Vikings Arrive in South Bend for NCAA Tournament

CSU To Play at Notre Dame on Sunday at 2:50 p.m.

Angel and Jessica Roque talk to a reporter before loading the bus to South Bend on Friday afternoon.

March 19, 2010

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State women's basketball team pulled out of the loading dock at the Wolstein Center around 1:20 p.m. on Friday (March 19), embarking on its second trip to the NCAA tournament in the last three seasons.

However, one could argue that the journey began about five years ago when head coach Kate Peterson Abiad, now in her seventh year at the helm, brought the quartet of Stephaine Crosley, Kailey Klein and twin sisters Angel and Jessica Roque into the program after the Vikings won just four games the previous season.

Since that time, they have helped the Vikings to 65 wins, the most over a four year period, as well as two Horizon League Tournament Championships and two bids to the NCAA tournament. In each of the last three years, the Vikings have won 19 games, tied for the second most in school history.

As Crosley and Klein led the team out to the loading dock today, I was reminded about how their fellow seniors took this team on their backs during last week's Horizon League Championship and led the Vikings to the title. Klein played all 125 minutes in the tournament, coming to the bench just one time, with 3.2 seconds left in the championship game to a standing ovation from the fans.

And by the way, it was well deserved as the Cherry, Ill., native dominated the tournament, scoring a league tournament record 80 points en route to becoming just the second player in league history to earn tournament MVP honors more than once.

In all, CSU's five starters combined to play 196 of the 200 minutes in the title win over Butler.

The simply refused to lose.

With CSU's number one fan, Christina, behind the wheel, the Vikings boarded the bus for the four hour ride to South Bend, Ind., around 1:20 p.m. and after arriving at the team hotel in South Bend, they headed out to dinner around 6:30 p.m.

They will have an early night tonight before a busy day on Saturday, including a press conference at 2:20 p.m., followed by practice at the Joyce Center and a rally with the Viking staff, family, friends and fans who will be making the trip.

And speaking of family and friends, this trip should have a better feel than two years ago when CSU was sent all the way to Stanford for a first round match-up. This time around, the Vikings should have a solid contingent of fans as several players hail from this region. In addition, Peterson Abiad and assistant coach Amy Wright are planning to have several family and friends on hand for support.

The Vikings then have a large task at hand on Sunday at 2:50 p.m., facing seventh ranked Notre Dame on the Fighting Irish's home court.

Stay tuned for more updates throughout the weekend...