Jan. 6, 2009

Contact: Greg Murphy

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SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State begins its Horizon League home schedule when the Vikings host Green Bay on Thursday, Jan. 8, beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. The Vikings are 7-7 overall and 1-1 in league play after falling at Butler on Saturday and winning at Valparaiso on Monday night. Green Bay (9-3, 1-0) opened conference play with a win at Milwaukee on Sunday night. Last season, Green Bay won both regular season games against CSU, but the Vikings handed the Phoenix a 90-66 setback in the league semifinals. Thursday's game will be the first of five doubleheaders for the Vikings this season with the CSU men playing Loyola at 7:30 p.m.

PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: Coming off the most successful season in school history, sixth-year head coach Kate Peterson Abiad welcomes back three starters and eight letterwinners from last year's team that won the Horizon League Championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. The lineup is keyed by six players who made significant contributions to last year's squad, headlined by junior guard Kailey Klein (18.9 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 3.1 apg), a first team All-Horizon League pick last season. Klein is joined in the backcourt by junior twin sisters Angel (6.5 ppg, 3.3 apg) and Jessica Roque (9.3 ppg, 3.0 rpg), while sophomore Shawnita Garland (10.8 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 2.7 apg, 2.6 spg) serves as the top reserve off the bench. Senior Dominique Butler (11.0 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 3.0 spg) leads the frontcourt after earning Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year accolades last season, while junior Stephaine Crosley (5.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg) slides into the starting lineup. Senior Natalie Miller (1.4 ppg, 1.0 rpg) also figures into the rotation, while freshman guards Janelle Adams (2.4 ppg, 1.7 rpg) and Takima Keane (1.4 ppg, 0.4 rpg) and forward Destinee Blue (2.0 ppg, 1.9 rpg) have worked their way into the rotation during the nonconference portion of the season.

THE HEAD COACH: Kate Peterson Abiad is in her sixth year as the head coach of the Vikings and claims an overall record of 54-108 (.333) after leading the Vikings to 19 wins last season. The sixth head coach in school-history, Peterson Abiad spent six years as an assistant coach at Wisconsin, serving as the recruiting coordinator starting in 1998. She also worked at Eastern Illinois (1993-97) and Indiana (1991-93). A 1991 graduate of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Peterson Abiad earned Kodak All-America honors her senior season after setting the NCAA Division III record for three-point field goals per game at 3.85.

RINGS & BANNERS PRESENTATION: The women's basketball team will be honored for their 2008 Horizon League Championship during halftime of the CSU men's game on Thursday, Jan. 8. Team members, coaches and staff will receive championship rings in a special presentation and will also raise a banner to the rafters. The Vikings defeated Butler, Green Bay and Wright State in last season's Horizon League tournament to claim their first-ever league title and automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.

BUTLER NEARING 1,000 PONTS: Following her 12 points at Valparaiso on Monday night, senior Dominique Butler is on the verge of becoming the 21st player in school history to score 1,000 career points. Butler's career scoring total is now 993 points, meaning she needs just seven points to reach 1,000 for her career.

ANOTHER BUTLER MILESTONE IN REACH: Dominique Butler is on the verge of becoming just the 12th player in program history to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds in a career. Butler, who has 554 career rebounds, is seven points shy of 1,000. She would join Audra Cook, Dianne Foster, Deb Taylor, Mary Petrecca, Lanette Taylor, Terri Miller, Sue Hlavacek, Ashley Schrock, Megan Williams, Mahogany Green and Shannon Sword as the only players in school history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds for their careers.

... AND IF YOU ADD STEALS: Dominique Butler will be in even more elite company as Dianne Foster is currently the only player in school history who has recorded 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 steals for a career. Butler has 554 rebounds and 255 steals. Foster is the school-record holder for career points (1,851) and ranks second in rebounds (941) and steals (355).

1,000 TIMES TWO: If Dominique Butler joins Kailey Klein with 1,000 career points this season, they will be just the third pair of teammates to score their 1,000th point in the same season for CSU. Ashley Schrock and Shannon Sword were the last to accomplish the feat in 2003-04, while Terri Miller and Lisa Kipp were the first ones to do it during the 1987-88 season.

GARLAND HASN'T MISSED IN A WHILE: It must seem that the hoop is the size of the ocean to sophomore Shawnita Garland. After all, Garland has made her last 13 field goal attempts, beginning with her final shot against Niagara on Dec. 21. Garland followed by making all eight of her field goals versus Buffalo (Dec. 2) and nailed all four of her shots at Valparaiso on Monday (Jan. 5) night. She ranks second in the Horizon League in field goal percentage (54-94; .574).

