Vikings Set To Host Youngstown State In Horizon League First Round Contest
Cleveland State Enters The Championship As The No. 7 Seed
March 4, 2012
Contact: Renee Adam
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Horizon League Championship - First Round
Game 30
No. 10 Youngstown State (10-19, 4-14) at No. 7 Cleveland State (11-18, 6-12)
Date: Monday, March 5, 2012
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Site: Wolstein Center - Cleveland, Ohio
Series: Youngstown State leads, 32-24
Last Meeting: Cleveland State 79, Youngstown State 69 (3/3/12)
Complete Cleveland State Game Notes
2012 Horizon League Championship Bracket
SETTING THE SCENE
Cleveland State will open the 2012 Horizon League Championship as the No. 7 seed on Monday (March 5), as the Vikings host No. 10 Youngstown State in a 7:00 p.m. contest. CSU is coming off a 79-69 victory over the Penguins (March 3), and has won two out its last four contests. YSU on the other hand is currently on an eight-game losing skid entering the championship.
THE SERIES
Monday's contest marks the 57th meeting between the two teams and the third meeting this season. The Penguins and the Vikings split the two regular season games, YSU winning 70-48 at home (Dec. 31) and CSU winning 79-69 at the Wolstein Center (March 3). Monday will mark the first time that the two teams will meet in the Horizon League Championship.
A WIN MONDAY WOULD...
Put the Vikings into the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Championship for the sixth straight year...Mark CSU's 14th victory in the Horizon League Tournament...Give CSU back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
CSU IN THE HL TOURNAMENT
Monday's contest will mark the 17th year that Cleveland State has taken part in the Horizon League Championship with the Vikings owning a 13-15 record. The Vikings have won two tournament titles, coming in 2008 and 2010.
IN ALL TOURNAMENT PLAY
CSU has posted a 14-21 all-time record in 22 years of conference tournament play. CSU has won two postseason tournament titles (2008 & 2010) and has played in the championship game three times, a 79-72 loss to Green Bay in 2000, a 70-55 win over Wright State in 2008 and a 66-57 win over Butler in 2010. CSU has also made it to the semifinals seven times.
FAMILIAR OPPONENT
Youngstown State will be a familiar opponent on Monday, as the Vikings faced YSU in their regular season finale on Saturday (March 3). This marks the second straight season that CSU will be facing the same team in both the regular season finale and their first contest of the Horizon League Championship (UIC, 2010-11).
VIKINGS WITH THE BLOCK
As a team, Cleveland State ranks second in the league in blocked shots, averaging 3.1 per contest. On the season, the Vikings have recorded 91 blocks, including a season-high 10 against Ohio (Dec. 5). This season marks the third time that the Vikings have posted at least 90 blocks over the past nine seasons.
...AND AGAINST YSU
Cleveland State's eight blocks against Youngstown State was the second-highest single game total this season and the sixth time that CSU has tallied five or more in a contest. Saturday's game also marked just the second time that three players have tallied at least two blocks each in a single game this season, also doing so against Ohio (Dec. 5).
FANTASTIC FAREWELL
The Senior duo of Takima Keane and Janelle Adams played their final regular season home game last Saturday, combining for 22 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, four steals and four blocks against the Penguins. Adams set a season-high with nine rebounds and tied her season-high with two blocks, while Keane tied her season-best with eight assists against Youngstown State.
VIKING OFFENSE
So far this season seven Vikings have posted 100 points or more, including the quartet of Shalonda Winton (534), Cori Coleman (217), Honesty King (213) and Takima Keane (206). This marks the sixth time under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad that seven Vikings have notched at least 100 points in a season, while she has also now had at least four players post 200 or more points in the same season six times.
...COLEMAN REACHES 200
Cori Coleman, who now has 217 points on the season after Saturday's contest against Youngstown State, is just the fifth freshman to reach the 200-point milestone in their first year under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad. The other newcomers to achieve the feat were; Shalonda Winton (09-10), Kailey Klein (06-07), Jessica Roque (06-07), Dominique Butler (05-06) and Brittany Korth (04-05).
500 POINT & 250 REBOUND SEASON FOR WINTON
With her 29-point performance at Wright State last Saturday, Shalonda Winton reached 500 total points for the season, and became just the fifth player in program history to record 500 points and 250 rebounds in the same season (Audra Cook, 99-00; Lanette Taylor, 91-92; Debra Taylor, 90-91; Dianne Foster, 82-83). Winton, who now has 287 total rebounds this year, would become just the third Viking to notch 500 points and 300 rebounds in a season if she collects 13 boards through the remaining contests this year.
WINTON TOPS IN LEAGUE CONTESTS ONLY
Shalonda Winton finished the regular season on top of the Horizon League statistics, as she ranks first in scoring in league contests only, averaging 22.3 points per contest. Winton also ranks third in rebounding, with 10.3 boards per game. She was one of three players to finish the regular season ranked in the top-five in both scoring and rebounding (Julie Wojta, Green Bay & Shareta Brown, Detroit), while she was also one of three players to average a double-double in league contests only (Wojta & Molly Fox, Wright State).
...COLEMAN IN THE RANKINGS
Cori Coleman also finished the regular season ranked in the top-25 in scoring in league contests only, averaging 10.3 points to rank 21st. She was one of four freshmen to be ranked in the top-25 in scoring, while she was also the lone newcomer to rank in the top-10 in steals in league contests only (9th-1.8).
UP NEXT
If the Vikings win their first round game they will face second-seeded Detroit in a quarterfinal matchup on Wednesday, March 7. Wednesday's contest would be played at Detroit at 7:00 p.m.
