Vikings Begin Three Game Trip at Valparaiso

CSU is 11-11 Overall and 6-5 in League Play

Stephaine Crosley

Feb. 9, 2010

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GAME #23

Cleveland State (11-11, 6-5) at Valparaiso (6-15, 3-7)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 11, 2010
Time: 8:05 p.m. EST
Site: Athletics Recreation Center - Valparaiso, Ind. (5,000)
TV: Live video streaming available online through the HLN
Audio: None
Series: Valpo leads, 12-5
Last Mtg: @CSU 71, VU 68 (1/16/10)
Tickets: Available at site

CSU single game and season tickets are available by calling the Wolstein Center Ticket Office at (216) 687-4848 or by contacting Ticketmaster.

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State heads to Indiana for two games this week to begin a pivotal three-game road trip, starting with an 8:05 p.m. EST contest at Valparaiso on Thursday (Feb. 11). CSU then heads to Butler on Saturday (Feb. 13) before a game at Youngstown State next weekend concludes the road swing. The Vikings enter the week at 11-11 overall and are tied with Loyola for fifth place in the Horizon League at 6-5 after splitting a pair of home games last week. CSU knocked off UIC (62-51) on Thursday to earn a season sweep of the Flames, but were handed a 74-64 setback by Loyola on Saturday as the Ramblers completed a two-game sweep of the Vikings this season. CSU is just one game behind fourth place UIC (7-4) and a game-and-a-half game behind third place Butler (7-3). Valparaiso is 6-15 overall and 3-7 in league play after a 66-52 setback at home to Butler in the Crusaders lone contest last week. This will be the 18th all-time meeting between the two schools with Valpo holding a 12-5 lead in the series. CSU earned a 71-68 win over Valparaiso in the Wolstein Center earlier this season and has won two straight on the road in the series.

PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: With four starters and eight letterwinners back from last year's 19 win team, seventh year head coach Kate Peterson Abiad has her most experienced squad to date. Headlining the list of returnees is senior guard and the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year, Kailey Klein (16.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.3 apg). Joining her in the starting backcourt are senior Jessica Roque (6.3, 2.6, 3.0) and junior Shawnita Garland (13.1, 4.6, 3.8), who joined Klein on the preseason all-league first team. Senior Angel Roque (7.4, 2.3, 2.1) gives the Vikings an experienced point guard, while freshman Honesty King (3.5 ppg) is working her way into the rotation after redshirting last season. Sophomore Janelle Adams (4.6, 4.2) is an athletic wing-forward who is being counted on to fill a bigger role this season and sophomore guard Takima Keane (2.5, 0.6) is beginning to receive more minutes as a wing-forward combo. Senior Stephaine Crosley (7.1, 5.9) is the most experienced post player on the roster and is joined in the starting frontcourt by freshman Shalonda Winton (6.9, 5.7). Sophomore Destinee Blue (2.0, 2.2) provides CSU with a low post presence and interior defense off the bench.

KLEIN BREAKS CAREER SCORING MARK: Kailey Klein's 31 point effort against UIC on Saturday (Feb. 6) allowed the Cherry, Ill., native to break the all-time scoring mark in CSU history. Klein, who now has 1,877 points in her career, broke Dianne Foster's (1979-81; 82-84) 26-year old record of 1,851 points. The record setting basket was a left-handed layup in the paint off a pass from senior Angel Roque.

2K FOR DOUBLE K: Kailey Klein is 123 points shy of becoming the third player in Horizon League history to score 2,000 career points. Former Milwaukee standout Traci Edwards (2005-09) is the all-time leading scorer in league history with 2,340 points, while former Butler great Julie VonDielingen (1989-93) ranks second in the Horizon League annals with 2,018 points.

KLEIN NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For the third time this season and eighth time in her career, senior Kailey Klein has picked up Horizon League Player of the Week honors. Klein earned the award after averaging 26.0 points and 12.5 rebounds in two games last weekend, posting her sixth and seventh double-doubles of the season (12th & 13th of career). Klein recorded 21 points and 11 rebounds in CSU's 62-51 victory over UIC on Thursday before scoring a season-high 31 points and grabbing a career-high 14 boards against Loyola on Saturday.

... FOR THE EIGHTH TIME IN HER CAREER: Kailey Klein's selection as the Horizon League Player of the Week extended her school record to eight career selections and moved her into a tie for third place for the most awards in league history with Carol Madsen of Xavier and Julie VonDielingen of Butler. Milwaukee's Traci Edwards holds the record with 10 honors, while Green Bay's Nicole Soulis is second with nine.