... AND DOESN'T MIND STARTING: Shawnita Garland was doing a more than admirable job as CSU's top reserve, averaging 9.8 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 11 games off the bench to become an early favorite for the Horizon League Sixth Player of the Year award. However, over her last two contests, both starts, Garland has played 65 minutes, averaging 16.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game. In additon, she has not missed a field goal as a starter, hitting all 12 of her shots, including two three pointers.

KLEIN 7TH ON SCORING LIST: With her seven point effort at Valparaiso on Monday, junior Kailey Klein moved out of a tie for seventh place with Mary Petrecca on CSU's career scoring list. Klein is now just 14 points shy of moving past Lori Johnson (1990-95) and into sixth place on the all-time list and needs 130 more points to vault past Mahogany Green (1997-01) into fifth place on the all-time scoring chart.

KLEIN'S TOP-10: Kailey Klein is proving that her selection to the preseason All-Horizon League first team was indeed no fluke. She is the only player in the league to rank in the top-10 in scoring, rebounding and assists. Her 18.9 points per game is tops in the conference and she is eighth in assists (3.1) and 10th in rebounding (5.8).

DOING IT WITH "D": CSU has picked up its defensive intensity over the last three games, surrendering just 52.7 points per contest and allowing those teams to shoot a combined .327 (55-168) from the field. CSU gave up a season-low 48 points to Buffalo on Dec. 29 and followed that performance by giving up just 55 points to both Butler (Jan. 3) and Valparaiso (Jan. 5). In addition, CSU held Valpo to an opponent low .270 (17-63) effort from the field.

BLOCK PARTY: The Vikings showcased their recent defensive prowess in an unusual way on Monday at Valparaiso, recording a season-high nine blocked shots, tying for the fifth most in a game in school history. To put it in perspective, CSU's season-high for blocked shots last year was three and the nine blocked shots were the most since CSU had 11 at Kent State on Dec. 27, 1994. Stephaine Crosley led the way with a career-high four blocks, allowing her to move into third place in the league with 1.0 blocked shots per game.

ON THE MARK: The Vikings shot lights out from the field on Monday (Jan. 5) at Valparaiso, connecting on 25-of-43 from the field for the second highest percentage (.581) in school history. In fact, CSU has had two of the top three field goal percentages in school history this season, hitting .574 (27-47) against Eastern Michigan.

BUT SHOULD IT COME AS A SHOCK???: It should surprise nobody that CSU shot so well on Monday at Valparaiso. After all, last season, the Vikings scorched the nets in the Athletics & Recreation Center for 86 points on 32-of-56 (.571) shooting from the field. In fact, over the last two years, CSU has gone 57-of-99 (.576) from the field at Valparaiso, including 16-of-32 (.500) from three-point.

ROQUE MISSES FIRST CAREER GAME: Junior Angel Roque had her string of 55 consecutive starts and 74 consecutive games played snapped on Monday, Dec. 29, when she missed the Buffalo game with a finger injury. It marked the first game that Roque, who has also sat out the last two games, missed in her CSU career. Prior to sitting out, Roque had been playing some of the best basketball of her career, averaging 7.7 points and 3.8 assists per contest over the previous six games. The streak started with a 13 point, three assist effort at American (Nov. 30) and was followed by a 10 point, four assist game at Akron on Dec. 3. Roque then had back-to-back five assist games agaisnt Kent State and Ohio State before scoring 11 points at Ohio. Roque is ranked sixth in the Horizon League with a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio (35 assists to 27 turnovers) and 10th with 3.2 assists per game.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Through eight weeks of the season, Cleveland State is the only team to have two different players earn a Horizon League Player of the Week honors. Dominique Butler earned the award for the first time in her career on Nov. 24, while Kailey Klein earned the award on Dec. 22 and again on Jan. 5. They were the fourth and fifth awards of her career. Green Bay, Valparaiso, Butler, Milwaukee and UIC have each had one player earn the weekly award this season.

KLEIN TAKES OVER SCORING LEAD: Kailey Klein has taken over the scoring lead in the Horizon League following her 27 point outburst at Butler on Saturday (Jan. 3). Klein, who is averaging 21.6 points per game over her last seven contests, has raised her season scoring average to 18.9 points, holding a slim lead over Milwaukee's Traci Edwards who is averaging 18.8 points per game.

... AND CHASING THIRD STRAIGHT SCORING CROWN: Kailey Klein is in familiar territory, leading the team with an 18.9 scoring average. Klein is attempting to become just the third player in school history to lead the team in scoring in three straight seasons. She began the streak as a freshman, averaging 11.0 points per game, the second lowest average by a player who led the squad, and increased her scoring average to 19.9 points per game as a sophomore. Klein would join Megan Williams (1994-97) and Debra Taylor (1987-91) as the only players to lead the team in scoring for three consecutive seasons.

