Injuries can be an athlete’s worst enemy and sometimes the demise of a promising career.
That’s not how the story goes in Becky Dixon’s case, though.
Dixon, who has gone through five knee surgeries in her career, is back playing with the USM women’s basketball team after over a year of not playing organized basketball, and she’s taking full advantage of her last semester in school.
In eight games with the Huskies since coming back at the beginning of the semester, Dixon has made an immediate impact for USM as she is averaging 7.7 PPG and 6.6 rebounds per game. Her tall, athletic build and body control give her an advantage over opponents in the paint. However, the journey to her final hoorah in college hoops hasn’t been an easy one.
Dixon’s series of season-ending knee injuries began as a junior at Gardiner Area High School, when she experienced the first two of her ligament tears, which were both ACLs. Following a smooth recovery, she turned in a solid senior season, and after graduating she headed to Gorham, to play for legendary DIII coach Gary Fifield and the storied USM women’s program. This was until mandatory physical examinations came. Dixon had unknowingly torn her ACL again and didn’t learn about it until her physical. Playing her freshman year was out the question.
“It was pretty frustrating,” Dixon said. “Any athlete is frustrated when they’re not able to get out there and help their team.”
She kept working though and made progress with the help of the USM Athletic Training staff to make her knee stronger for the upcoming 2007-2008 season.
She helped lead the Huskies to a 25-4 record in 2007-2008 en route to their 20th Little East regular season title, and an at-large bid into their 14th consecutive NCAA Tournament. During that season, Dixon scored 7.2 PPG and pulled down 4.4 rebounds, while maintaining the third highest field-goal percentage of players who played over 100 minutes with 47 percent.
Coming into the 2008-2009 season, Dixon was slated to be a key player for the Huskies after her impressive sophomore campaign. During a pick-up game before the season started, she had another scare. She tweaked her right knee, resulting in a meniscus tear — thought to be the least severe of all knee ligament tears. After surgery and a brief recovery, she was ready for a highly-anticipated season with a very good basketball team. She played in the Huskies’ preseason scrimmage games, and was putting in solid minutes for Fifield and the Huskies. But a few weeks later, yes, it happened again. She had torn her ACL yet again and was out for the season.
“Becky was very self-motivated during the rehab process,” said USM Head Athletic Trainer Matt Gerken, who worked with Dixon along with other athletic training staff members.“I don’t think she lost her motivation until that last injury. I think she was kind of convinced she would never play again.”
Dixon persevered in rehab though through the spring of ‘09 and into the fall, and that is when she started thinking about coming back for her last year at USM. She had mentioned it to Gerken a couple times in passing and, according to Gerken, she was itching to get back on the court.
“Becky was soul-searching the whole process of making a comeback for awhile and, to be honest, I think she was a little antsy to play again,” Gerken said.
“I missed it so much and just wanted to give it another shot,” Dixon said.
After holding off to make her decision until after the season had started, she joined the team right before the Huskies’ game against LEC foe UMass Dartmouth in Gorham on Jan. 8. She scored six points and pulled down four rebounds in that game, while shooting 3-5 from the field and has given USM another post player on the block who can rebound and also shoot efficiently.
“We were doing a little bit of everything during the recovery process with rehabilitation and therapy,” Gerken said. “As Becky was getting stronger, a lot of her work with us involved more of helping build her confidence.”
Perhaps the most surprising aspect of Dixon’s comeback is that she isn’t wearing any type of stabilizing brace or sleeve.
“Matt and I agreed that at this point there’s no point in having something there that’s going to slow me down,” Dixon said. “If something’s going to happen, it’s going to happen. If I think about getting injured again I will be useless out there.”
One thing for sure is that Fifield and his team are very excited to have Dixon back playing with the program.
“Becky is a very smart basketball player and a great addition to our team right now,” Fifield said. “Nothing fazes her.”
As far as getting out there and actually playing again, the soft-spoken Dixon said, “It’s awesome. There’s nothing better.”