For the second time in her 11-year career at Wheaton College, head coach Melissa L. Hodgdon has been named the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Women’s Basketball Coach of the Year in a vote conducted by her peers. Hodgdon is a native of East Boothbay and graduated from Boothbay Region High School, class of 1987.

Hodgdon guided the Lyons to their fifth 20-win season in program history in 2013-14, a No. 22 ranking in the in the USA TODAY Sports/Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III Top-25 poll (Wheaton’s first appearance in the poll since 1995) and the second-longest winning streak in program history at 12 games from November 16, 2013 to January 7, 2014.

Hodgdon also led Wheaton, located in Norton, Mass., to its 12th appearance in the NEWMAC Tournament before the Blue and White bowed out to eventual conference champion, Springfield College, in the semifinals.

In her 11 years at the helm of Wheaton’s program, Hodgdon has compiled a 156-137 record (.532), led the Lyons to their first NCAA Tournament in 13 years during the winter of 2007-08, one NEWMAC regular season title and NEWMAC tournament championship, an ECAC Tournament championship game appearance and a school record 14 conference wins (13-14).

Hodgdon has pushed the women’s basketball program to similar heights off the court as Wheaton has boasted a 3.0 cumulative grade point average (GPA) during eight of the last ten campaigns, been honored by the NCAA Division III Spotlight poll twice for its work with the Heller’s Angels Special Olympics Team and has collected a pair of SSSR Community Spirit Awards on campus.

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