KLEIN PERFECT AT THE LINE: Kailey Klein was a perfect 14-for-14 at the free throw line on Dec. 21 against Niagara, marking the second best performance by a Division I player this season. Only DePaul's Deirdre Naughton who made 16-of-16 against Illinois State (11/28) ranks higher than Klein. In addition to being the second best performance in the nation this season, it ranked as the second best effort in school history, trailing only Debra Taylor, who went 15-for-15 against Valparaiso (1/11/90). For Klein, it was the third time in her career that she made all of her free throws while attempting at least 10, going 11-for-11 at Colgate and at Loyola last season.

... AND BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD: With her 14-for-14 performance at the line against Niagara on Sunday (Dec. 21), Kailey Klein broke Deb Taylor's school record for career free throws made. Klein has now made 401 free throws at CSU, while her 501 career free throw attempts rank third all-time in school history, just 61 shy of breaking Lanette Taylor's career record of 561. For good measure, Klein's career .800 (401-501) percentage from the free throw line is second in program history.

A PERFECT 30: Kailey Klein scored a CSU season high 30 points in a Dec. 15 loss at Ohio State, marking the sixth time in her career that she scored at least 30 points in a game, the most in school history. Klein's six 30 point games betters the old mark of five 30 point contests, which was shared by Deb Taylor, Dianne Foster and Lanette Taylor.

GAME 102 NEXT FOR BUTLER: When Dominique Butler takes the floor against Green Bay, it will be the 102nd contest of her CSU career. With at least 17 games left on the schedule (including at least one in the Horizon League Championship), Butler could wind up playing 118 games, which would rank as the second most in school history. Brittany Korth (2004-08) holds the school record with 120 games played.

CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: The fifth edition of the NCAA statistics were released on Jan. 5 and CSU was well represented. The Vikings ranked 47th in the nation in free throw percentage (.727), 62nd in steals (10.3) and 73rd in field goal percentage (.425). Individually, CSU's Kailey Klein was 16th in scoring (19.8) and 47th in free throw percentage (.848), while Dominique Butler was 12th in steals (3.2) and Shawnita Garland 56th (2.6).

CROSLEY STEPS OUT: Stephaine Crosley has added a new wrinkle to her game this season, the three-pointer, and that was never more evident than Monday at Valparaiso when she hit both of her attempts from beyond the arc. Crosley is now 4-of-10 on three's this season, hitting at least one in three games. For her career, Crosley has hit 5-of-13 (.385) three-pointers.

THE BUTLER STOLE IT: Dominique Butler set a career-high with nine steals on Dec. 6 against Kent State, surpassing her previous career-high of eight steals done multiple times. Her nine steals, which are tied for the fourth most in a game in CSU history, are also tied for the third highest total in a Division I game this season. Only Nakeya Isabell of Pepperdine, Vivian Frieson of Gonzaga and Angel McCoughtry of Louisville have had more swipes in a game this season (10).

HOME SWEET HOME: The Vikings have done a good job protecting their home court this season, going 4-1 with the lone loss an overtime setback to Kent State. In fact, the Vikings have gone 13-6 at home over the past two seasons after going just 12-29 in the Wolstein Center during the previous three seasons.

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE: After struggling at the free throw line through six games (73-106; .689), the Vikings have picked up the pace over the last six games, hitting .753 (119-158) from the charity stripe. CSU has vaulted all the way up to third in the league in free throw percentage (.727) one year after leading the league and finishing fourth in the nation (.797) from the line.

A MUCH IMPROVED TEAM: The Vikings were the fifth most improved team in Division I in 2007-08 with a nine and a half game improvement. After going 8-22 in 2006-07, CSU turned things around by going 19-14 last season.

HOME SWEET HOME: CSU has done a good job protecting their home court this season, going 4-1 with the lone loss an overtime setback to Kent State. In fact, the Vikings have gone 13-6 at home over the past two seasons after going just 12-29 in the Wolstein Center during the previous three seasons.

FIT TO BE QUEEN: Junior Angel Roque picked up the title of Homecoming Queen during the annual Vike Fest activities and her honor was announced at Viking Madness on Oct. 17. The king was men's basketball standout Cedric Jackson.

UP NEXT: The Vikings conclude their brief two-game homestand when CSU hosts Milwaukee on Saturday, Jan. 10, at 5:00 p.m. It will be another doubleheader with the Viking men's squad playing UIC at 7:30 p.m. The games will be another Family Value Saturday with $1.00 hot dogs and an Awesome Kid's Zone.