CSUN’s Dixon Twins Are Two Players You Can’t Take at Face Value

In a women’s basketball game between Cal Poly Pomona and Cal State Northridge on Feb. 7, a Pomona player drove the lane and was stopped by some heavy contact. CSUN’s Marianne Dixon was called for the foul.

On the surface, there was nothing unusual about that. Dixon committed 81 fouls this season and fouled out of seven games. And there was no denying a foul had been committed. The unusual thing, however, was the fact that at the time Marianne Dixon was whistled for the foul she was sitting on the bench.

When CSUN Coach Leslie Milke--who guides her team into the first round of the CCAA playoffs tonight against Chapman College in San Luis Obispo--brought this minor incongruity to the referee’s attention, he looked puzzled. He looked that way because he was puzzled. He glanced at the court and saw Marianne Dixon standing there, and he reaffirmed his call. Then he glanced at the CSUN bench and saw Marianne Dixon there . Another look at the court, and there was Marianne Dixon. And a split second later, his eyes focused on Marianne Dixon. Sitting on the bench.

The man was probably mere seconds away from scheduling an expensive visit to the eye doctor. Or a shrink. But he was saved by Milke, who calmly pointed out that the Dixon on the bench was indeed Marianne. The Dixon on the court was Kathleen, her identical twin.

“I’m sitting on the bench and I get a foul called on me,” Marianne said. “I just thought, ‘Oh, great.’ But it happens all the time. The refs are supposed to call players’ numbers, but sometimes they just get used to faces. I’d already had a few fouls, so he knew my face.”

How was the referee to know that someone else on the CSUN team owned the same face?

The Dixons of Santa Monica, now freshmen at CSUN, bring a lot of talent onto the basketball court. Marianne was the Bay League’s Most Valuable Player last year as a senior at Santa Monica High and was also named the Player of the Year by The Times. Kathleen was the runner-up in the Bay League MVP voting and won the City Bank Athlete of the Year award.

But the talent they bring to a game is nothing compared to the confusion they cause.

“The refs get mixed up all the time,” said Marianne, “but the other team gets even more messed up. When we’re both in the game together, one of us all of a sudden is wide open. And the other one has two defenders hanging on her. The people guarding us forget who’s who and they’ll both cover Kathleen or both cover me. We score a lot of points like that.”

Marianne is 6-feet tall. Kathleen is an inch taller. Both are built the same, with long and strong legs. And both wear their dark, brown hair short. Their faces are, well, identical. The only difference is that Marianne’s hair has a small streak of light brown in the front. But in the semi-fast action of a women’s basketball game, a defender rarely has enough time to analyze that.

“What we hear all the time is the coach of the other team screaming ‘Go by their numbers, go by their numbers,’ ” Kathleen said.

Kathleen, who plays center, wears No. 55. Marianne, a forward, wears No. 50.

Part of the confusion also stems from the fact that the Dixons play a very similar power-type game. Kathleen has played more minutes this season, and has averaged 12.3 points per game to Marianne’s 8.6. But other statistics are, well--have we used this word yet?--identical.

Both have 29 offensive rebounds. Both have averaged 6.4 rebounds per game. Both have 18 assists. Of course, there are statistical differences other than their scoring averages. Marianne, for example, has attempted 39 free throws. Kathleen has shot just 38. And while Marianne has fouled out of seven games, she’s low-woman on the Dixon totem pole in that department. Kathleen has fouled out of eight games.

But while they’re in the game, they’re a very important part of the CSUN team that enters the CCAA playoffs with a 15-10 overall record and an 8-4 conference mark. Kathleen has led the Lady Matadors in scoring four times. Marianne has led the team in one game. Kathleen has also led the team in rebounding in seven games. Marianne has been the top rebounder in four games. And they never, ever bounce a pass of the other’s forehead.

“They are so aware of each other on the court,” Milke said. “They have a bond that you don’t see too often on a basketball court. It’s very obvious when you watch them play. They know each other so well. They know each other’s moves so well. I don’t know what it’s like to have a twin, but there’s very definitely a natural affinity for each other.”

That, however, wasn’t always such good news for the CSUN team.

“For the most part that kind of awareness of each other is an advantage, but it can also be detrimental to a basketball team because there are three other players out there,” Milke said. “They’re better now that they realize that. It was difficult at first. They looked at each other too much when it was time to pass the ball.”

When they leave the basketball court, the link between twins is just as strong. The same words often come from their mouths at the same time. The same thoughts pass through their minds. It’s a rare and beautiful bond between human beings.

And their friends hate it.

“People are always getting on us for saying and doing the same things at the same time,” Kathleen said. “They get sick of it. They’re always saying we talk in stereo.”

But such minor problems are far outweighed by the joy of having an identical twin sister. And if they don’t fully appreciate it now, they will the day each of them realizes that if they’re being badgered for a date by an unwelcome suitor, they can give him their sister’s phone number.