Vikings Conclude Road Swing at Youngstown State
    Klein Leads Horizon League in Scoring at 17.3 Per Game
    Kailey Klein

    Kailey Klein

    Feb. 17, 2010

     

    Contact: Greg Murphy

     

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    Game #25

    Cleveland State (12-12, 7-6) at Youngstown State (0-24, 0-13)
    Date: Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010
    Time: 2:05 p.m. EST
    Site: Beeghly Center (6,300) - Youngstown, Ohio
    TV: Live video streaming available online through the HLN.
    Audio: None
    Series: YSU leads, 30-21
    Last Mtg: @CSU 57, YSU 43 (1/22/10)
    Tickets: Available at site

    SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State concludes its three-game road swing and begins the stretch run of the Horizon League schedule when the Vikings travel to Youngstown State for a 2:05 p.m. contest on Saturday (Feb. 20) in the Beeghly Center. The Vikings are 12-12 overall and 7-6 in league play after splitting a pair of road contests last week, winning at Valparaiso (82-59) on Thursday (Feb. 11) and falling at Butler, 72-66, on Saturday (Feb. 13). CSU is tied for fifth place in the league standings with Loyola, but the Ramblers hold the tiebreaker over the Vikings after sweeping the two meetings this season. Both squads are just one game behind fourth place UIC (8-5), a team that CSU has defeated twice this season, thus owning the tiebreaker should the teams finish with identical league records. YSU enters the weekend at 0-24 overall and 0-13 in league play after falling at Butler (82-36) and Valparaiso (80-28) last week. The Penguins do lead the all-time series with CSU, 30-22, but the Vikings have won six straight, including a 57-43 victory in the Wolstein Center earlier this season.

    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 (17.3 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 2.3 apg). Joining her in the starting backcourt are senior Jessica Roque (5.8, 2.6, 2.9) and junior Shawnita Garland (13.2, 4.6, 3.8), who joined Klein on the preseason all-league first team. Senior Angel Roque (7.0, 2.4, 2.3) gives the Vikings an experienced point guard, while freshman Honesty King (3.6 ppg) is working her way into the rotation after redshirting last season. Sophomore Janelle Adams (4.8, 4.1) 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 (7.7, 6.0) is the most experienced post player on the roster and is joined in the starting frontcourt by freshman Shalonda Winton (6.6, 5.5). Sophomore Destinee Blue (1.8, 2.0) and freshman Kaila Montgomery (0.5, 1.0) provide CSU with a low post presence and solid interior defense off the bench.

    KLEIN ADDS TO CAREER SCORING MARK: Kailey Klein's 29 point effort at Butler on Saturday afternoon allowed the Cherry, Ill., native to extend the all-time scoring mark in CSU history. Klein, who now has 1,930 points in her career, broke Dianne Foster's (1979-81; 82-84) 26-year old record of 1,851 points against Loyola on Feb. 6. 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 70 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.

    CROSLEY NETS CAREER HIGH: Senior Stephaine Crosley has been playing some of her best basketball of late and that was the case on Saturday at Butler when she netted a career-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field. Crosley added six rebounds, including four on the offensive end.

    ... AND IS ON THE MARK: Stephaine Crosley continues to lead CSU in field goal percentage at .545 (72-132) and is ranked third in the league. 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 do it, 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.

    ... ESPECIALLY IN LEAGUE PLAY: Stephaine Crosley has been even better in league games from the field, shooting at a .609 (39-64) clip from the field. That is tops in league only games. Crosley has made 22 of her last 32 attempts (.689) from the field over the last six games.

    GAME 119 NEXT FOR KLEIN & ROQUE: When seniors Kailey Klein and Jessica Roque take the court on Saturday at Youngstown State, it will be the 119th game in each of their CSU careers, moving them into a tie for second place on the all-time list at CSU with Dominique Butler. Klein and Roque will move within one start of tying the CSU record for career starts, currently 120 by graduate manager Brittany Korth (2004-08).

