Maggie Dixon Classic News And Notes
by Ray Floriani
NEW YORK – The venue and format changed but the day remained as special. The second Maggie Dixon Classic was held at Madison Square Garden. In a women’s doubleheader Duke edged Pitt 51-49 while Rutgers defeated Army 59-42.
A rundown on the teams:
Army – Even with Rutgers starting their second five it was tough. The Lady Knights had the misfortune of losing leading scorer Cara Enright in the first three minutes with an ankle injury. Still, Dave Magarity’s club competed and had a three-point lead the latter minutes of the half. Over the course of the final twenty minutes the Rutgers starters began getting in, and as Magarity noted, “they just wore us down with pressure and size.” Army did have some players of note like freshman point guard Nalini Hawkins (nine points, four assists) and Alec McGuire, a 5’8″ junior guard, who added a team-high 13 points and five rebounds. Erin Anthony, another freshman, is a 6’2″ post player who did a nice job and Magarity feels will emerge an impact player.
Duke – Earned a second straight tough win by edging Pitt in the final seconds. Duke has played a murderous non-conference schedule which new coach Joanne McCallie believes will pay dividends in ACC play and post season. Duke had a very uncharacteristic three-game losing streak but now has momentum with consecutive victories over Rutgers and Pitt. Duke earned the victory on an inside basket by Joy Cheek with 1.2 seconds remaining. For Cheek it wasn’t a case of just last-second heroics, as the 6’1″ sophomore forward played a sound game (team-leading 16 points and six boards) and simply picked a most opportune time to step up. Duke has been plagued by turnovers, and today they got the win despite 29 miscues.
Rutgers – C. Vivian Stringer sat her starters a good portion of the loss at Duke earlier in the week. She continued by not starting her normal lineup against Army. The starters stayed out a good half before entering and breaking the game, a 28-21 Rutgers lead at intermission, open in the second half. Among the “second group”, Rashidat Junaid showed some nice moves in the low post. The 6’4″ sophomore led the Scarlet Knights with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Brittany Ray added 13 points and six rebounds. The 5’9″ sophomore can stroke the three-pointer and get in the lane as well. Among the starters “coming off the bench”, Matee Ajavon and Epihany Prince both scored eight points.
Pitt – In an exciting contest the Lady Panthers gave Duke all they could handle before dropping a two-point decision. Coach Agnes Berenato is in her fifth season and has done a masterful job of building something special at the Big East school. Leading the way for Pitt is junior guard Shavonte Zellous. Pitt’s leading scorer, Zellous shared team scoring honors (17 points) with sophomore guard Jania Sims. Inside, the Lady Panthers have a formidable post presence in 6’3″ senior Mercedes Walker (nine points, 13 boards). The other thing Pitt has is attitude. Not a bad attitude, but a positive one that the program is headed toward national recognition.
Notes
- Dave Magarity had to laugh about the situation at the start of the Army-Rutgers game. “My daughter Maureen (an assistant coach) scouted Rutgers. When she saw five different players take the floor she almost went into a panic to trying to quickly figure out matchups.
- The Classic was held last season in November on the West Point campus. The doubleheader included a game with the Pitt men playing Western Michigan and the Army women facing Ohio State. This season the classic was moved to Madison Square Garden.
“It was (Pitt men’s coach) Jamie Dixon’s vision to bring it here,” Magarity said. “With Madison Square Garden’s help I hope we can sustain and keep it here.”
Magarity noted that a possible format being discussed is a tripleheader. Four top ten teams would come in and Army could play a local mid-major like Hofstra or Manhattan. - For Anna Wilson the game brought back memories. The 5’5″ Army senior captain attended high school at Rutgers Prep. A native of Somerset, New Jersey, Wilson was a ball girl for Rutgers games during her grade school days. “I remember watching Kristen Somogyi,” Wilson said. “She was my favorite.”
Somoygi was New Jersey’s all-time leading scorer who broke her dad John’s prep mark. She later starred at Rutgers and today runs basketball camps.
“She (Somogyi) was later my AAU coach with the New Jersey Heat,” Wilson added. (Kristen) Somogyi was not only a great outside shooter but a fabulous scorer. She also had the green light during her St. Peter’s (New Brunswick) high school days. Asked if Somogyi the coach ever got on a player for taking a bad shot, Wilson replied, “not really if at all. I think she understood.” - The involvement of a health organization can only help the classic. This year’s edition saw C.A.R.E. (Cardiac Arrhythmias Research and Education) get involved. C.A.R.E. focuses on prevention, detection and education of heart defects, and was the charity beneficiary of the 2007 classic.
- Rutgers and Army are relatively close in proximity to Madison Square Garden, while Pitt is at least seven hours away by car. Still, this was a homecoming for Jania Sims. A sophomore guard, Sims starred at Shabazz High School in Newark, New Jersey before heading to Pitt.
“It’s good to play in Madison Square Garden and it’s really nice to have my family and high school coach (Vanessa Watson) see me play,” Sims said after the Duke contest.
Sims played on one of the elite girls teams in the Garden State and was recruited by a number of Big East schools. She chose Pitt for several reasons. From a basketball sense a primary reason was the recognition that Agnes Berenato was building a strong program. That and the fact that, “I wanted to go away from home,” Sims said. “I wanted to go away but not too fart where my parents couldn’t see me play. Pitt is only a little over six hours by car or a quick flight away.” - Sims discussed how the narrow loss, while difficult, shows Pitt is closing the gap and will be heard from. She stayed around especially to watch Rutgers Matee Ajavon play the second game. Ajavon was a senior at Shabazz when Sims was a sophomore and the school won the Girls Tournament of Champions in New Jersey. They remain close friends.
“She’s (Ajavon) like my big sister,” Sims said. “I text her before every game and she does the same. Just this morning she texted me ‘good luck’. I returned, but I’m not sure she got the message,” she said with a laugh. That last remark was in reference to how Rutgers coach Vivian Stringer tries to keep her players away from cell phones on game days away from home.
On the Baseline
Pitt and Army brought cheerleaders. Army also brought a pep band. Needless to say he Army contingent enjoyed the MSG visit and posed for a number of pictures during the afternoon.
