Medina Dixon (November 2, 1962 – November 8, 2021) was an American

basketball player Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts. She was a member of the

United States women's national basketball team The USA Basketball Women's National Team, commonly known as the United States women's national basketball team, is governed by USA Basketball and competes in FIBA Americas. The team is by far the most successful in international women's basketbal ...

during the late 1980s and the early 1990s, collecting three medals during her international career. Dixon originally signed and played the 1981-82 season with

South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball The South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represents the University of South Carolina and competes in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). Under current head coach Dawn Staley, the Gamecocks have been one of the top programs in the count ...

. She then transferred to

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (Old Dominion or ODU) is a public research university in Norfolk, Virginia. It was established in 1930 as the Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary and is now one of the largest universities in Virginia with ...

where she played for three seasons, leading them to a national championship in 1985. Her number was retired by the team in 2011. After her college career, she played professionally for overseas teams, including in Japan, where she played for six years, and then in Russia.

College statistics

Sources:

USA Basketball

Dixon represented the US at the World Championships held in

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

in July 1990. The team won all eight games, earning the gold medal. Dixon scored 8.3 points per game and had 15 assists, second highest on the team. Dixon again played with the USA team at the

1991 Pan American Games The 1991 Pan American Games were held in Havana, Cuba from August 2 to August 18, 1991. There were 4,519 athletes from 39 countries of the Pan American Sports Organization, PASO community, with events in 33 different sports. The main stadium was ...

. The team finished with a record of 4–2, but managed to win the bronze medal. The USA team lost a three-point game to Brazil, then responded with wins over Argentina and Cuba, earning a spot in the medal round. The next game was a rematch against Cuba, and this time the team from Cuba won a five-point game. The USA beat Canada easily to win the bronze. Dixon averaged 7.8 points per game. At the 1992 Olympic games in

Barcelona, Spain Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, Dixon was the leading scorer of the USA team with 15.8 points per game. Dixon led the team in scoring against China, which set up a medal round game against the Unified Team and fell, 79–73, even though Dixon set a USA team single scoring record with 28 points. The USA team then faced Cuba for the bronze medal. The game was tied at halftime, and Cuba had a small lead midway through the second half, but the USA went on a run to retake the lead, and finished with an 88–74 victory and the bronze medal. Dixon died on November 8, 2021, of pancreatic cancer.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dixon, Medina 1962 births 2021 deaths All-American college women's basketball players American women's basketball players Basketball players at the 1991 Pan American Games Basketball players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Basketball players from Boston Medalists at the 1991 Pan American Games Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics Old Dominion Monarchs women's basketball players Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in basketball Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States Pan American Games medalists in basketball Parade High School All-Americans (girls' basketball) Deaths from pancreatic cancer African-American basketball players 20th-century African-American women 20th-century African-American sportspeople 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people United States women's national basketball team players Goodwill Games medalists in basketball Competitors at the 1990 Goodwill Games Goodwill Games gold medalists South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball players American expatriate basketball people in Italy American expatriate basketball people in Russia American expatriate basketball people in Japan