Vikings Close Regular Season at First Place Green Bay

CSU Has Won Four Straight To Clinch No. 4 Seed in League Tournament

Janelle Adams

March 5, 2010

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State concludes the regular season on Saturday (March 6) when the Vikings head to first place Green Bay for a 3:00 p.m. EST contest in the Kress Events Center. The Vikings won for the fourth straight time on Thursday (March 4) with a 74-56 victory at Milwaukee, improving to 16-12 overall and 11-6 in the Horizon League. CSU clinched the No. 4 seed in next week's Horizon League Championship and will host a quarterfinal game in the Wolstein Center on Wednesday (March 10) at 7:00 p.m. CSU's likely opponent will be Loyola or UIC. Green Bay clinched at least a tie for first place in the Horizon League and the No. 1 seed in next week's league tournament with an easy win over Youngstown State on Thursday night. UWGB has dominated the all-time series with the Vikings, holding a 46-4 lead in the series, including a 78-60 win in Cleveland on Jan. 2. One of CSU's biggest wins in program history was a 90-66 win at Green Bay in the semifinals of the 2008 league tournament, as the Vikings went on to win the tournament and a berth in the NCAA Championship.

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 (17.6 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 2.3 apg). Joining her in the starting backcourt are senior Jessica Roque (6.1, 2.8, 2.9) and junior Shawnita Garland (12.8, 4.8, 3.6), who joined Klein on the preseason all-league first team. Senior Angel Roque (7.1, 2.4, 2.3) gives the Vikings an experienced point guard, while freshman Honesty King (3.7 ppg) continues to work her way into the rotation after redshirting last season. Sophomore Janelle Adams (5.0, 3.9) is an athletic wing-forward who is being counted on to fill a bigger role this season and sophomore guard Takima Keane (2.5, 0.7) is beginning to receive more minutes as a wing-forward combo. Senior Stephaine Crosley (7.6, 5.9) is the most experienced post player on the roster and is joined in the starting frontcourt by freshman Shalonda Winton (6.1, 5.3). Sophomore Destinee Blue (2.1, 2.1) and freshman Kaila Montgomery (0.3, 0.5) provide CSU with a low post presence and solid interior defense off the bench.

2K FOR K2: Kailey Klein's 13 point effort at Milwaukee on Thursday night allowed the senior to reach yet another career milestone, becoming the third player in Horizon League history to score 2,000 career points. Klein, who now has 2,006 points in her career, joins former Milwaukee standout Traci Edwards (2005-09), who is the all-time leading scorer in league history with 2,340 points and former Butler great Julie VonDielingen (1989-93) who ranks second with 2,018 points.

KLEIN ADDS TO CAREER SCORING MARK: Kailey Klein's 13 points versus Milwaukee on Thursday night allowed the Cherry, Ill., native to extend the all-time scoring mark in CSU history. Klein, who now has 2,006 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.

KLEIN NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: For the fourth time this season and ninth time in her career, senior Kailey Klein picked up Horizon League Player of the Week honors when she earned the award on Monday (March 1). Klein earned the award after averaging 28.5 points and 12.0 rebounds in wins over then league-leading Detroit and Wright State, posting her eighth and ninth double-doubles of the season (14th and 15th of her career). Klein had 32 points and 10 rebounds against UDM and came back with 25 points and a career-high tying 14 boards vs. Wright State.

... FOR THE NINTH TIME IN HER CAREER: Kailey Klein's selection as the Horizon League Player of the Week on Monday (March 1) extended her school record to nine career selections and moved her into a tie for second place for the most awards in league history with Nicole Soulis of Green Bay. Milwaukee's Traci Edwards holds the record with 10 career awards.

QUITE A SENIOR CLASS: The senior class of Stephaine Crosley, Kailey Klein, Angel Roque and Jessica Roque were honored prior to the Wright State game on Saturday (Feb. 27) prior to playing their final regular season home game. The quartet, who committed to CSU after the Vikings won just four games in 2005-06, have helped turn the program around, leading CSU to 62 wins over the last four seasons, including the 2008 Horizon League Championship and CSU's first-ever bid to the NCAA tournament. The 62 victories are the second most by a senior class in school history, trailing the 65 wins by the seniors on the 1982-83 squad.

KLEIN & ROQUE BREAK SCHOOL RECORD: When seniors Kailey Klein and Jessica Roque took the court on Thursday at Milwaukee, the duo extended their school record for career games played to 122.

... AND START NO. 110 NEXT FOR KLEIN: When Kailey Klein is announced as a starter for Saturday's game at Milwaukee, she will move into a tie for second place on the all-time list at CSU with Audra Cook at 110.Klein, who came off the bench for the first 13 games of her career, will run her streak of consecutive starts to 110, while also moving within three games of tying Juli Grant's school record of 113 career starts.

WELCOME HOME: Milwaukee natives Destinee Blue and Janelle Adams both played well in their return to their hometown on Thursday night. Blue finished with seven points and two rebounds in 15 minutes, while Adams recorded eight points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals in 18 minutes of action.

ALMOST TO 500: Kailey Klein is just eight points shy of becoming the first player in school history to score 500 points in three separate seasons. Klein, Dianne Foster and Erika Roudebush are the only players in school history with two seasons of 500 points. Klein scored a CSU single season record 654 points as a sophomore and added 542 points last season, the fifth highest single season total in school history.

NCAA STATS: The most recent NCAA statistics were released on Monday (March 1) and CSU was well represented. The Vikings rank 39th in assists (15.3), 54th in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.89), 81st in rebound margin (3.0), 93rd in steals (9.3) and 94th in turnover margin (1.56). Individually, Kailey Klein is ranked 47th in the country in scoring (17.7) and 156th in rebounding (7.6), while Shawnita Garland checks in at 19th in steals (2.9).

