circle Cup tennis tournament in Charleston, S.C., because of injuries.
•Andy Roddick beat Nicolas Massu 6-3, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5) to square the best-of-5 Davis Cup competition in Rancho Mirage, Calif., after Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez outlasted James Blake 6-7 (5), 0-6, 7-6 (2), 10-8 in a 4-hour, 20-minute marathon opening match in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
•Demond Petty, a former Central Michigan football player, has been sentenced to between four and 15 years in prison for his role in the beating death of a man outside a bar in Mount Pleasant, Mich.
•Corby Fisher has resigned after two years as the jumping coach for the U.S. Ski Team.
•Canada advanced to the finals of the Curling World Championships in Lowell, Mass., beating Scotland 8-2. Hours later, Norway defeated the United States 8-5 to advance to the semifinal matchup with Scotland today.
•Jonathan Horton had the best scores of his career on the parallel bars and the high bar to win the all-around title and lead Oklahoma to its second straight NCAA men’s gymnastics championship at Norman, Okla.