March 11, 2008

Contact: Greg Murphy

Complete Release in PDF Format

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State (16-13, 10-8 HL) will open play in the Horizon League Championship as the fourth seed when the Vikings will host fifth-seeded Butler on Wednesday, March 12, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. The Vikings tied for fourth place with Butler, but won the tiebreaker over the Bulldogs based on its 1-1 record against Wright State this season. Butler dropped both games to Wright State this season. CSU and Butler split a pair of games during the regular season with each winning on the others homecourt.

PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: Cleveland State has made huge strides from last season's 8-22 team, as the Vikings have doubled their win total from a season ago (16-13). 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 (19.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 3.0 apg) is ranked second in the league in scoring. She is joined in the backcourt by senior Brittany Korth (9.6, 4.6, 3.8) and sophomore Angel Roque (5.9, 2.6 apg), who has set the defensive tone for the Vikings this season with her ball pressure out front. Junior Dominique Butler (10.1, 5.8 rpg) and senior Robyn Hoying (5.7, 3.3) have starte 28 of the 29 games in the frontcourt. CSU has received tremendous production from its bench, led by sophomore forward Stephaine Crosley (5.0, 4.0), freshman guard Shawnita Garland (3.8, 2.0) and sophomore guard Jessica Roque (4.7, 1.7). Junior Natalie Miller (2.8, 1.6) provides depth at the wing-forward spot, but has missed the last nine 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 44-100 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).

CSU IN HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNEY: Wednesday's game will be the 13th year that Cleveland State have taken part in the Horizon League Championship with the Vikings owning a 5-13 record. CSU has lost three straight tournament games with the last win coming in the first round of the 2005 tournament, a 62-55 win at Loyola. Wednesday's game will be CSU's first in the quarterfinals since 2005, as the Vikings have played in the opening round game in each of the last two seasons.

CSU VS. BUTLER: The Vikings own an 0-1 record against Butler in Horizon League Championship play with the Bulldogs defeating Cleveland State, 69-59, in the 2004 quarterfinals in the Wolstein Center.

IN ALL TOURNAMENT PLAY: The Vikings have posted a 6-19 all-time record in 19 years of conference tournament play. CSU has never won a postseason tournament title and has played in the championship game one time, a 79-72 loss to Green Bay in 2000. CSU has made it to the semifinals three times, the last time coming in 2002-03.

KLEIN NAMED TO ALL-LEAGUE TEAM: Sophomore Kailey Klein earned a spot on the All-Horizon League first team for her performance this season. The Cherry, Ill., native is the first CSU player to earn a spot on the first team since teammates Ashley Schrock and Shannon Sword earned the honor following the 2003-04 season. Klein is the sixth player (11th time) from CSU to earn a spot on the first team after finishing second in the league in scoring (19.7) and finishing in the top-15 in rebounding, assists, steals, field goal percentage, three-point field goal percentage and minutes.

THE BUTLER DID IT: Junior Dominique Butler was selected to the All-Defensive Team for the third time in her career and was also tabbed as the 2007-08 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, the first time a player from CSU won the award. Butler is ranked second in the conference in steals (2.72) and eighth in rebounding (5.7). For her career, Butler has swiped 207 steals, which is fifth on the all-time list at CSU. Butler, the eighth player in school-history with 200 career steals, is 20 steals shy of fourth place.

THE WRIGHT STUFF: Cleveland State finished tied for fourth place in the Horizon League this season with Butler, but earned the tiebreaker to claim the fourth seed by virtue of its 1-1 record against second place Wright State this season. Butler was 0-2 against the Raiders.

RECORD SETTER: Kailey Klein set a school-record and tied another with her 17-for-21 performance at the free throw line at UIC on Thursday (March 6). The 17 free throws made are a school-record, breaking the old mark of 15 held by Klein (earlier this season) and Deb Taylor, who made 15 free throws at Valparaiso on Jan. 11, 1990. The 21 attempts tied the school-record set by Lanette Taylor versus St. Bonaventure on Jan. 4, 1992.