KLEIN HITS 30: Kailey Klein's 32 point effort against Detroit on Feb. 25 extended her school-record of career 30-point games to eight. Klein, who has two 30-point games this season, hit 8-of-17 from the field and 15-of-16 at the free throw line. Her 32 point outburst against Detroit is the highest point total by a Horizon League player this season, while her 31 point effort against Loyola (Feb. 6) is the second highest.

KLEIN AT THE LINE: Kailey Klein holds the CSU career record for free throws made (575) and attempted (730), while her .788 percentage ranks fourth all-time. So it was a bit of a surprise when she was shooting just 60-percent (30-50) at the line at the conclusion of non-league games. However, since the Vikings began Horizon League play, Klein has been near automatic, hitting 92-of-111 (.829) from the charity stripe, allowing her to improve to 78-percent (122-161) this season.

11 IN THE LEAGUE: Cleveland State's win at Milwaukee on Thursday night allowed the Vikings to improve to 11-6 in the Horizon League, the second most league wins in a season in school history. CSU has now won at least 10 league games in three straight seasons, a school record. The streak began with 10 wins in 2007-08 (the third highest total in school history) and continued last year when CSU won a school-record 12 league games.

ANOTHER WINNING SEASON: CSU's win at Milwaukee on Thursday night allowed the Vikings to clinch their third consecutive winning season, a first in school history. The streak started with the Vikings going 19-14 in 2007-08 and 19-13 last season.

UNDER 40: When CSU held Youngstown State to 38 points on Feb. 20, 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.

CROSLEY HITS MILESTONE: Stephaine Crosley became the 15th player in school history to record 500 points and 500 rebounds in a career when she grabbed nine boards against Detroit on Feb. 25. Crosley enters the Milwaukee contest with 560 points and 516 rebounds.

... AND IS ON THE MARK: Stephaine Crosley leads CSU in field goal percentage at .538 (85-158), 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.

LET'S PLAY TWO: It's too bad that the Vikings can't play more doubleheaders with the men's team as the women are 14-2 in twinbills with the men's squad going 13-3 in doubleheaders over the last three years. The only men's losses in a doubleheader came when the Vikings dropped a 55-49 decision to Wright State on Feb. 7, 2008 and this year when CSU fell to No. 8 West Virginia and to Detroit on Feb. 25. The women's lone losses came to Green Bay in 2007-08 and 2008-09.

ANOTHER GRAND: Kailey Klein leads the league in minutes played this season (35.9) and went past the 1,000 minute mark for the season on Thursday at Milwaukee. Klein, who has logged 1,006 minutes this year, is the only player to have three seasons of 1,000 minutes or more in CSU history. Shawnita Garland could record her second season with 1,000 minutes if she plays that mark with 51 more minutes played this season. Brittany Korth (2007-08) holds the school record for minutes played in a season with 1,161.

HOME SWEET HOME: Last week's wins over Detroit and Wright State improved the Vikings to 10-3 at home this season, putting CSU within one win of tying the school record for home wins in a season. The 2008-09, 1988-89 and 1980-81 teams hold the record with 11 home wins.

GARLAND EFFICIENT: Shawnita Garland was efficient 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 82 steals this season, ranking first in the league statistics with 2.9 per game. Garland, who is 19th in the nation is steals, made a league single-game high nine steals at Eastern Michigan (Dec. 29), tying her for the fourth most steals in a game in school history. Her nine steals are tied for the seventh most by a player in the country this season.

ON THE GLASS: CSU is tops in the league in rebounding margin at +3.0, putting the Vikings on pace to finish with a positive rebounding margin for just the seventh time in program history, including 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.

ON THE OFFENSIVE: CSU has excelled at offensive rebounding this season, as the Vikings lead the league with 14.4 per game. CSU has grabbed at least 10 offensive rebounds in 24 of 28 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 (2.8), while Shalonda Winton ranks sixth (2.4).

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 (Jan. 14). The Vikings have 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).

KLEIN MAINTAINS SCORING LEAD: Kailey Klein continues to lead the Horizon League in scoring at 17.6 points per game, holding a 2.3 ppg edge over Butler's Melanie Thornton (15.3). Klein, who has finished as the runner-up for the league scoring title in each of the last two seasons, 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.

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).

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.

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).

VIKINGS LIKE THE A.R.C.: CSU continued its torrid shooting at Valparaiso's Athletics & Recreation Center 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.

KLEIN NAMED CSU ATHLETE OF THE MONTH FOR JANURAY: Kailey Klein was named the CSU Female Athlete of the Month for January after averaging16.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 2.2 assists in nine games, helping CSU to a 5-4 mark. She had double-doubles at Loyola and at UIC, including 28 points with 11 rebounds against the Ramblers. Her performances in Chicago helped Klein earn Horizon League Player of the Week honors.In addition, Klein added a double-double of 19 points and 12 boards in win over Butler.

... AND GARLAND GETS IT IN DECEMBER: Shawnita Garland picked up CSU's Female Athlete of the Month honor in December after averaging 12.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.0 steals in five December games. She recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and a career-high 12 rebounds at Niagara and then played a career-high 44 minutes, scoring 15 points in a win over Indiana. Garland also flirted with a rare quadruple-double at Eastern Michigan on Dec. 29, finishing with 14 points, nine steals, seven assists and six boards.

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 six full games back, Adams is averaging 6.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game, including a career-high tying four helpers at Valparaiso (Feb. 11).

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.

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 begins play in the Horizon League Championship Presented by Speedway as the No. 4 seed. The Vikings will host a quarterfinal game against the fifth seed on Wednesday (March 10) at 7:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.