Brookline native has IUP on deep run
Tri-State Sports & News Service
While much of the nation is captivated by the theater known as the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the IUP women’s team is dancing through Division II’s version of the event.
After dominating California (Pa.), 90-65, Glenville State, 88-68, and Bowie State, 75-60, in the Atlantic Region championships, the second-ranked Crimson Hawks (29-3), seeded fourth, will play Stonehill College in the Elite Eight Monday in Sioux Falls, S.D. Stonehill, ranked No. 11 nationally and seeded fifth, is located in Easton, Mass., and is going to the Elite Eight for the first time in 23 years.
This marks IUP’s first trip to the national quarterfinals in 19 years, which is why fifth-year coach Tom McConnell, recently named the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Coach of the Year, wants his team to savor every moment.
“They need to embrace it and know how special it is,” said McConnell, a Brookline native who has IUP in the NCAA tournament for the fourth consecutive season. “There are a lot of players who go through four years of college who might not experience this.”
True to their winning personality, the Crimson Hawks outscored Bowie State, 25-15, in the fourth quarter to break open what was a tight game this past Monday. Junior guard Lauren Wolosik of Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic had a team-high 20 points and eight assists, while making three 3-pointers and going 7 of 7 from the free-throw line.
“There are some games where I need to score a little bit more and be a little more aggressive, so I was just trying to read the game,” she said.
Teammate and fellow WPIAL alum Carolyn Appleby of Greensburg Central Catholic was named the Atlantic Region Tournament Most Valuable Player, averaging 17.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.7 assists, while shooting 55.6 percent from the field.
Meantime, Wolosik, who averaged 12.7 points, 8.3 assists and 3.0 steals in the three games, tied the IUP single-season assist mark of 166, set two decades earlier by Patty Connaghan.
Wolosik, Appleby and senior Halle Denman of Blackhawk comprise IUP’s uber-talented backcourt. “I definitely think we’re built for success,” said Wolosik, who helped the Crimson Hawks reach the second round of the NCAA tournament in 2017. “We didn’t go as far as we wanted last year, so we came back to prove that we could be the team that we’ve always wanted to be.”
In addition to the starting backcourt, IUP features four other WPIAL alums in Audrey Stapleton (Indiana), Courtney Alexander (Our Lady of the Sacred Heart), Madison Kerr (Peters Township) and Lexie Griggs (Vincentian).
All were recruited by 30-year veteran McConnell, a coach who believes winning is secondary to developing good people.
His motto of, “Our family versus your team,” has been adopted by each of his players. And he’d much rather be viewed as a father figure than a coach.
“I want them to know that they’re cared about and loved beyond the X’s and O’s,” said McConnell, part of the famed McConnell coaching tree. “We try to develop that mindset. What it really comes down to is that we want them to know how much they mean to us as people, not basketball players.”
Appleby, for one, was sold on McConnell years ago.
“As young women, it means so much to us that he loves and cares for us,” she said. “He treats each one of us like his own. We know that. He always has a positive attitude, and we know that we can go to him for anything. He’s like having a second dad. We’re all really fortunate to have him as our coach.”
By instilling that trust and belief, McConnell gets maximum effort out of his players.
He has led IUP to a programrecord 29 wins, tied a record with 20 conference victories and reached 100 victories in a record 130 games. His team, which opened 15-0, is winning by an average margin of 21 points.
A father of six and a grandfather of three, McConnell was the head coach of the men’s team at Saint Francis (Pa.) from 1992-99, where he won 85 games. He served as a volunteer men’s assistant at Pitt in 1982-83 and was once the varsity coach at CanonMcMillan High.
He has also had numerous assistant jobs with Division I women’s programs over the years. When he was asked why certain coaches such as Urban Meyer, Nick Saban and himself seem to have a winning touch no matter where they go, his answer was humble — and telling.
“I wouldn’t know,” he said. “I’m not close to being in that category. ... I just want to help young players become better on and off the court. That’s the biggest reward for me as a coach.”