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Vikings Host Valparaiso on Thursday Night
Feb. 25, 2008
Contact: Greg Murphy
Complete Release in PDF Format
SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State returns home to conclude the regular season home schedule with a pair of games this week beginning with a 7:00 p.m. contest on Thursday, Feb. 28, against Valparaiso. CSU, which won at Valparaiso earlier this season, enters the week tied for second place with Wright State in the Horizon League at 9-5. The duo is one-half game ahead of Milwaukee (9-6) and hold a two-game lead over Youngstown State (7-7). Green Bay (13-1) has already clinched the regular season title. PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: Cleveland State has made huge strides from last season's 8-22 team, having already surpassed that win total (15-10) and standing five games over .500 after 25 games for the first time since 1983-84. With the return of four starters, the Vikings have experience at every position and a solid bench to rely on. Horizon League Player of the Year candidate Kailey Klein (19.2 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.1 apg) is ranked second in the league in scoring. She is joined in the backcourt by senior Brittany Korth (9.2, 4.7, 4.1) and sophomore Angel Roque (6.0, 2.4 apg), who has set the defensive tone for the Vikings this season with her ball pressure out front. Junior Dominique Butler (10.5, 5.9 rpg) and senior Robyn Hoying (5.6, 3.3) have started all 25 games in the frontcourt. CSU has received tremendous production from its bench, led by sophomore forward Stephaine Crosley (5.2, 4.1), freshman guard Shawnita Garland (3.9, 2.0) and sophomore guard Jessica Roque (4.2, 1.7). Junior Natalie Miller (2.8, 1.6) provides depth at the wing-forward spot, but has missed the last five games due to an injury. THE HEAD COACH: Kate Peterson Abiad is in her fifth year as the head coach at CSU. She claims an overall record of 43-97 and ranks third all-time in coaching victories at Cleveland State. Prior to arriving at CSU, Peterson Abiad spent six years as an assistant at Wisconsin, serving as the recruiting coordinator starting in 1998. While in Madison, she helped lead the Badgers to the NCAA Tournament three times and to the 2000 WNIT championship. She also worked at Eastern Illinois (1993-97) and Indiana (1991-93). A 1991 graduate of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, she earned Kodak All-America honors as a senior after setting the NCAA Division III record for three-point field goals per game (3.85). CAREER DAY FOR BUTLER: Dominique Butler had a career day on Saturday at Youngstown State, finishing with a career-high 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. Butler, who also had eight rebounds and four steals and hit all seven of her free throws. Her previous career scoring high was 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field at Miami (OH) on Dec. 1, 2007. ON THE MARK: Dominique Butler's 9-for-11 (.818) effort from the field on Saturday improved her field goal percentage to .522 (105-201), seventh best in the Horizon League this season. That percentage also ranks as the seventh best for a single season in CSU history. Butler is attempting to become just the ninth player in school-history to shoot better than .500 (minimum of 150 field goal attempts) from the field in a season and the first since Mandy Sichting shot .531 (85-160) in 2004-05. KORTH NOT TO SHABBY, EITHER: Senior Brittany Korth played one of her finest all-around games during her time at CSU on Saturday at Youngstown State, totaling 15 points, five rebounds and three steals. However, her most impressive statistics were seven assists and zero turnovers in 39 minutes of action. ON THE HORIZON: Saturday's win at Youngstown State was CSU's ninth in league play this season, which ties the record for most league wins in a season. This year's squad currently shares the mark with the 2003-04 team which went 9-7 in league play in Kate Peterson Abiad's first season at the helm. KLEIN AT DETROIT: Sophomore Kailey Klein does not seem to mind playing in Calihan Hall in Detroit as she tied her career-high with 33 points on Feb. 16. It was the fourth time that Klein reached the 33 point mark for her career with one of the times coming last season in Detroit (Feb. 10). In two career games in Calihan Hall, Klein is averaging 33.