INDIANA, Pa. – Senior guard Carolyn Appleby scored 28 points and senior forward Brittany Robinson went over 1,000 career points as they led top-seeded IUP to a 67-53 win over Seton Hill in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Women's Basketball Championships Wednesday at the Kovalchick Complex.
 
The win gave head coach Tom McConnell 142 in his six seasons at IUP as he broke the program record for career wins at the school.
 
The Crimson Hawks (24-3) advance to semifinals to face Bloomsburg Saturday at 1 p.m. PSAC Championship weekend of the women's bracket will be hosted by Kutztown, which is the top seed from the Eastern Division.
 
Appleby continued her typical stellar postseason play by hitting 10-of-18 from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, and 6-of-9 from the foul line to hit a new season-high in points with 28. She added five rebounds, four assists and three steals in 38 minutes.
 
Robinson added to her legacy in crimson and gray when she scored her 1,000th career point with a second quarter free throw. Currently the program's all-time leader in field goal percentage and third on the career blocks list, she becomes the 27th player in IUP history to score 1,000 points. She joins classmates Appleby and Lauren Wolosik, who hit their milestones last year and this year, respectively.
 
McConnell surpassed Jan Kiger, who put together a 141-121 record from 1986-96. McConnell needed just 179 games to break the mark as he sports a .793 winning percentage with the Crimson Hawks.
 
McConnell and the Crimson Hawks had to fend off numerous shots from Seton Hill (19-11) all night long as the Griffins looked for their second upset win in the KCAC since Saturday. IUP lost to Seton Hill 71-59 in the regular season finale.
 
Robinson put in work in the early going, scoring seven first quarter points as the Crimson Hawks grabbed a 17-10 lead after the opening 10 minutes. Her milestone point came at the 6:15 mark of the second quarter, giving IUP a 19-13 advantage.
 
The Crimson Hawks' lead, which reached as high has nine points in the first half, began to shrink as Seton Hill took advantage of second quarter IUP fouls. Seven called penalties on IUP sent the Griffins to the line six times where they went 8-of-12. Seton Hill also won the turnover battle 4-0 in the quarter to outscore the Crimson Hawks 20-15.
 
IUP led 32-27 late in the half after Robinson found freshman guard Rajah Fink cutting to the bucket. A foul was called on Appleby with 0.4 seconds left in the quarter, resulting in three made free throws by Seton Hill's Megan Marecic to make it a 2-point game heading to the locker room.
 
Appleby and junior forward Lexi Griggs found themselves in foul trouble with three each headed into the break.
 
It was a defensive third quarter with the teams combining for 25 points and a 30.0 field goal percentage. The Griffins kept it close by collecting five offensive rebounds as IUP took a 46-41 lead into the fourth.
 
Possibly the biggest shot of the final quarter came from Appleby, who connected on a 3-pointer to give the Crimson Hawks a 56-47 lead with 5:32 to play in the game.
 
Seton Hill did come back to close its deficit to five with just under four minutes to play, but the Crimson Hawks ran away with the game down the stretch with success at the foul line and on the defensive end of the floor.
 
IUP went 10-of-11 from the foul line over a two minute stretch and forced the Griffins into five turnovers in the last 3:02 to ice the win. Appleby, Wolosik and Griggs all made good from the charity stripe as the Crimson Hawks came up big in crunch time.
 
They ended up outscoring Seton Hill 11-2 over the last 3:18.
 
Robinson finished the night with 16 points and a season-high 12 rebounds, posting her fourth double-double of the season.
 
Wolosik also scored in double-figures, ending her night with 12 points on 3-of-6 field goals and 6-of-7 from the line. She added five rebounds, five steals and dished out four assists.
 
The Crimson Hawks finished 18-of-25 from the foul line and forced Seton Hill into 16 turnovers while only committing 10 of their own.
 
IUP also limited the Griffins to 3-of-20 shooting from beyond the arc and 19-of-58 from the field for the game.
 
Notes
The Crimson Hawks entered the game No. 14 in the WBCA Top 25 and No. 19 in the D2SIDA Media Top 25 polls … They are also ranked No. 4 in the NCAA's Atlantic Region rankings … In addition to owning the program's wins record, McConnell also tops IUP coaches in career win percentage (.793), 20-win seasons (five), and wins in a season (30) … In her 17 career postseason games (PSAC and NCAA), Appleby is averaging 17.0 points per game with six 20-point performances … Tonight marked the 126th collegiate game for Wolosik, which is more than any player in program history … She's played in 105 games at IUP and 21 in two seasons at Central Connecticut State … Seton Hill's Marecic, who had 22 points and 13 rebounds in the regular season finale, was held to 16 points on 5-of-22 shooting tonight …  
 
Up next
The Crimson Hawks will play in the program's 14th PSAC semifinal game this Saturday against Bloomsburg. The Huskies (20-9) are the No. 2 seed from the East and advanced with a 58-52 win over West Chester in Wednesday's quarterfinals. These two teams matched up in November, with IUP coming out on top 73-46 at the Kovalchick Complex.
 
The winner will advance to Sunday's PSAC Championship Game to face the winner of Cal U and Kutztown. Tipoff for that game is 2:05 p.m. and will be aired live on PCN-TV.
 
Follow
For up-to-date information, visit IUPAthletics.com and follow IUP women's basketball on Twitter @IUPCrimsonHawk and @IUP_WBB.