Born in Pittsburgh, McConnell-Serio attended Seton-La Salle Catholic High School, leading the Lady Rebels to the PIAA state championship in 1984. McConnell-Serio played college basketball at Penn State. In four seasons at Penn State (1984–85 through 1987–88), she helped the Lady Lions to a 95–33 record and four consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. In the process, she was named the school's first First-Team All-American while setting NCAA Division I records for career assists (1,307), assists in a season (355 in 1987) and season assist average (11.8 in 1987). Her assist total and assist per game average led the nation in both 1986 & 1987.[2] She also set the record for most career points by anyone with 1,000-plus assists at 1,897 points. In 2011, Courtney Vandersloot of Gonzaga University passed her in number of assists in a single season with 367 in 2011, and number of career points with 1,000-plus assists with 2,073 points.[3] As of the start of the 2017–18 season, she still holds the records for most career assists, most assists per game in a season (and most assists per game in a season by a sophomore and by a junior), and most career triple-doubles.[4] She graduated from Penn State in 1988. She won the Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award in 1988.[5] At the time, this award was given to the best women's basketball player in the country no taller than 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m); the height limit was later increased to 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) before it was discontinued in 2013. She also ended her college career with seven career triple-doubles, which at the time was an NCAA all-divisions women's record (later equaled by Louella Tomlinson of Saint Mary's). This record has since been broken by Oregon's Sabrina Ionescu.[6]
Before joining the Minnesota Lynx, McConnell-Serio served as head coach of the girls' basketball team at Oakland Catholic High School in Pittsburgh for 13 years, from 1991 to 2003. During that time, her teams won 3 PIAA state championships (1993, 2001, 2003), were runners-up twice (2000–2002), and won five consecutive district championships (1999–2003). On December 17, 2002, she reached a coaching milestone with her 300th win. She finished her high school coaching career after the 2002–03 season with a 321–86 record.
McConnell-Serio also played in the WNBA. The former point guard played three seasons with the Cleveland Rockers (1998–2000). As a first-year player in 1998, she earned WNBA Newcomer of the Year and All-WNBA First Team honors after averaging 8.6 ppg and 6.4 apg (second in the league). She was a two-time winner of the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award (1998 and 2000) and finished her professional career with averages of 6.4 ppg and 4.6 apg in 81 contests.
In January 2003, McConnell-Serio returned to the WNBA as head coach of the Minnesota Lynx and took a team that finished 10–22 in the previous season to an 18–16 record and first-ever playoff appearance.
One year later, McConnell-Serio took a team picked to finish last in the Western Conference by a number of preseason publications and made a return trip to the playoffs and in the process was named the 2004 WNBA Coach of the Year. The '04 Lynx, who earned a franchise-best #3 seed in the WNBA Western Conference, tied franchise records for wins (18), home victories (11) and road wins (7) all set in McConnell-Serio's first season. In addition, Minnesota enjoyed a franchise-record six-game winning streak.
However, the Lynx struggled in the 2005 and 2006 season, and McConnell-Serio resigned at mid-season on July 23, 2006.
McConnell-Serio's sister, Kathy, who was her teammate on the 1984 PIAA championship team, served as her associate head coach at the University of Pittsburgh. She was previously the head coach at the universities of Tulsa (1999–2005) and Colorado (2006–10) before accepting a position as an assistant coach with the WNBA's Tulsa Shock. She was also an assistant coach at the University of Illinois (1996–99) and Rutgers (1994–95). Her first coaching job out of college was at the University of Pittsburgh as a recruiting coordinator during the 1991 season. She played in four NCAA championships while at the University of Virginia.[12]
McConnell-Serio's brother, Tim, played at Waynesburg University and has served as the boys' coach at Chartiers Valley from 1992 to 2018 and has won over 80 percent of his games while earning his 400th career win in 2010. In 2018, he moved to coach the Chartiers Valley girls' basketball team.[13]
McConnell-Serio's sister, Maureen, played at the University of Pittsburgh, and her nephew, T. J. (Tim's son) was on the Duquesne men's basketball team for two seasons (2011 and 2012) before transferring to Arizona. He currently plays for the Indiana Pacers.[14]
National champion
Postseason invitational champion
Conference regular season champion
Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
Division regular season champion
Division regular season and conference tournament champion
Conference tournament champion
