Longtime Wheaton College women's basketball coach Melissa Hodgdon became the winningest women's basketball coach at Wheaton Wednesday night, Nov. 28 as her Lyons defeated the Engineers of WPI, 58-47, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) opener for both teams in Emerson Gymnasium on the Norton, Massachusetts campus.

The win is the 208th for Hodgdon, who took over the team in 2003, pushing her past Wheaton Hall of Fame coach Del Malloy (1984-1997) who finished his 13 season career with a 207-129 record.

During each of Hodgdon's first five seasons, the Lyons improved upon their previous year's win total. In 2006-07, she coached the Lyons to their inaugural Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament championship game. In 2014-15, Wheaton finished the year with its sixth 20-win season in program history at 20-8 overall along with an appearance in the NEWMAC championship game.

Wheaton has also been nationally recognized by the NCAA and NADIIIAA/JOSTENS for its work with the "End the R Word" campaign.

A native of East Boothbay, Maine and a 1987 graduate of Boothbay Region High School, she was a standout women's basketball player for four years at Springfield. Named team MVP and captain twice, Hodgdon still holds the school's single-game assists record.