NEW ORLEANS– Tennessee’s Holly Warlick is the winner of the Maggie Dixon Division I Rookie Coach of the Year award after leading the Lady Vols to a regional final this season.

Warlick coached Tennessee to a 27-8 record and a Southeastern Conference regular-season title this season after spending 27 seasons as an assistant on Pat Summitt’s staff.

Summitt, who led Tennessee to eight national titles, stepped down last April after announcing in 2011 she had early-onset dementia, Alzheimer’s type.

Before the season, SEC coaches picked Tennessee to finish fifth in the conference.

The award is named after Maggie Dixon, who led Army to an NCAA tournament bid in her lone season as the Black Knights’ coach.

Dixon died April 6, 2006, a few weeks after that tournament appearance.

• Associated Press