GAMEDAY CENTRAL
(W1) IUP Crimson Hawks (24-3, 18-3 PSAC)
vs. (E2) Bloomsburg Huskies (20-9, 14-6 PSAC)
Saturday, March 9, 2019 | 1 p.m.
Kutztown, Pa. | Keystone Arena (3,400)

HOW TO FOLLOW
Stats: KUBears.com | Sidearm Stats
Watch: KUBears.com | KU-TV
Video App: PSAC Sports Network
Radio: WCCS-AM & 101.1 FM | wccsradio.com
Audio App: U92.5 Sports App (Android & iPhone)
Social Media: Twitter | @IUP_WBB

GAME PREVIEWS/HOST INFORMATION
IUP Game Notes (PDF)
Bloomsburg Preview
Kutztown Host Page
PSAC Sports Championship Page

COMING UP
Sunday, March 10 PSAC Championship, 2:05 p.m. (with win)
Fri.-Mon., March 15-18 NCAA Atlantic Region Championships

THE GAME AT A GLANCE
Top-seeded IUP women's basketball (24-3, 18-3 PSAC) looks to keep the momentum as they face Bloomsburg in the semifinals of the 2019 PSAC Championships. Kutztown will serve as the weekend host with IUP's semifinal game tipping at 1 p.m. at Keystone Arena. The Crimson Hawks advanced with a 67-53 revenge win over Seton Hill in Wednesday's quarterfinals. The Huskies have won three straight overall and advanced with a 58-52 home victory over West Chester in the quarterfinals.

TIPOFF NOTES
>> IUP is making its 22nd all-time PSAC tournament appearance, including 14 straight dating back to 2006.
>> The Crimson Hawks are 28-16 (.636) in the PSAC tournament including 7-6 in the semifinal round. 
>> This is IUP's fifth straight PSAC semifinal appearance, going 2-2 in the previous four.
>> The Crimson Hawks are looking for the program's sixth PSAC Championship and second under HC Tom McConnell in the last three seasons. A sixth title would tie Cal U and Shippensburg for the most in league history.
>> This year marked IUP's seventh PSAC West regular season title, including its second straight and third in the last five seasons under McConnell. 
>> This is IUP's first neutral site game of the season. The Crimson Hawks are 11-1 on the road. 
>> McConnell is 4-1 with four straight wins against Bloomsburg, including a 73-46 win at the KCAC November 14.
>> The Crimson Hawks have outscored Bloomsburg by an average of 19.8 points in the last four wins, which includes a 78-50 home victory last season.
>> IUP went 5-0 against PSAC East teams in league games this year, including three wins on the road. 
>> The Crimson Hawks had a +26.0 scoring margin in those five wins..
>> McConnell became IUP's all-time winningest coach with his 142nd victory Wednesday.

WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE HUSKIES
>> Bloomsburg is 20-9 overall and earned the second seed in the PSAC East with a 14-6 league record.
>> The Huskies shared the PSAC East regular season title with Kutztown but lost out with a tiebreaker.
>> Bloomsburg is currently ranked 10th in the latest NCAA Atlantic Region rankings.
>> They defeated West Chester 58-52 in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals.
>> Bloomsburg is 1-3 against top 25 teams, defeating No. 19 Edinboro 70-62 December 2. The Huskies lost to No. 5 IUP, No. 19 Jefferson (56-45) and No. 14 Cal U (80-74). 
>> HC Alison Tagliaferri was named PSAC East Coach of the Year, a 7-win improvement from last season. 

CRIMSON HAWKS WON PROGRAM'S SEVENTH PSAC WEST TITLE
>> The Crimson Hawks clinched the program's seventh PSAC West regular season title with their win at Edinboro coupled with Cal U's loss to Seton Hill last Wednesday.
>> This is IUP's third PSAC West title in the McConnell era, winning in 2015, 2018 and 2019.
>> IUP also won division crowns in 1984, 1999, 2007 and 2008.

