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Vikings Return Home to Host Marshall on Wednesday
Dec. 1, 2009
Contact: Greg Murphy
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GAME #6 SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State returns home for the first time since the season opener three weeks ago when the Vikings host Marshall on Wednesday, Dec. 2, at 7:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. The Vikings are 2-3 overall after splitting a pair of games at the Caribbean Challenge in Cancun, Mexico (Nov. 26-27), including a 64-58 win over Iona on Friday (Nov. 27) that snapped a three-game losing streak. Marshall is 2-4 overall with wins over Kent State and Miami (Ohio). The Thundering Hurd has also lost to Ohio, 63-48, a team that the Vikings defeated in the season opener, 56-34. 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 (14.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.4 apg). Joining her in the starting backcourt are senior Jessica Roque (12.6, 2.4, 3.8) and junior Shawnita Garland (10.8, 3.4, 4.0), who joined Klein on the preseason all-league first team. Senior Angel Roque (4.6, 3.0, 2.8) gives the Vikings an experienced point guard, while freshman Honesty King will slowly work her way into the rotation after redshirting last season. Sophomore Janelle Adams (4.8, 7.2 rpg) is an athletic wing-forward who will be counted on to fill a bigger role this season and sophomore guard Takima Keane (1.0) will attempt to build upon last season. Senior Stephaine Crosley (4.3, 3.5) is the most experienced post player on the roster after starting 31 games last season and is joined in the starting frontcourt by freshman Shalonda Winton (9.2, 6.8). Sophomore Destinee Blue (2.8, 3.2) provides CSU with a low post presence off the bench, while freshman Kaila Montgomery is working her way back from a knee injury and should be ready to contribute in December. 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 68-117 (.368) 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. ROQUE NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Senior guard Jessica Roque was named the Horizon League Player of the Week after averaging 19.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in two contests at the Caribbean Challenge (Nov. 26-27) in Cancun, Mexico last week. She hit 12-of-20 (.600) from the floor, including a sizzling 10-of-15 (.667) from three-point. Roque opened the tournament with 15 points and five assists in a 69-66 setback to Marquette before coming back with a 23 point effort, just two off her career-high, to help CSU snap a three-game losing streak with a 64-58 win over Iona. ROQUE EN FUEGO IN MEXICO: Jessica Roque did a majority of her damage against Iona from behind the three-point line, connecting on a school-record tying seven three pointers in eight attempts. Her .875 (7-8) percentage from beyond the arc was a CSU single game record, while Roque's seven three pointers were the most by a Viking player since Omega Harrington hit seven against Green Bay on Jan. 16, 2006. GAME NO. 100 NEXT FOR KLEIN & ROQUE: When seniors Kailey Klein and Jessica Roque take the court on Wednesday night against Marshall, it will be the 100th game in each of their CSU careers. With at least 25 games left this season, the duo is on pace to break the school record for games played in a career, currently 120 by Brittany Korth (2004-08). ... AND START NO. 87 NEXT FOR KLEIN: When Kailey Klein is announced as a starter for Wednesday's game, it will be her 87th consecutive start after she came off the bench for the first 13 contests of her career. The 87 starts are the eighth most in program history, four shy of seventh place. OUT OF THE BLUE: Sophomore Destinee Blue played her best game as a Viking in Friday's (Nov. 27) win over Iona, finishing with career highs in points (11) and rebounds (9). She also played a career-high 23 minutes. ADAMS MAKES FIRST CAREER START: Sophomore Janelle Adams was pressed into the starting lineup for the first time in her career on Friday (Nov. 27) against Iona when Stephaine Crosley could not play due to an ankle injury. Adams finished with three points, but grabbed a career-high nine rebounds to help the undersized Vikings win the battle on the glass, 38-34. ... AND CONTINUES TO CLEAN THE GLASS: Janelle Adams has been CSU's best rebounder this season, ranking eighth in the Horizon League with 7.2 boards per contest and setting a new career high twice this season. The first time came in the season opener when she grabbed eight rebounds against Ohio (Nov. 13), breaking her old career high by one. Adams then set a new career high with nine rebounds in Friday's (Nov. 27) win over Iona. She has grabbed at least six rebounds in all five games this season. CROSLEY MISSES IONA CONTEST: Stephaine Crosley battled through injuries during her freshman and sophomore seasons, missing 24 contests due to a variety of injuries. She did not miss a game last season, playing all 32 contests, but had that streak of consecutive games end at 36 when she missed Friday's (Nov. 27) game against Iona after injuring her ankle the day before against Marquette. THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE (THROWS): One huge discrepency in CSU's statistics this season has been at the free throw line where the Vikings have gone 70-of-107. In stark contrast, their opponents have taken just 72 total attempts. KLEIN SCHOOL RECORD SCORING WATCH: With her nine point effort versus Iona on Friday (Nov. 27), Kailey Klein raised her career scoring total to 1,587 points, needing just 265 to break the CSU career scoring record 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. 