League Leading Detroit Up Next For Vikings

Vikings are 8-6 in League Play, One Half Game Out of Fourth Place

Shawnita Garland is ninth in the league in scoring.

Feb. 23, 2010

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GAME #26

Detroit (14-12, 12-3) at Cleveland State (13-12, 8-6)
Date: Thursday, Feb. 25, 2010
Time: 5:00 p.m. EST
Site: Goodman Arena - Wolstein Center (8,500), Cleveland, Ohio
TV: Live video streaming available online through the Horizon League Network. Links to video available at CSUVikings.com.
Audio: Live audio available online via HLN broadcast. (David Wilson)
Promo: Pre-game tailgate at 4:30 p.m.
Series: UDM leads, 31-10
Last Mtg: @UDM 62, CSU 54 (1/30/10)
Tickets: $8, $15, $25

Complete Release in PDF Format

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State returns home to host its final two regular season home contests of the season this week, beginning with a 5:00 p.m. game against league-leading Detroit on Thursday, Feb. 25. It will be a true doubleheader with the CSU men's squad hosting the Titans at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday. The Vikings begin the week at 13-12 overall and 8-6 in the Horizon League following a 68-38 win at Youngstown State on Saturday (Feb. 20). CSU is all alone in fifth place in the league standings, just one-half game behind fourth place UIC (9-6), but the Vikings own the tie-breaker over the Flames having defeated them twice during the regular season. Detroit is 14-12 overall this season and has been the surprise team in the Horizon League this season. After being tabbed eighth of 10 teams in the preseason poll, the Titans are in first place in the Horizon League at 12-3, one-half game ahead of Green Bay and Butler (11-3). UDM leads the all-time series with the Vikings, 31-10, including a 62-54 win in Detroit earlier this season that snapped CSU's two-game win streak 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 (16.9 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 2.4 apg). Joining her in the starting backcourt are senior Jessica Roque (5.9, 2.8, 2.9) and junior Shawnita Garland (13.0, 4.7, 3.6), who joined Klein on the preseason all-league first team. Senior Angel Roque (7.2, 2.3, 2.3) gives the Vikings an experienced point guard, while freshman Honesty King (3.4 ppg) is working her way into the rotation after redshirting last season. Sophomore Janelle Adams (4.9, 3.9) is an athletic wing-forward who is being counted on to fill a bigger role this season and sophomore guard Takima Keane (2.8, 0.8) is beginning to receive more minutes as a wing-forward combo. Senior Stephaine Crosley (7.7, 5.9) 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 (2.0, 2.2) and freshman Kaila Montgomery (0.3, 0.7) provide CSU with a low post presence and solid interior defense off the bench.

KLEIN ADDS TO CAREER SCORING MARK: Kailey Klein's six points at Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon allowed the Cherry, Ill., native to extend the all-time scoring mark in CSU history. Klein, who now has 1,936 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 with 11:08 to play in the first half.

2K FOR DOUBLE K: Kailey Klein is 64 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.

THINKING PINK: Saturday's game against Wright State will be CSU's "Think Pink" game in conjunction with the WBCA Pink Zone, which is a national breast cancer awareness initiative. The Vikings will wear pink uniforms and shoes during the contest and they will be auctioned off after the game with all proceeds benefiting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Northeast Ohio Affiliate. In addition, the first 500 fans in attendance will receive a free pink awareness stress reliever.

UNDER 40: When CSU held Youngstown State to 38 points on Saturday, it marked the second time this season that CSU held an opponent under 40 points. CSU defeated Ohio in the season opener, 56-34. It is the first time since 1978-79 that the Vikings held two opponents under 40 points in the same season. The 34 points vs. Ohio were the fewest given up by CSU since a 62-24 win over Ashland on Feb. 8, 1983.

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL: Since turning the ball over 20 times against UIC on Feb. 4, the Vikings have been doing a much better job of taking care of the ball, averaging just 12.3 miscues over the last four games. The streak began with 14 turnovers against Loyola (Feb. 6) and continued to go down as the Vikings had 13 turnovers at Valparaiso (Feb. 11), 12 at Butler (Feb. 13) and a season-low 10 miscues at Youngstown State on Saturday (Feb. 20).

CROSLEY NETS CAREER HIGH: Senior Stephaine Crosley has been playing some of her best basketball of late and that was the case on Feb. 13 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 leads CSU in field goal percentage at .543 (76-140), ranking fourth in the league. She 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, joining 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 .597 (43-72) clip Crosley has made 26 of her last 40 attempts (.650) from the field over the last seven games.

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 Thursday and Wright State on Saturday.

GAME 120 NEXT FOR KLEIN & ROQUE: When seniors Kailey Klein and Jessica Roque take the court on Thursday against Detroit, it will be the 120th game in each of their CSU careers, moving them into a tie for first place on the all-time list at CSU with current graduate manager Brittany Korth (2004-08). Klein and Roque will most likely break the record on Saturday against Wright State.

... AND START NO. 107 NEXT FOR KLEIN: When Kailey Klein is announced as a starter for Thursday's game versus Detroit, it will be the 107th 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 107. 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. 22) and CSU was well represented. The Vikings are ranked 38th in the nation in assists (15.4), 43rd in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.9) and 96th in turnover margin (1.56). Individually, Kailey Klein is 77th in scoring (16.9), while Shawnita Garland is 26th in steals (2.8).

ON THE GLASS: CSU is tops in the league in rebounding margin at +2.2, putting the Vikings on pace to finish with a positive rebounding margin for just the seventh time in program history, but also for the second straight season. The only other time CSU had a positive rebounding margin in back-to-back seasons came in 1978-79 and 1979-80.

CROSLEY CLOSING IN ON MILESTONE: Stephaine Crosley is close to becoming just the 15th player in school history to record 500 points and 500 rebounds for a career. The senior enters the Detroit game with 540 career points and 499 rebounds, needing one more rebound to reach the milestone.

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.

SHE'S A STEAL: Shawnita Garland has made a Horizon League most 70 steals this season, ranking first in the league statistics with 2.8 per game. Garland, who is 26th in the nation is steals, 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.

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.

ANOTHER GRAND: Kailey Klein continues to lead the league in minutes played this season at 36.1 per game. She has logged 902 minutes, needing 98 more to reach 1,000 minutes played for the third consecutive season. Klein is the only player in school history with two 1,000 minute seasons, but Shawnita Garland could reach that mark with 150 more minutes played this season. She logged 1,002 last year.

KLEIN MAINTAINS SCORING LEAD: Kailey Klein continues to lead the Horizon League in scoring at 16.9 points per game, holding a 1.8 ppg edge over Butler's Melanie Thornton (15.1). 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 third scoring champion in school history and the first since 2001-02 when Erika Roudebush averaged 18.2 per game.

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 22 of 25 games this season, including 22 at Eastern Michigan and 21 against Ohio and Kent State. Stephaine Crosley ranks fourth in the league in offensive rebounding (2.6), while Shalonda Winton ranks seventh (2.5).

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 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 on Feb. 8 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.

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, dishing out a career-high eight assists. More impressive was that she did not have a turnover.

... 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).

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.

UP NEXT: CSU concludes the regular season home schedule with a 4:30 p.m. contest against Wright State on Saturday (Feb. 27) for Senior Day. It will also be a true doubleheader with the CSU men hosting the Raiders at 2:00 p.m.