PITTSBURGH — During the Big East Conference tournament in March, it almost seemed as if Pittsburgh had two coaches instead of one.

Jamie Dixon steered a team that would finish with a surprisingly good 25-8 record through three victories in three days before a title game loss to Syracuse. Only a few rows behind the Panthers' bench at Madison Square Garden, younger sister Maggie Dixon looked to be coaching them, too.

She was almost as into the games as her big brother was. She yelled and gestured, coaxed and applauded on nearly every possession — fretting when the Panthers fell behind, pushing them whenever they led.

When the games ended, two exhausted Dixons slumped to their seats, one tournament challenge behind them and another one soon awaiting.

Maggie Dixon's loyalty to her brother was understandable. Twelve years younger than him, he encouraged her to follow him into head coaching last season and the former DePaul assistant was hired by Army.

Her team enjoyed an unexpectedly good season that ended with the Dixons becoming the first brother and sister to coach teams to the NCAA tournament in the same season.

Less than a month later, at age 28, Maggie Dixon was dead of a heart irregularity, leaving a saddened West Point community and a grieving family behind.

Understandably, Jamie Dixon is not yet over his sister's death.

"People will always ask why," Jamie Dixon said. "People have that image of her being carried off the floor (during the Patriot League tournament). And to have something like that a couple of weeks later ..."

Despite their age difference, the two Dixons were close; last season, they talked almost nightly after their respective practices ended. Sometimes, Jamie Dixon comes off the practice floor at the Petersen Center and, by habit, picks up his cell phone to call his sister.

So imagine how heavy Dixon's heart will be when he takes his team to West Point on Sunday for the Maggie Dixon Classic, a one-day event in which No. 4 Pitt plays Western Michigan and the Army women play No. 7 Ohio State.

Maggie's gravestone is not far away, and everyone Jamie Dixon will talk to and every place he visits on campus will remind him of her. He has repeatedly become teary-eyed when talking about her, and Sunday will be no different.

"I like talking about her, but it's tough at times," Dixon said. "People are uncomfortable bringing her name up and don't know quite what to say."