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists, while shooting 21-of35 (.600) from the field, 6-for-13 (.462) from three-point and 18-of-24 (750) at the free throw line. 500 CLUB: With 21 more points this season, Kailey Klein will join an exclusive club in CSU history. The sophomore guard would become just the 10th player in program history to reach the 500-point plateau for a single season and the first since Erika Roudebush scored 544 points in 2002-03. HOME SWEET HOME: The Vikings are 8-3 at home this season, including 6-1 in league play. The eight wins are tied for the third most home wins in school-history with the record of 11 shared by the 1982-83 and 1998-99 squads. STREAK SNAPPED: Cleveland State's win at Youngstown State on Saturday snapped a season-high three game losing streak. THE DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Cleveland State enters the week with a 15-10 overall record, including a 9-5 mark in league play, giving CSU seven more overall and four more league wins than all of last season. The Vikings went 8-22 overall and 5-11 in league play last season. The 15 wins are the most for a CSU team since the 1999-2000 team finished 15-15. BIG IMPROVEMENT: The Vikings have won seven more games than all of last season, marking the second best improvement from one season to the next in program history. The record is nine games from 1981-82 (14-15) to 1982-83 (23-6). SAME `OLE ROUTINE: Head coach Kate Peterson Abiad has had the luxury of using the same starting lineup for all 25 contests this season with Dominique Butler and Robyn Hoying in the frontcourt and Angel Roque, Brittany Korth and Kailey Klein in the backcourt. That has allowed Peterson Abiad to define the roles of her five bench players and establish a consistent roatation with nine players averaging double digit minutes. That is a far cry from last season when injuries forced Peterson Abiad to use six starting lineups through 25 games. AFTER 25: The Vikings carry a 15-10 record into Thursday's game against Valparaiso, the best 25-game mark since the 1983-84 team started the year with an 18-7 mark. It is only the third time in school history that CSU had a 15-10 record or better through 25 games. ALL ABOUT KLEIN: With four regular season games remaining, Horizon League Player of the Year candidateKailey Klein has put together one of the best seasons in school history. Here are some highlights. SPECIAL "K": Sophomore Kailey Klein is attempting to join an elite group of company in CSU history. After leading the team in scoring as a freshman (11.0), Klein is on track to lead the team in scoring for the second straight season as she is averaging 19.2 points per game this season. She would be just the third player in school history to lead the team in scoring in her first two seasons, joining Sue Hlavacek (1974-75, 1975-76) and Deb Taylor (1987-88, 1988-89). ROAD SWEET ROAD: The Vikings entered the season with a 4-42 record away from the Wolstein Center over the last three seasons. But it appears that CSU has figured out how to win on the road as the Vikings have gone 7-7 away from Cleveland this season, including a victory at Butler on Jan. 31. That win allowed the Vikings to snap a five-game losing streak at Hinkle Fieldhouse. In fact, it was almost six years to the date of CSU's last victory at Butler, a 79-71 win on Feb. 2, 2002. VIKINGS GO BACK-TO-BACK: The Vikings finished the month of January with a 6-2 (.750) record, their best mark in a month since going 9-3 (.750) in December of 1983. It was also CSU's second consecutive winning month after posting a 4-2 mark in December, marking the first time the Vikings have recorded back-to-back winning months since November (3-1) and December (5-2) of 1999. CSU has not put together three consecutive winning months since December of 1983 through February of 1984. ... AND ARE EVEN IN FEBRUARY WITH ONE TO GO: The streak of consecutive winning months wil go right down to the wire as CSU is 3-3 in February with one game to play. The streak seemed to be safe when the Vikings won their first two games in February, but three straight losses put the streak in serious jeopardy before CSU won at Youngstown State on Saturday to get back to .500 for the month. WINNING SEASON CLINCHED: With four games remaining in the regular season and a minimum of one game in the Horizon League Tournament, the Vikings have assured themselves of their first non-losing season since the 2000-01 team posted a 14-14 mark. If CSU wins one more game, the Vikings will finish above .500 for the first time since the 1998-99 team went 15-13. KORTH KEEPS PLAYING: Brittany Korth has played in 112 career games and needs to play in five more to equal Juli Grant's (1995-00) school record of 117 career games played. Barring unforseen circumstances