CRIMSON HAWKS REMAIN AT NO. 4 IN NCAA ATLANTIC REGION RANKINGS
>> The NCAA released its third set of Division II regional rankings Wednesday with the Crimson Hawks remaining at No. 4. They opened at No. 1 and fell back three spots in the second release. 
>> These rankings determine selection and seeding to the 2019 NCAA Division II Championships in March. 
>> This is the final ranking before the NCAA releases its field of 64 Sunday, March 10 at 10 p.m. 

IUP IS ONE OF THE TOP SCORING TEAMS IN DIVISION II
>> The Crimson Hawks are 2nd in the PSAC and are ranked 24th in Division II with a scoring average of 77.5 PPG.
>> That scoring average is the highest in the six-year Tom McConnell era.
>> They have scored 80 points 11 times and 90 or more points five times, including two 100-point outings.
>> The 95 points against Alderson Broaddus is the 2nd most by IUP in a season opener (96 vs. Ohio Valley, 2002).
>> IUP leads the PSAC and ranks 6th in the country with a 48.2 FG%. They've converted at least 50 percent from the field 10 times this year, including a season-high 59.3 percent against Clarion.
>> Four players average double-figures in scoring - Appleby 17.7, Wolosik 12.5, Robinson 11.7, Griggs 10.2.

CRIMSON HAWKS USED TO HELPING THEMSELVES
>> IUP leads the PSAC and ranks 7th in Division II in assists per game with 18.1.
>> With 490 assists on 815 made field goals, IUP assists on 60.1 percent of its made buckets. 
>> The Crimson Hawks have 10 games of 20-plus assists, including 23 at Edinboro last Wednesday and a season-high 27 in the opener against Alderson Broaddus.
>> R-Sr. G Lauren Wolosik and Sr. G Carolyn Appleby rank in the top 8 in the PSAC in assists per game. Wolosik is 11th in Division II at 6.1 APG.
>> IUP is 5th in Division II with a 1.39 assist-to-turnover ratio and 19th by giving up just 13.1 turnovers per game. 

THE IUP DEFENSE ALSO AMONG THE BEST IN THE NATION
>> IUP leads the PSAC and ranks 8th in Division II in scoring defense, allowing 53.7 points per game. They also rank 5th in FG% defense (.340), 7th in 3FG% defense (.262), 10th in blocks (5.1 BPG), and 18th in steals (10.7 SPG).
>> IUP has held opponents to 50 or fewer points eight times, including a season-low 32 points to Shippensburg. That's tied for the 10th fewest allowed in program history and the least given up since the 2011-12 season.
>> IUP has forced at least 13 turnovers in all 27 games, including 11 games of 20-plus. 
>> IUP has faced nine of the top 10 individual scorers in the PSAC, holding them to an average of 6.7 points below their current averages. Ariel Jones (Shippensburg) averages 25.6 points but was held to just 10 on December 8. 

COACH MCCONNELL IS IUP WIN LEADER, NAMED PSAC WEST COACH OF THE YEAR
>> With IUP's PSAC quarterfinal win over Seton Hill, HC Tom McConnell became the program's all-time winningest coach with 142 wins in just six seasons. 
>> McConnell surpassed Jan Kiger, who was 141-121 (.538) from 1986-96.
>> He was named the PSAC West Coach of the Year for the second straight season.
>> McConnell passed Sandy Thomas (1996-2003) for 2nd on the list with 123 in the Nov. 28 victory over Cheyney.
>> McConnell's .793 win percentage is 1st in program history, ahead of Cindy Martin's .753 from 2005-08.
>> He averaged 23.6 wins in his previous five seasons at IUP with four straight 20-win campaigns. The 30 wins last year set a program record and he has three of the eight seasons in school history. 

APPLEBY, WOLOSIK AND ROBINSON EARN ALL-PSAC WEST HONORS
>> Sr. G Carolyn Appleby, Sr. G Lauren Wolosik and Sr. F Brittany Robinson earned All-PSAC West honors as the conference announced its postseason awards Thursday.
>> Appleby and Wolosik landed on the first team while Robinson was a second team selection.
>> It was Appleby's second straight first team honor, and third overall. Wolosik was a second team selection last year while Robinson earned her first career postseason award. 

