SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Junior guard Carolyn Appleby (Greensburg, Pa./Greensburg Central Catholic) scored a team-high 23 points and the Crimson Hawks withstood a late run by Stonehill to clinch an exciting 75-71 victory in the NCAA Division II Elite Eight Monday night at the Sanford Pentagon.
 
With the victory, the Crimson Hawks (30-3) advance to the Final Four to play top-seed and record-breaking Ashland in the national semifinals Wednesday evening. Ashland is the defending national champion and has won a Division II record 72 straight games. Tipoff Wednesday is set for 9:30 p.m. EST/8:30 p.m. CST in Sioux Falls.
 
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This is the first Elite Eight victory in the history of the IUP women's basketball program, with this final four appearance the first ever for the Crimson Hawks.
 
"Just extremely proud of our basketball team with the grit that I think they displayed going down the stretch," said IUP head coach Tom McConnell. "The whole second half battling foul trouble, to their credit they were able to play and stay on the floor without fouling. For these young ladies to just display the kind of toughness mental and physical that they did, because that's that's a very good basketball team that we beat tonight."
 
The Crimson Hawks looked dominant early on, using a 10-0 second quarter run to take a 37-24 lead on a jumper by Megan Smith (Blain, Pa./West Perry) midway through the second quarter. Smith finished with 22 points, her third 20-point outing of the NCAA tournament.
 
"I thought early we were able to score on some things that maybe they they didn't expect," said McConnell, "but then true to their character they settled in figured out how to defend it and made it really difficult for us."
 
Leading by 13 at halftime, IUP was forced to overcome a third quarter in which it was called for nine personal fouls. Stonehill (29-4) converted 11-of-12 from the foul line and outscored the Crimson Hawks 19-12 to cut the deficit in half.
 
Lauren Wolosik (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Catholic) fouled out, while Appleby, Halle Denman (Beaver Falls, Pa./Blackhawk), Maura D'Anna (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) and Brittany Robinson (Harrisburg, Pa./Central Dauphin East) were all in foul trouble.
 
Stonehill took advantage of IUP's foul trouble, cutting its deficit to two points at 65-63 on a 3-pointer by Kelsey Shaw with 4:46 to play. The Skyhawks tied the game a minute later with a pair of foul shots by Kelly Martin, the closest they had been since tipoff.
 
Martin, the East Region Player of the Year, posted game-highs of 27 points and 20 rebounds for Stonehill. IUP limited Martin to a poor shooting performance, going 5-of-17 from the floor, including 1-of-7 from 3-point range.
 
IUP jumped back on top and held a 72-68 after a pair of free throws by Appleby with a minute to play. Stonehill answered with a 3-pointer by Courtney Walsh to make it 72-71 less than 10 seconds later.
 
With the shot clock winding down on IUP's next trip down the floor, a blocked shot led to a loose ball, with Appleby tying up Elizabeth Rip to gain possession. Free throws by Appleby and Robinson in the final 15.8 seconds clinched the win for the Crimson Hawks.
 
"At the end we just wanted to put the ball in Carolyn's hands and spread the floor and just let her create either for herself or for her teammates," said McConnell. "I thought she made some key shots. She fired Brittney for a lay up and just really played a great floor game."
 
In addition to her 23 points, Appleby dished out six assists and turned it over just twice.
 
Smith nearly notched a double-double with 22 points and nine rebounds, also blocking five shots.
 
Robinson had 14 points, seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals in 27 minutes. Maura D'Anna (Springfield, Va./West Springfield) came off the bench to score 10 points with five rebounds – three offensive – off the bench.
 
IUP record book update
In the second quarter, Wolosik set a new IUP single season assist record and finished the game with 170 on the year. The old record of 166 was held by Patti Connaghan in 1987-88.
 
Smith brought her season point total to 604, which is the fourth highest in program history. Jazhinga Tracey has the top three scoring totals with 612 points (2006-07), 609 points (2008-09) and 607 points (2007-08). Smith's 1,462 career points is the fourth most in program history.
 
Appleby has 505 points this year, the seventh highest total in IUP history.
 
Up next
IUP will look to dethrone Ashland Wednesday night with a tipoff set for 9:30 p.m. EST / 8:30 p.m. CST. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports.
 
"We're going to enjoy this one, said McConnell. "The Hawks are going to the Final Four. We'll think about Ashland in the morning. Tonight we're going to enjoy this one. We have great respect for them as we know them well. We are thankful that we're moving on and have the opportunity to represent IUP in the final four."
 
Follow
For up-to-date game information, visit www.IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_WBB.