SCORE AND BOARD: Kailey Klein enters the postseason leading the team in scoring (19.7) and ranking second in rebounding (5.7) behind Dominique Butler (5.8). Klein, who has gabbed 166 rebounds this season, trails Butler by three rebounds for the overall team lead. If Klein can overtake Butler, she would become the 15th player in school-history to lead the team in both scoring and rebounding in the same season. Erin Martin last accomplished the feat in 2004-05 when she averaged 13.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

ON THE MARK: Dominique Butler has connected on .496 (118-238) from the field this season to rankninth in the Horizon League. That percentage ranks as the ninth best for a single season in CSU history as 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.

ON THE HORIZON: Saturday's win at Loyola was the 10th in league play this season, which set the school-record for most league wins in a season. This year's squad broke the old mark of nine league wins that was held by the 2003-04 team, which was Kate Peterson Abiad's first season at the helm.

500: With a 25-point effort on Feb. 28 against Valparaiso, Kailey Klein joined an exclusive club in CSU history, becoming just the 10th player in program history to reach the 500-point plateau for a single season. Klein, who now has 571 points this season, became the first CSU player to score 500 points in a season since Erika Roudebush scored 544 points in 2002-03. Her 571 points are the second most in a single season at CSU, just 64 short of the school-record of 635 points held by Dianne Foster in 1982-83.

AND CLOSING IN ON 1,000: By scoring 571 points this season, Kailey Klein is well on her way to 1,000 career points as the sophomore guard has totaled 889 points in her two years at CSU. Klein would be the 20th player in school-history to reach the 1,000 point mark.

SAME `OLE ROUTINE: Head coach Kate Peterson Abiad has had the luxury of using the same starting lineup for 28 of the 29 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 during the season.

... BUT IT WAS AN ACCIDENTAL MISHAP: Which led to a change in the starting lineup for Saturday's game at Loyola as Jessica Roque (#50) was accidentally penciled into the official book as a starter for Robyn Hoying (#52). Roque, who started all 30 games a season ago, played the first 14 seconds before Hoying entered at the first deadball opportunity.

HOYING OFF THE BENCH: Saturday's game was officially the first one that Robyn Hoying didn't start this season, but it appears the senior did not mind coming off the bench. Hoying finished with 18 points in just 20 minutes of work, hitting 7-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point. The 18 points were just two shy of equaling her career-high of 20 set earlier this season at Green Bay.

VIKINGS LIKE WEDNESDAY: Perhaps it is a good omen that CSU's quarterfinal game with Butler falls on a Wednesday, as the Vikings are a perfect 2-0 when playing on Wednesday's this season. It is the only day CSU has not lost on this season.

NO REST FOR THE WEARY: Over the last five games, Brittany Korth has played 233 out of a possible 240 minutes to raise her season total to 1,007 minutes, third most for a single season in CSU history, and become the fourth player in school-history to play 1,000 minutes in a season. She is the first player to play at least 1,000 minutes in a season since Audra Cook (1,090) and Mahogany Green (1,000) reached the mark in 1999-00. Cook holds the school-record with 1,090 minutes played, while Jill Harris is second with 1,013.

THE DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Cleveland State enters the week with a 16-13 overall record, including a 10-8 mark in league play, giving CSU eight more overall and five more league wins than all of last season. The Vikings went 8-22 overall and 5-11 in league play last season. The 16 wins are tied for the third most in school history and the most for a CSU team since the 1983-84 team won 19.

BIG IMPROVEMENT: The Vikings have won eight 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).

WE SHOWED YOU: Cleveland State's fourth place finish in the Horizon League showed that the preseason predictions do indeed not mean much. After all, the Vikings were picked to finish eighth in the Horizon League in the annual preseason poll of coaches, SID's and media. The Vikings earned 102 points to finish two points behind seventh place Wright State, which finished second in the regular season, and 16 points behind Youngstown State.

A RECORD 30: Wednesday's game against Butler will be CSU's 30th game of the season, tying the Vikings for the most games played in a single-season. This year's team will equal the current record of 30 games played shared by the 1999-00 and 2006-07 squads.

CAREER DAY FOR BUTLER: Dominique Butler had a career day at Youngstown State on Feb. 23, finishing with a career-high 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. Butler also had eight rebounds, 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.

