Vikings Open Exhibition Season on Friday Against Case Western Reserve

Will Be First of Two Exhibitions for CSU

Angel Roque

Nov. 3, 2009

Contact: Greg Murphy

Complete Release in PDF Format

EXHIBITION #1

Case Western (10-15 in 2008-09) at Cleveland State (19-13)
Date: Friday, November 6, 2009
Time: 7:00 p.m. EST
Site: Goodman Arena (8,500), Wolstein Center - Cleveland, Ohio
TV: None
Radio: None
Series: CSU leads, 3-0
Last Mtg: @CSU 74, CWRU 34 (2/25/76)
Tickets: General Admission: $8
Children under 4: FREE
Groups of 10+: $5 per person

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State plays its first of two exhibition games on Friday, Nov. 6, when the Vikings host Case Western Reserve at 7:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. CSU is coming off its second straight season of 19 wins and has been tabbed to finish second in the Horizon League preseason poll.

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 Kailey Klein (16.9 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 3.1 apg) who was selected to the preseason All-Horizon League first team for the third straight year and was the preseason Player of the Year. Joining her in the backcourt are senior Jessica Rouqe (10.8, 2.8, 2.7) and junior Shawnita Garland (12.4, 4.3, 2.8 spg), who joined Klein on the preseason all-league first team. Senior Angel Roque (4.2, 2.0, 2.8) gives the Vikings an experienced point guard, while sophomore Janelle Adams (2.7, 2.1) is an athletic wing-forward who will be counted on to fill a bigger role this season. Senior Stephaine Crosley (4.7, 6.3) is the most experienced post player on the roster after starting 31 games last season. She is expected to be joined in the starting lineup by freshman Shalonda Winton, an athletic player who can finish at the basket. Sophomore Destinee Blue (2.7, 2.1) provides CSU with a low post presence off the bench. Sophomore Takima Keane (1.8, 0.5) will attempt to build upon last season, while freshmen Honesty King and Kaila Montgomery will work their way into the rotation after redshirting last season.

HEAD COACH Kate Peterson ABIAD: Kate Peterson Abiad is in her seventh season as the head coach of the Vikings and claims an overall record of 66-114 (.367) after leading the Vikings to 19 wins in each of the last two seasons. The sixth head coach in school-history, Peterson Abiad spent six years as an assistant coach at Wisconsin, serving as the recruiting coordinator starting in 1998. after working as an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois (1993-97) and Indiana (1991-93). A 1991 graduate of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Peterson Abiad earned Kodak All-America honors her senior season after setting the NCAA Division III record for three-point field goals per game at 3.85.

37th Year of CSU Women's Basketball: The 2009-10 season will be CSU's 37th year of competition. The Vikings have compiled an all-time record of 375-549 (.406), including a 99-136 (.421) record in 16 seasons in the Horizon League.

Vikings Tabbed Second in Preseason Poll: Cleveland State was picked to finish second in the Horizon League Preseason poll, the highest finish in the poll in school history. The Vikings received four first place votes and 243 points to finish behind Green Bay, who earned 266 points and 19 first place votes. Butler picked up three first place votes and 234 points to finish third, while UIC was fourth with 160 points and Milwaukee fifth with 155 points and the final first place vote.

Klein Named Preseason Player of the Year: Kailey Klein was selected as the 2009-10 Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year in voting conducted by the league head coaches, sports information directors and select media. Klein, a two-time first team All-Horizon League pick, was the co-Player of the Year last season and the runner-up for top league honors as a sophomore. She is the third player in school history to earn preseason Player of the Year accolades, joining Mahogany Green (2000-01) and Audra Cook (1999-00). Cook went on to capture Player of the Year honors, while Green was a first team all-league pick.

Garland Joins Her on Preseason All-League Team: Junior Shawnita Garland joined Klein on the preseason All-Horizon League first team, making the Vikings the only team with two players on the first team. Garland had a breakout season last year, finishing second in the league in steals (2.8), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.390), sixth in scoring (12.4), seventh in field goal percentage (.517) and ninth in minutes played (32.3) en route to earning second team all-league accolades.

