Melissa L. Hodgdon joined Wheaton's athletic department as the head coach of the women's basketball program prior to the 2003-04 season. She led the Lyons to their first NCAA Tournament in 13 years during the winter of 2007-08, helping the team capture the program's initial New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) regular season and tournament titles, before guiding Wheaton back to the title game last winter.

During each of Hodgdon's first five seasons, the Lyons improved upon their previous year's win total. In 2007-08, Wheaton set a school record for conference victories, and Hodgdon was named league coach of the year. The year prior, she coached the Lyons to their inaugural Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament championship game. In addition to on-court success, Wheaton has compiled better than a 3.0 cumulative grade-point average as a team during each of Hodgdon's six years.

Prior to her arrival at Wheaton, Hodgdon served as the top assistant for the women's basketball program at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester for four seasons. During her stint, the Crusaders captured three Patriot League championships in addition to advancing to the NCAA Division I Tournament three times.

At Holy Cross, Hodgdon was responsible for all phases of recruiting while also playing an integral role in the program's scouting, court preparation and bench coaching. In all of her previous coaching engagements, Hodgdon saw every one of her recruited players successfully complete school. She has continued that perfect graduation rate at Wheaton while her athletes have drawn five academic all-conference honors.

Hodgdon went to Holy Cross after two seasons as an assistant coach at Niagara University. Prior to Niagara, she spent three years as the top assistant at the University of New Hampshire. Hodgdon began her coaching career in 1991 at Framingham State College, where she served as an assistant for one year before moving on to Wentworth Institute of Technology as the head coach for two seasons. In her second year at Wentworth, Hodgdon guided the Leopards to the most successful season in the program's nine years to that point.

In addition to her contributions to the collegiate varsity coaching circuit, Hodgdon has served in other capacities, including coaching recreational women's volleyball at New Hampshire in 1994 and working as the equipment and facilities manager at Wentworth. While working at Framingham State and Wentworth, she was also employed at Newton Country Day School from 1991-93.

Hodgdon is a 1991 graduate of Springfield College, where she earned a bachelor's degree in health education with a minor in psychology. While at Niagara, Hodgdon earned a master's degree in school counseling. A native of East Boothbay, Maine, 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.