CAROLYN APPLEBY IS IUP'S TOP SCORING THREAT
>> Appleby ranks 8th in the PSAC with 17.7 PPG. She's also 10th with an 78.7 FT%, 8th with 184 made FGs, and 12th with a 44.0 FG%.
>> She's led the Crimson Hawks in scoring 16 times in 27 games and has 11 20-point performances. 
>> Her 479 points is 10th in IUP sing season history. She's 43 points from last year's tally of 522. 

APPLEBY PERFORMS WELL IN CRUNCH TIME
>> Appleby is averaging 17.0 points in 17 career postseason (PSAC & NCAA) games.
>> Her 28 points in Wednesday's quarterfinals is her second highest single game scoring total. She scored a career-high 30 points in the 2017 PSAC Championship game win over Cal U
>> Appleby was named the 2018 Atlantic Region Tournament and 2017 PSAC Tournament MVP. 

LAUREN WOLOSIK RUNS THE POINT WITH PRECISION
>> Wolosik is one of the top distributors in Division II, ranking 5th in the country with a 2.73 assist-turnover ratio and 11th with 6.1 APG. She leads the PSAC in both categories. 
>> Wolosik has dished out 8 or more assists nine times this year, including five times in the last 13 games.
>> Her 134 assists this year is the 6th most in single season IUP history. Last year she set the record with 175.
>> She posted her first double-double with career-highs of 33 points and 10 assists against Edinboro on Jan. 21. That helped earn her PSAC West Athlete of the Week honors Jan. 22. 

BRITTANY ROBINSON CONTRIBUTES ON BOTH ENDS OF THE FLOOR
>> Robinson is 3rd in IUP history with 168 career blocks, including a team-high 39 this year. 
>> She's tied for 3rd in the PSAC with 1.5 BPG while her 39 blocks are 4th. 
>> She has at least 1 block in 13 straight games, posting 25 during that span. 
>> She's 3rd on the team in scoring at 11.7 PPG, including 19 double-figure scoring games.
>> Robinson leads the PSAC and ranks 16th in Division II with a 56.5 field goal percentage.
 
LEXI GRIGGS PROVING VALUABLE IN HER FIRST YEAR AS A STARTER
>> Jr. F Lexi Griggs has flashed big game potential this year, putting together back-to-back career games to earn PSAC West Athlete of the Week honors Feb. 25.
>> Griggs posted a career-high 24 points on 12-16 shooting in the win over Clarion, eclipsing that performance with 28 points on 13-14 shooting at Cal. 
>> She's 2nd on the team with 5.8 RPG and 157 total rebounds. 
>> Griggs is also 4th on the team with 10.6 PPG. She has 15 double-figure scoring games. 
>> She has 3 double-doubles this season, including a 17-point, 10-rebound performance at UPJ.

NATALIE MYERS ADDS TO TALENTED STARTING GROUP IN FIRST YEAR AT IUP 
>> Jr. G Natalie Myers is averaging 6.8 PPG and is 3rd on the team in rebounding at 5.7 RPG. 
>> She's shown sharpshooter ability with a career-high 17 points and 5 3-pointers in the win over Slippery Rock. 
>> Myers has 3 double-doubles this season, posting 16 points and 12 rebounds in the win at Slippery Rock. 
>> Myers leads the team with 39 3-pointers with 10 games of 2+ treys.

HUNTER, HOLLEN AND ALEXANDER PROVIDE DEPTH OFF THE BENCH
>> Sr. F Kendall Hunter leads all bench players in scoring (4.1 PPG), rebounding (3.1 RPG) and minutes (14.9 MPG).
>> She had a career-game at Millersville, scoring 16 points with 12 rebounds in 28 minutes.  
>> Sr. G Ana Hollen provides guard depth, averaging 3.5 PPG with 20 3FGs and 29 assists.
>> So. G Courtney Alexander has provided an offensive spark averaging 8.3 PPG over her last three games.
>> She scored 12 points at Edinboro and added 10 in the regular season finale against Seton Hill. Alexander has 7 3-pointers in the last three games and is shooting 69.2 percent from the field.