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Mom juggles family, WNBA

 
Published June 21, 1998|Updated Sept. 13, 2005

Houston's Sheryl Swoopes is the WNBA's most famous mom, but Suzie McConnell Serio might be its busiest.

McConnell Serio, a 31-year-old mother of four, is one of the league's most intriguing "rookies." The 1988 Penn State graduate, who played in the 1988 and 1992 Olympics, joined the Cleveland Rockers in the spring after a six-year retirement.

She has been a pleasant surprise at point guard. After three games, the 5-foot-5 McConnell Serio is ranked first in the league in steals and assists. Though she hasn't played competitively since 1992, conditioning has not been a problem. She has averaged more than 36 minutes a game.

This is the second return to basketball for McConnell Serio, who holds the NCAA record for assists (1,307). She retired after winning a gold medal with the U.S. team in Seoul in 1988, then returned for a bronze medal in the 1992 Olympics.

When she returned to the game in 1992, she had one child, Peter, who is now 7. After the 1992 Olympics, McConnell Serio settled in as a high school coach in Pittsburgh, leading her team to a state title in 1993. She had three more children _ the youngest one last summer, during the WNBA's first season.

Watching the league on television sparked McConnell Serio's thoughts of a comeback. Her performance at the league's draft camp in April convinced everyone else.

"I was envious watching all this and seeing these players play," she said. "I wanted to see if I could come back and play at this level. The caliber of competition is incredible."

Rockers coach Linda Hill-MacDonald said that McConnell Serio has been a welcome addition.

"She's a coach on the floor because she is a coach," Hill-MacDonald said. "The players really respect her."

The adjustment to the WNBA has been difficult on her family. McConnell Serio's husband, Pete, has taken on many parental duties as his wife commutes 2{ hours from their home in Pittsburgh to Cleveland.

"The first time, it was great," Pete Serio said, referring to his wife's return in 1992. "I had a chance to have a lot of quality time with Peter. This time, however, you have a lot of things to worry about. This child needs to be diapered. That one has to be sent off to school. Another one is looking for something to eat.

"They always need something or want something, and a lot of times I can't help them. If she had been drafted by someone else farther away, I don't know what would have happened."

HOCKEY ON HOLD: The organizers who hoped to put together a four-team professional women's ice hockey league in the Northeast have suspended their plans, at least for now. Despite the U.S. team's gold-medal success in Nagano, the atmosphere is not right yet, said Ed Saunders, president of the Women's Professional Hockey League Inc.

"We're not where we need to be to establish a league," Saunders said. "We don't feel there's any need to rush it and jeopardize the sport and the integrity of the athletes."

NHL officials agree. The league will wait until at least the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City before seriously considering backing a women's hockey league.

"We need a better pipeline. We need more experienced players," NHL spokeswoman Bernadette Mansur said. "After Salt Lake City, a rational conversation can be had."

_ Information from other news organizations was used in this report.