KLEIN AT THE LINE: Kailey Klein made a living at the free throw line on Saturday (Feb. 6) against UIC, hitting 14 of her 20 attempts. The 20 attempts were one shy of equaling the single game school record shared by Klein (3/6/08 at UIC) and Lanette Taylor (1/4/92 vs. St. Bonaventure), while her 14 makes are the fourth most by a player in school history. Klein holds that record with 17 at UIC (3/6/08).

VIKINGS LIKE THE A.R.C.: The Vikings have taken a liking to the Athletics & Recreation Center on the campus of Valparaiso over the last two seasons, combining to shoot .576 (57-99) from the field over the last two seasons, including 16-of-32 (.500) from three-point. Last year, CSU shot. 581 (25-43) from the field, the third best percentage in a single game in school history.

... ESPECIALLY THE FREE THROW LINE.: CSU enter's Thursday's game at Valparaiso having hit 15 consecutive free throws at the A.R.C. The streak started when the Vikings went 5-for-5 from the charity stripe two years ago and continued last season when CSU made all 10 of its free tosses.

SIXTH SENSE: Senior Angel Roque is making a strong case for the Horizon League Sixth Player of the Year Award. Roque, often referred to by head coach Kate Peterson Abiad as the "sixth starter", is averaging 7.4 points and 2.1 assists in 26.0 minutes per game. She has stepped up her play over the last eight contests, averaging 10.0 points per game, including four games in double figures.

ON THE MARK: Stephaine Crosley continues to lead the Vikings in field goal percentage at .517 (61-118) and would be ranked eighth in the league if she had enough attempts per game to qualify. Crosley is attempting to become just the 11th player in school history to shoot better than 50-percent from the field in a season. Should she accomplish the feat, it would mark the third straight season that a CSU player has shot 50-percent of better from the field as Crosley would join Dominique Butler (.500; 140-280) in 2007-08 and Shawnita Garland (.527; 150-290) last season.

AND CLOSING IN ON 500 BOARDS: Stephaine Crosley is also closing in on 500 career rebounds, entering Thursday's game with 481 after she grabbed 12 against Loyola. Crosley, who scored her 500th career point vs. UIC on Thursday (Feb. 4), would become the 17th player in school history with 500 points and 500 rebounds for a career.

NO REST FOR THE WEARY: Kailey Klein has been on the court quite a bit lately, playing all but 25 seconds over the last four games. She came off the court with 33 seconds to play in the first half against UIC (Feb. 4), but after a Flame turnover with eight seconds to play, Klein was back on the court for CSU's final offensive possession. Over the last eight games, Klein has played 316 of a possible 320 minutes (39.5 mpg).

GAME 117 NEXT FOR KLEIN & ROQUE: When seniors Kailey Klein and Jessica Roque take the court on Thursday at Valparaiso, it will be the 117th game in each of their CSU careers. With at least eight games left this season, the duo is on pace to shatter the school record for games played in a career, currently 120 by graduate manager Brittany Korth (2004-08). The 117 games played will move the duo into a tie for third place all-time at CSU with Juli Grant, two shy of moving into a tie for second place with Dominique Butler.

... AND START NO. 104 NEXT FOR KLEIN: When Kailey Klein is announced as a starter for Thursday's game at Valparaiso, it will be the 104th start of her career, keeping her into sole possession of third place on the all-time list at CSU. Klein, who came off the bench for the first 13 games of her career, will also run her streak of consecutive starts to 104. Audra Cook is second on the list with 110 starts, while Juli Grant holds the school record (113).

NCAA STATS: The most recent NCAA statistics were released on Monday (Feb. 8) and CSU was well represented. The Vikings are ranked 40th in the nation in assists (15.5), 63rd in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.87) and 102nd in turnover margin (1.32). Individually, Shawnita Garland is 54th in steals (2.6), while Kailey Klein is ranked 83rd in scoring (16.5).

THE FINAL 20: Junior Shawnita Garland came out strong in the second half against UIC on Thursday (Feb. 4), scoring all 18 of her points in the second half, going 5-for-6 from the field. She also added eight rebounds and a pair of steals.

ADAMS STRONG IN MOTOWN: Sophomore Janelle Adams missed five games (Jan. 4-16) due to a sprained ankle and recieved just nine total minutes in her first two games back as she worked her way back into playing shape. In her first extended time since the injury, Adams tied her career-high with 12 points on 6-of-11 shooting, playing 16 minutes at Detroit (Jan. 30).

WINTON DOUBLES UP: Freshman Shalonda Winton put together one of her best all-around efforts to date in the Jan. 22 win over Youngstown State, notching her first career double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds, adding a career-high tying three steals. Her 13 rebounds were one shy of her career-high of 14 vs. Indiana (Dec. 19).

