Maree Jackson (''née'' Bennie) (born 11 October 1954) is a retired Australian

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player.

Biography

The 6ft 2in Jackson played for the

Australia women's national basketball team The Australian women's national basketball team is nicknamed the Opals, after the brightly coloured gemstone common to the country. From 1994 onwards, the Opals have been consistently competitive and successful having won nine medals at offic ...

during the 1970s and competed for Australia at the 1975 World Championship held in

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and the 1979 World Championship held in

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. Following a 1976 tour of the

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with the New South Wales state basketball team, Jackson accepted a physical education

scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

to play basketball with

Louisiana State University Louisiana State University (officially Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as LSU) is a public land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The university was founded in 1860 nea ...

.Dexter, Nancy (26 July 1979)
''Top basketballer is tangled in red tape''
The Age. Retrieved 2012-12-15. As a

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

in 1978, Jackson scored 1,021 points (25.5 ppg) and grabbed 539 rebounds (13.5 rpg). The 1,021 points and 539 rebounds are the most in both

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(SEC) and LSU history for one season. In just two seasons with the Lady Tigers, Jackson scored 1,852 points which places her third on the all-time scoring list. She also finished her career as the second leading rebounder in LSU history with 1,032 rebounds. For her career, Jackson averaged 26.4 points a game, which still stands as the SEC record.Louisiana State University
2005-2006 Women's Basketball (page 9)
Media Guide. Retrieved 2012-12-15. Jackson and Julie Gross were the first Australian females to win

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

n honours while playing college basketball in the United States. That year, Jackson also won a place in the US national side. Jackson turned down several lucrative offers to turn

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and skil ...

so she could return to Australia to play for the Opals at 1980 Moscow Olympics. However, following the pre-Olympic Qualification Tournament, the Opals failed in their bid to qualify for the games. Following a women's national tournament in Sydney in 1972, Jackson met fellow Australian basketballer and future husband, Gary Jackson. Their first-born,

Lauren Jackson Lauren Elizabeth Jackson (born 11 May 1981) is an Australian professional basketball player. The daughter of two national basketball team players, Jackson was awarded a scholarship to the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in 1997, when she ...

, would become the number 1 pick in the 2001 WNBA Draft and would go on to become Australia's most successful and decorated basketball player. In 2006, Maree Jackson was inducted into Australia's Basketball Hall of Fame.Maree Jackson
Basketball Australia. Hall of Fame. Retrieved 2012-12-15. The National Junior Championship trophy for under 18 women is also named in her honour.

LSU statistics

Source

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Maree 1954 births Living people Australian women's basketball players LSU Lady Tigers basketball players