or injury, Korth will at least tie the record as CSU has four more regular season games and will play at least one game in the league tournament. FOR STARTERS: When Brittany Korth drew a starting assignment on Saturday at Youngstown State, she inched closer to fifth place on the all-time list at CSU for most career starts.Korth, who has started 91 career games, needs one more start to take over sole possession of fifth place from Terri Miller, who started 91 contests between 1984-88. Next up on the listwould be Debra Taylor who started 93 games from 1987-91. FOR THE RECORD: Kailey Klein didn't set any school-records with her 14-for-18 performance at the free throw line at Butler (Jan. 31), but she came awfully close. Her 14 makes were one shy of the school-record held by Deb Taylor (1/11/90; at Valparaiso) and Klein (11/26/07; vs. Ohio), while her 18 attempts are tied for the second most in a game with Sue Hlavecek (3/3/78; vs. Miami (OH)). Taylor holds the CSU record with 21 free throw attempts vs. St. Bonaventure on Jan. 4, 1992. DOUBLE TROUBLE: Kailey Klein added another first to her career on Jan. 26 when she recorded her first career double-double in a 77-64 win over Youngstown State. Klein finished with a game-high 30 points, just three shy of her career-high, and added a career-best 11 rebounds. Klein is the third CSU player to tally a double-double this season, joining Stephaine Crosley, who had 11 points and 13 rebounds at IUPUI (12/5), and Robyn Hoying, who totaled 20 points and 10 boards at Green Bay (1/10). THE BUTLER DID IT: Dominique Butler recorded four more steals on Saturday to raise her team leading total to 64. Butler, who led the league in steals in each of her first two seasons and is ranked second this season, has swiped 192 career steals and is ranked ninth on the all-time list at CSU. Butler is three steals shy of overtaking Erin Martin (2002-06) for eighth place and eight steals away from becoming the eighth player in school-history to register 200 career steals. THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE: CSU is the best free throw shooting team in the league, hitting 362-of-455 attempts for a .796 percentage, a far cry from last season's .684 (425-621) percentage from the line. In fact, the Vikings, who are ranked fifth in the nation in free throw percentage, are shooting better from the free throw line than all but three NBA teams. CSU is on pace to shatter the school-record for free throw percentage in a season, currently held by the 2000-01 squad which shot .728 (480-659). The league record for free throw percentage in a season is .801 set by Green Bay last season. .700: The Vikings have had just three seasons (out of 34) in which they have finished with a free throw percentage better than .700. The last time it happened was the 2003-04 season when CSU hit .709 (406-573). The other two seasons were 2000-01 (480-659; .728) and 2001-02 (442-617; .716). FREE THROWS ARE A TEAM EFFORT: The Vikings have made it a true team effort to lead the league in free throw percentage as seven players are shooting better than .700 from the line. However, only Kailey Klein ranks among the league leaders in free throw percentage, ranking fourth at .848 (150-178). No other player has made the minimum of 2.0 free throws per game to be ranked among the leaders. Dominique Butler is second on the team with 48 made free throws, and would be ranked fifth in the league (.842) if she had two more makes. A DEEPER LOOK AT FREE THROWS: Kailey Klein has been the only Viking to get to the free throw line on a consistent basis. In 25 games, she has taken 39 percent (178-of-455) of CSU's free throws, including 38 percent (90-of-239) of the Vikings free throws in 14 league games. DEFENSIVE MINDED: CSU continues to be one of the top defensive teams in the league, ranking second in field goal percentage defense (.391) and steals (9.88) and third in scoring defense (62.1). The Vikings have allowed only six teams to shoot better than .400 from the field and have held four teams under 50 points. Last season, CSU allowed teams to shoot better than .400 on 19 occasions and better than .500 five times, while holding just three teams under 50 points. MOVING ON UP: Brittany Korth continues to move up the all-time list for career three-pointers made and attempted. Korth is tied for third in school-history with 151 career makes and tied for second with 543 attempts. She is one make shy of moving alone into third place and one attempt short of second place. Korth is also sixth on the all-time assist list with 331, needing 19 assists to take over sixth