NICE COMEBACK: The last time CSU played Valparaiso, the Vikings trailed at the half, 44-36, but rallied for a 71-68 victory. It marked just the second time this season that the Vikings won a game when trailing at the half and the largest halftime deficit overcome this year. The only other game CSU won when trailing at the half was against Indiana (Dec. 19) when the Vikings went into the locker room down 34-33 and won 77-75 in overtime.

GARLAND SETS CAREER-HIGH: Shawnita Garland scored a career-high 24 points in the win over Valparaiso (Jan. 16), hitting 8-of-16 from the field, including 2-of-5 from three-point and 6-of-8 at the free throw line. Her previous career-high was 23 points which was set multiple times, including earlier this year at Wisconsin (Nov. 22).

HOT, HOT, HOT: Cleveland State shot a season-best .534 from the field against Butler on Jan. 14, hitting 31-of-58 field goals. It was just the second time that CSU shot better than 50-percent from the field this season with the first time coming in a loss at Wisconsin on Nov. 22 when the Vikings shot .510 (25-49). CSU shot a sizzling .567 (17-30) in the first half against the Bulldogs and hit .500 (14-28) from the floor in the second half.

... KLEIN NEARS A TRIPLE DOUBLE: For the second time this season, Kailey Klein flirted with a triple-double before finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds and a career-high tying eight assists against Butler (Jan. 14). Earlier this season, Klein had 15 points, nine rebounds and eight assists in a win at Niagara (Dec. 15). There have been five triple-doubles in program history with Ashley Schrock recording the last one with 13 points, 13 boards and 10 assists vs. Wright State (2/15/03).

KLEIN MAINTAINS SCORING LEAD: Kailey Klein's 31 point effort on Saturday allowed her to extend her lead in Horizon League scoring race to 1.2 points over Butler's Melanie Thornton and Green Bay's Julie Wojta (16.5-15.3). Klein has finished as the runner-up for the league scoring title in each of the last two seasons.

ON THE OFFENSIVE: CSU has excelled at offensive rebounding this season, as the Vikings lead the league with 14.5 per game. CSU has grabbed at least 10 offensive rebounds in 19 of 22 games this season, including 22 at Eastern Michigan and 21 against Ohio and Kent State. Stephaine Crosley ranks fifth in the league in offensive rebounding (2.6), while Shalonda Winton ranks eighth (2.5).

LET'S PLAY TWO: It's too bad that the Vikings can't play more doubleheaders with the men's team as both squads are 11-2 in twinbills over the last three season after the women defeated Youngstown State and the men topped Green Bay on Friday (Jan. 22). The only blemishes on the women's record have come via Green Bay, while the men's squad has dropped contests to Wright State and West Virginia. There are just two more doubleheaders on the schedule this year, with both squads playing Detroit on Feb. 25 and Wright State on Feb. 27.

A HELPING HAND: Despite having her streak of scoring in double figures snapped at nine at UIC (Jan. 9), Shawnita Garland had a huge effect on the game as she dished out a career-high eight assists. Even more impressive was that Garland did not have a single turnover.

WINTON PASSES HER BOARDS: Shalonda Winton has done a more than admirable job for the Vikings in her first season, especially on the glass, where she is averaging 5.7 rebounds per game. Winton, who has grabbed at least five rebounds in 16 of the 22 contests, registered a career-high 14 boards versus Indiana (Dec 19).

SHE'S A STEAL: Shawnita Garland has made a Horizon League most 57 steals this season, ranking first in the league statistics with 2.6 per game. Garland made a league single-game most nine steals at Eastern Michigan (Dec. 29), tying her for the fourth most steals in a game in school history. Her nine steals are also tied for the seventh most by a player in the country this season.

VIKINGS BUST BCS: CSU's win over Indiana (Dec. 19) was its first over a Bowl Championship Series Conference opponent since Dec. 30, 1996, when the Vikings knocked off Syracuse, 79-77. CSU defeated Louisville, 79-68, on Dec. 18, 2003, but the Cardinals were then a member of Conference USA. Prior to the win over Indiana, CSU had lost 18 straight to BCS schools, or those with major college football.

ROQUE EN FUEGO IN MEXICO: Jessica Roque did a majority of her damage against Iona (Nov. 27) from behind the three-point line, connecting on a school-record tying seven three's in eight attempts. Roque's .875 (7-8) percentage from beyond the arc was a CSU single game record and the seventh best by a Divison I player this season.

THE DEFENSE DOES NOT REST: Cleveland State's defense was at its best against Ohio in the season opener on Nov. 13, holding the Bobcats to 34 points It was the fewest points given up by CSU since a 62-24 win over Ashland on Feb. 8, 1983.

UP NEXT: CSU heads to Indianapolis for a 2:00 p.m. contest against Butler on Saturday, Feb. 13.