KORTH NOT TO SHABBY, EITHER: Senior Brittany Korth played one of her finest all-around games during her time at CSU on at Youngstown State (Feb. 23), totaling 15 points, five rebounds and three steals. However, her most impressive statistics were seven assists and zero turnovers in 39 minutes of action.

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.

SPECIAL "K": 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 19.7 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: CSU 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 8-8 away from Cleveland this season.

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.

... BUT CAN'T EXTEND STREAK : CSU could not clinch a third straight winning month, finishing 3-4 in February after Thursday's (Feb. 28) loss to Valparaiso. 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 Feb. 23 to get back to .500 setting up the make or break game with the Crusaders.

WINNING SEASON CLINCHED: Saturday's win at Loyola assured the Vikings of finishing above .500 as CSU enters the league championship with a 16-13 overall record. It is the first time that the Vikings will finish above .500 since the 1998-99 team went 15-13.

KORTH KEEPS PLAYING: Brittany Korth has played in 116 career games and will equal Juli Grant's (1995-00) school record of 117 career games played on Wednesday against Butler.

FOR STARTERS: When Brittany Korth drew a starting assignment on Saturday at Loyola, she inched closer to third place on the CSU career stars list. Korth, who has started 95 career games, needs two more starts to move into a tie for third place with Lori Johnson who started 97 games from 1990-95.

HOME SWEET HOME: CSU finished the regular season with an 8-5 mark at home, including 6-3 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. The record was within reach as the Vikings were 8-2 at home following a win over Milwaukee on Feb. 7, but CSU dropped its next three games in the Wolstein Center.

MOVING ON UP: Brittany Korth continues to move up the all-time list for career three-pointers made and attempted. Korth is third in school-history with 161 career makes and second with 574 attempts. Korth is also sixth on the all-time assist list with 333, needing 11 assists to take over sixth place.

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE: CSU is the best free throw shooting team in the league, hitting 426-of-529 attempts for an .805 percentage, a far cry from last season's .684 (425-621) percentage from the line. In fact, the Vikings, who are ranked fourth 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 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 second at .848 (190-224). 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 53 made free throws, and would be ranked fourth in the league (.855) if she had the required amount of 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 29 games, she has taken 42-percent (224-of-529) of CSU's free throws, including 45-percent (136-of-305) of the Vikings free throws in 18 league games.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Kailey Klein posted her second career double-double with 25 points and a career-high 13 rebounds on Saturday at Loyola. Her first came earlier this season when she posted 30 points and 11 rebounds against Youngstown State on Jan. 26. 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).

CRYING FOUL: The Vikings have been whistled for 515 fouls compared to 492 for their opponents. However, when delving deeper into the subject, you find that CSU has had 22 disqualifications this season, compared to zero for its opponents. The 22 disqualifications are the second most in school-history with the record of 28 being held by the 1991-92 squad.

THE BIG THREE: 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 55.8 points and .368 shooting from the field. On the other hand, CSU has a -5.8 deficit in rebounding and gives up 73.7 points on .451 shooting in 13 losses this season.

NOT PLAYING NICELY: The Vikings are ranked third in the Horizon League, averaging 10.14 steals per game. In addition, CSU boasts three of the top 11 individual leaders in steals with Dominique Butler ranking second (2.72), Brittany Korth eighth (1.86) and Kailey Klein 11th (1.72). The Vikings have swiped double-digit steals in 17 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 .417 (672-1,561), which would be the fifth best in school-history. CSU has not shot better than .400 from the field since 2003-04 when they hit .405.

FROM THREE: CSU is also shooting .333 (172-517) from three-point this season, which is 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.

NO SUSPENSE: Twenty-two of CSU's 29 games have been decided by 10 points or more with the 16 wins coming by an average of 13.9 points. CSU's 13 losses have been by an average of 13.3 points.

AND WE TEND TO KNOW BY HALFTIME ...: Whether CSU will win or not. After all, the Vikings are 14-2 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 2-11 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.

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).

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.

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).

UP NEXT: Should Cleveland State defeat Butler on Wednesday night, the Vikings would advance to the semifinals and face the winner of a quarterfinal game between top-seeded Green Bay and ninth-seeded Loyola, which won at eighth-seeded UIC on Monday night. The semifinals are slated for Friday at the site of the highest remaining seed.