    ... AND START NO. 106 NEXT FOR KLEIN: When Kailey Klein is announced as a starter for Saturday's game at Youngstown State, it will be the 106th 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 106. Audra Cook is second on the list with 110 starts, while Juli Grant holds the school record (113).

    CROSLEY CLOSING IN ON MILESTONE: Stephaine Crosley is close to becoming just the 17th player in school history to record 500 points and 500 rebounds for a career. The senior enters the Youngstown State game with 532 career points and 496 rebounds, needing just four more rebounds to reach the milestone.

    KLEIN NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For the third time this season and eighth time in her career, senior Kailey Klein picked up Horizon League Player of the Week honors when she earned the award on Feb. 8. Klein earned the award after averaging 26.0 points and 12.5 rebounds in games against UIC and Loyola, 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 Feb. 4 before scoring a season-high 31 points and grabbing a career-high 14 boards against Loyola on Feb. 6.

    ... 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 has made a living at the free throw line over the last four games, hitting 34-of-45 (.756). Against Loyola (Feb. 6), Klein made 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 continued their torrid shooting at the Athletics & Recreation Center on the campus of Valparaiso on Feb. 11, shooting a season-best .537 (29-54) from the field. Over the last three seasons, the Vikings have combined to shoot .562 (86-153) from the field in three wins on the Crusaders home court. Last year, CSU shot. 581 (25-43) from the field, the third best percentage in a single game in school history.

    GARLAND EFFICIENT: Shawnita Garland had a very efficient game at Valparaiso on Feb. 11, hitting 10-of-13 from the field for 22 points, just two shy of equaling her career high set earlier this season against Valparaiso. Garland, who added five rebounds and four steals, scored her 22 points in just 24 minutes.

    LOTS OF POINTS: The 82 point outburst at Valparaiso (Feb. 11) represented a season-high for the Vikings, bettering the old mark of 81 set in a win against Butler at home in mid-January. The Vikings have now won eight straight contests in which they have reached the 80-point mark. The last time CSU lost a game when scoring 80 points was a 93-80 seback at UIC (3/6/08).

    KING ME: Freshman Honesty King made the most of her playing time at Valparaiso on Feb. 11, playing the final 12 mintues. She scored eight points, hitting 3-of-4 from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point, while also grabbing a career-high three rebounds and providing the Vikings with solid defense. King had not played since the Jan. 22 win over Youngstown State.

    NCAA STATS: The most recent NCAA statistics were released on Monday (Feb. 15) and CSU was well represented. The Vikings are ranked 41st in the nation in assists (15.4), 53rd in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.89) and 99th in steals per game (9.2). Individually, Kailey Klein is 62nd in scoring (17.3) and 174th in rebounding (7.3), while Shawnita Garland is 41st in steals (2.7).

    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).

    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). In five full games back, Adams is averaging 6.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, including a career-high tying four helpers at Valparaiso (Feb. 11).

    NICE COMEBACK: CSU trailed Valpo at the half, 44-36, when the two teams met at the Wolstein Center on Jan. 16, 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 has 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. CSU actually trailed the game against the Hoosiers, 66-59, with one minute left.

    ... KLEIN NEARS A TRIPLE DOUBLE: 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 29 point effort on Saturday allowed her to extend her lead in Horizon League scoring race to 1.9 points over Butler's Melanie Thornton (17.3-15.4). Klein has finished as the runner-up for the league scoring title in each of the last two seasons. She is attempting to become the first scoring champion from CSU since 2001-02 when Erika Roudebush paced the league in scoring at 18.2 points per night.

    ON THE OFFENSIVE: CSU has excelled at offensive rebounding this season, as the Vikings lead the league with 14.6 per game. CSU has grabbed at least 10 offensive rebounds in 21 of 24 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 5.6 rebounds per game. Winton, who has grabbed at least five rebounds in 16 of the 23 contests, registered a career-high 14 boards versus Indiana (Dec 19).

    SHE'S A STEAL: Shawnita Garland has made a Horizon League most 64 steals this season, ranking first in the league statistics with 2.7 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 returns home to host Detroit (Feb. 25) and Wright State (Feb. 27) next week in the final two regular season home contests of the season.