2K FOR DOUBLE K: Kailey Klein is 13 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 the Horizon League annals with 2,018 points. KLEIN PASSES 3,000 MINUTE MARK: Kailey Klein surpassed the 3,000 minutes mark in Thursday's contest against Marquette and has now logged 3,059 minutes during her career. She is the only player in school history to play more than 1,000 minutes during two separate seasons, playing 1,099 minutes as a sophomore and 1,127 as a junior. Those totals rank third and second, respectively, for most minutes played in a single season in program history. GARLAND BREAKS OUT: Shawnita Garland had a tough time getting on track during CSU's first two contests, fighting an ankle injury that slowed her. She scored just four points in the season opener against Ohio (Nov. 13) before scoring just two points in a loss to Toledo (Nov. 15) when she was plagued by foul trouble, playing just eight minutes before fouling out. However, that has changed over the last three contests, beginning on Nov. 22 at Wisconsin when she hit 8-of-15 from the field, including 4-of-8 from three-point, scoring a game-high 23 points. She came back with 17 points, a career-high tying seven assists and six rebounds against Marquette (Nov. 26) before finishing with eight points, seven rebounds and six assists versus Iona (Nov. 27). SUPER SOPH: In each of the last two seasons, head coach Kate Peterson Abiad has had a sophomore on the roster who exploded onto the scene after enjoying some success as a freshman. Two years ago it was Kailey Klein and last year it was Shawnita Garland. This year, the front runner appears to be Janelle Adams who is averaging 4.8 points and a team-leading 7.2 rebounds per game through five contests. 1,500 POINTS & 500 BOARDS: With her seven rebounds at Toledo on Nov. 15 senior Kailey Klein became just the fourth player in school history to record 1,500 points and 500 rebounds for a career. Klein who now has 1,587 points and 514 rebounds, joins Dianne Foster, Audra Cook and Debra Taylor as the only players to accomplish the feat in program history. ... AND 500 FIELD GOALS: Kailey Klein's eighth and final field goal in Mexico proved to be a memorable one as it was the 500th made field goal of her career. She became just the eighth player in school history to make 500 field goals and is just 40 makes shy of moving into fourth place on the all-time list at CSU. SHE'S A FRESHMAN: Freshman Shalonda Winton has had a great start to her career, ranking fourth on the team in scoring (9.2) and second on the team and ninth in the league in rebounding (6.8). Winton's best game to date was the season opener against Ohio when she finished just short of a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds. KLEIN AFTER FOURTH SCORING CROWN: Kailey Klein is attempting to become 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 straight scoring titles. KLEIN AT THE LINE: After not going to the free throw line in the season opener vs. Ohio, senior Kailey Klein has taken 27 trips (14-27) to the line over the last four contests. That has allowed her to extend her school record for free throws made (467) and free throws attempted (597). The 13 misses this season are out of the ordinary for Klein, who ranks fifth in school-history in all-time free throw percentage (.782). ON THE ROAD AGAIN: After playing their season opener at home, the Vikings are spending a majority of the next month on the road, playing six of their next seven games away from home. The only home game during that stretch comes on Wednesday (Dec. 2) night when CSU hosts Marshall. THE DEFENSE DOES NOT REST: Cleveland State's defense was at its best against Ohio on Nov. 13, holding the Bobcats to 34 points and just 13 field goals on 44 attempts (.295). The 34 points given up were the fewest by a Viking team since a 62-24 win over Ashland on Feb. 8, 1983. FOR OPENERS: The win over Ohio (Nov. 13) marked the first time that Cleveland State won its season opener since a 106-58 victory over Chicago State on Nov. 16, 1998, a span of 11 seasons. CSU is now 13-23 all-time in season openers. 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 postseason honors and Green was a first team all-league pick. GARLAND ON PRESEASON ALL-LEAGUE FIRST TEAM: Junior Shawnita Garland joined Klein on the preseason All-Horizon League first team, making the Vikings the only team with two first team picks. 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. VIKINGS 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. Valparaiso (145 points), Wright State (126), Detroit (103), Loyola (78) and Youngstown State (30) rounded out the poll. LEAGUE MARK SET LAST SEASON: 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 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. UP NEXT: CSU heads to Kent State for a 2:00 p.m. contest on Saturday, Dec. 5, before heading into final exams next week.
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