CSU SCORING RECORD WITHIN KLEIN'S REACH: Kailey Klein begins her senior season ranked fourth on the all-time scoring list with 1,514 career points, needing 338 to break the CSU career scoring mark held by Dianne Foster. Klein is also attempting to become the only player in school history to score at least 500 points in three separate seasons. She scored a school-record 654 points as a sophomore and 542 last year.

... AND SO IS 2,000 POINTS: Kailey Klein is 486 points shy of becoming just the third player in Horizon League history to score 2,000 career points. Former Milwaukee standout Traci Edwards (2005-09) is the all-time leading scorer in league history with 2,340 points, while former Butler great Julie VonDielingen (1989-93) ranks second in league annals with 2,018 points.

Four Starters Are Back: The Vikings return four of the five starters from last season's 19-win team. Back are seniors Kailey Klein and Jessica Roque who started all 32 games, as well as senior Stephaine Crosley who started 31 times. Junior Shawnita Garland is the fourth starter back after she started the final 19 contests of the season. In addition, senior Angel Roque has experience in the starting lineup as she started the final 11 games of her freshman campaign, all 33 games as a sophomore and the first 11 contests last season before an injury to her finger forced her to the sideline.

Vikings to Head Out of Country: CSU will play two games at the Caribbean Challenge in Cancun, Mexico, facing Marquette on Nov. 26 and Iona on Nov. 27. It will be the first time in school history that the Vikings will play in-season games outside of the United States.

School Record 12 League Wins: CSU finished 12-6 and in third place in the Horizon League a year ago, tying the highest conference finish in school history (1997-98). In addition, the 12 league wins were a school record, breaking the old mark of 10 wins set in 2007-08.

Back-to-Back-to-Back: A winning season this year will give the Vikings their third straight, a feat that has never been accomplished in school history. CSU has had back-to-back winning seasons only four times in program history and the consecutive winning seasons in 2007-08 and 2008-09 marked the first time in 25 years that CSU accomplished the feat.

Vikings to Play Just Three Doubleheaders: The Vikings will play just three doubleheaders with the men's basketball team this season. The first will come on Saturday (Dec. 19) with the women hosting Indiana and the men entertaining West Virginia. The other two doubleheaders will be league contests with both teams playing Detroit on Thursday (Feb. 25) and Wright State on Saturday (Feb. 27). Over the last two seasons, the squads have combined to go 19-3 in doubleheaders with the women owning a 9-2 mark and the men going 10-1.

Klein After Fourth Scoring Crown: Kailey Klein is attempting to become just the second player in school history to lead the team in scoring in four straight seasons. Klein, who averaged 11.0 points as a freshman, 19.9 points as a sophomore and 16.9 last season, would join Debra Taylor (1987-91) as the only players in school history with four consecutive scoring titles.

A Good Two Years: CSU has enjoyed quite a bit of success over the last two years, posting 19 wins in each of the last two seasons with the 38 wins over two seasons being the second most over a two-year stretch in school history. The best two-year streak in school history was set in 1982-83 (23 wins) and 1983-84 (19 wins) when the squads combined to win 42 contests.

... Especially at Home: The Vikings have gone 20-7 at home over the last two seasons, marking the best two-year stretch in program history. The 1980-81 (11-2) and 1981-82 (8-5) squads held the old mark with 19 wins over a two-year period.

League Championship Set For Early March: The annual Horizon League Championship will begin with two opening round games on March 8 and the quarterfinals on March 10 at campus sites. The highest remaining seed will host the semifinals on March 12 and the championship game on March 14.

UP NEXT: The Vikings will conclude the exhibition season with a 7:00 p.m. contest against Wayne State on Tuesday (Nov. 10) in the Wolstein Center. The regular season opener in slated for next Friday (Nov. 13) when CSU hosts Ohio at 7:30 p.m.