place. CRYING FOUL: One interesting stat for CSU this season has been the foul count as the Vikings have been whistled for 453 fouls compared to 427 for their opponents. However, when delving deeper into the subject, you find that CSU has had 19 disqualifications this season, compared to zero for its opponents. The 19 disqualifications are the third most in school-history, just one shy of second place (1979-80 and 1988-89). THREE BIG REASONS: When looking at the statistics, it is easy to see there are three big factors in determining when the Vikings win and when they lose. Those factors are rebounding, scoring defense and field goal defense. In 15 wins, the Vikings own a +1.7 rebounding advantage, while holding opponents to 55.4 points and .362 shooting from the field. On the other hand, CSU has a -4.9 deficit in rebounding and gives up 72.2 points on .431 shooting in 10 losses this season. NOT PLAYING NICELY: The Vikings rank second in the league with 247 steals. boasting three of the top eight individuals as Dominique Butler (2.56) ranks second, while Brittany Korth (1.84) is eighth and Kailey Klein (1.72) ranks 11th. The Vikings have swiped double-digit steals in 14 contests this season, including a season-best 19 vs. Akron (Nov. 17), which were the most steals by a Viking squad since CSU recorded 19 steals against IPFW on Feb. 26, 2003. FROM THE FIELD: The Vikings have shot well from the field this season, hitting .428 (566-1,322) to rank fourth in the Horizon League. That total would be the third best in school-history, trailing the 1992-93 (.442) and 1983-84 (.438) squads. CSU has not shot better than .400 from the field since 2003-04 when they hit .405. FROM THREE: CSU is also shooting .334 (144-431) from three-point this season, which would be the best percentage for a single season in program history. The current record is .328 (117-357) held by the 1992-93 team. CSU shot just .272 (123-453) from three-point last season. VIKINGS SHOOT LIGHTS OUT: Cleveland State recorded the second best shooting performance in school history in a Feb. 2 win over Valparaiso as the Vikings shot .571 (32-56) from the field. The only time a Viking team shot better from the field was Jan. 21, 1980 at Niagara when CSU shot .627 (32-51). NO SUSPENSE: Eighteen of CSU's 25 games have been decided by 10 points or more with the 15 wins coming by an average of 13.9 points. CSU's 10 losses have been by an average of 12.4 points. AND WE TEND TO KNOW BY HALFTIME ...: Whether CSU will win or not. After all, the Vikings are 13-2 this season when holding a lead after the first 20 minutes of action. CSU's two losses when leading at the half this season were an 80-72 overtime loss at Alaska Anchorage when the Vikings led 24-20 at halftime and a Jan. 12 loss at Milwaukee (63-52) when the Vikings held an eight-point (30-22) lead at intermission. The Vikings are just 2-8 when trailing or tied at the half. HOMETOWN COOKIN': Milwaukee native Dominique Butler apparently likes to save her best for when the Vikings play her hometown Panthers as Butler averaged 14.5 points and 6.0 rebounds, while shooting .560 in two games against UWM this season. In six career games against the Panthers, Butler is averaging 12.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. PERFECTION: For just the second time in school history, the Vikings did not miss a free throw in a game as CSU was 14-for-14 at the charity stripe on Feb. 2 at Valparaiso. It was the second best performance in a single game, topped only by a 15-for-15 effort at Milwaukee on Feb. 4, 1995. The streak was extended to 22 straight makes before Stephaine Crosley missed a free throw late against Milwaukee (Feb. 7). BEYOND THE ARC: The Vikings 9-for-14 (.643) effort from three-point range against Detroit on Jan. 17 equaled the school-record for the best percentage by a CSU team. CSU also went 9-for-14 against Green Bay on Jan. 2, 2003. WHO NEEDS BATMAN...: When you have Robyn, as in Viking senior Robyn Hoying. The Minster, Ohio native has picked up her game during league play, averaging 6.1 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. She had the best game of her career at Green Bay (1/10) when she produced career-highs in points (20) and rebounds (10) for her first career double-double. Hoying, who has hit 15 of her 17 free throw attempts in league play, also scored 16 points in a Jan. 26 win over Youngstown State (1/26). UP NEXT: CSU concludes the home portion of its regular season schedule when the Vikings host Butler on Saturday, March 1, beginning at 3:00 p.m.
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