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Vikings Head to 18th-Ranked Ohio State on Monday
Dec. 11, 2008
Contact: Greg Murphy
• Ticket Information
GAME 9 Cleveland State (4-4) at #18 Ohio State (7-2) CSU single game tickets are available by calling the Wolstein Center Ticket Office at
(216) 687-4848 or by contacting Ticketmaster. SETTING THE SCENE: Following a week off for final exams, Cleveland State returns to competitive action on Monday, Dec. 15, when the Vikings travel to Columbus for a 7:00 p.m. contest with 18th-ranked Ohio State. CSU is 4-4 overall following an 84-77 overtime setback to Kent State on Dec. 6, while the Buckeyes are 7-2 and have also been out of action since Dec. 6 when they defeated Nebraska (69-65).
PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: Coming off the most successful season in school history, sixth-year head coach Kate Peterson Abiad welcomes back three starters and eight letterwinners from last year's team that won the Horizon League Championship and advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in school history. Headlining the list of returnees is junior guard Kailey Klein (17.5 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 3.4 apg), who was selected to the preseason All-Horizon League team for the second straight season. She finished her sophomore campaign with a school-record 654 points, earning first team All-Horizon League accolades. Klein is joined in the backcourt by junior twin sisters Angel (6.8 ppg, 3.1 apg) and Jessica Roque (11.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg), while sophomore Shawnita Garland (9.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 2.8 apg, 2.3 spg) serves as the top reserve off the bench. Senior Dominique Butler (12.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.3 spg) leads the frontcourt after earning Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year accolades last season, while junior Stephaine Crosley (4.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg) slides into the starting lineup. Senior Natalie Miller (0.6 ppg, 0.6 rpg) also figures into the rotation, while freshman guards Janelle Adams (1.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg) and Takima Keane (1.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg) and forward Destinee Blue (1.7 ppg, 1.3 rpg) are slowly working their way into the rotation as they adjust to the speed and flow of the collegiate game.
THE HEAD COACH: Kate Peterson Abiad is in her sixth year as the head coach of the Vikings and claims an overall record of 51-105 (.327) after leading the Vikings to 19 wins last season. 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. She also worked 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. KLEIN TO HAVE HIGH SCHOOL JERSEY RETIRED: Kailey Klein will have her high school No. 23 jersey retired at Hall H.S. in a ceremony on Friday (Dec. 12) night between the varsity girls and boys games in Spring Valley, Ill. The all-time leading scorer in school history, Klein scored a conference record 2,496 career points, adding 1,188 rebounds. She averaged 24.0 points per game as a senior, finishing as the third runner-up for Illinois Ms. Basketball. THE BUTLER STOLE IT: Dominique Butler set a career-high with nine steals on Dec. 6 against Kent State, surpassing her previous career-high of eight steals done multiple times. Her nine steals, which are tied for the third most in a game in CSU history, are also tied for the second highest total in a Division I game this season. Only Vivian Frieson of Gonzaga, who had 10 steals against Washington (11/16), has had more swipes in a game this season. KLEIN 14TH ON SCORING LIST: With a CSU season high 27 points against Kent State (Dec. 6), junior Kailey Klein increased her career scoring total to 1,112 points and moved into 14th place on the CSU career scoring list. Next up for Klein on the scoring list is Laura Englehart, who is 22 points (1,134) ahead of Klein in 13th place. Shannon Sword is 12th on the scoring list with 1,136 career points. ... AND CHASING THIRD STRAIGHT SCORING CROWN: Kailey Klein is once again in familiar territory, leading the team with a 17.5 scoring average. Klein is attempting to become just the third player in school history to lead the team in scoring in three straight seasons. She began the streak as a freshman, averaging 11.0 points per game, the second lowest average by a player who led the squad, and increased her scoring average to 19.9 points per game as a sophomore. Klein would join Megan Williams (1994-97) and Debra Taylor (1987-91) as the only players to lead the team in scoring for three consecutive seasons. CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: The second edition of the NCAA statistics were released on Dec. 7 and Cleveland State was well represented. As a team, the Vikings ranked 32nd in the nation in field goal percentage (.451), 52nd in assists (15.5) and 71st in free throw percentage (.719). In addition, Dominique Butler was 26th in the country in steals (3.3), while Kailey Klein was ranked 58th in scoring (17.5). BUTLER CLOSING IN ON 1,000 POINTS: Senior Dominique Butler is continuing her quest to become the 21st player in school history to reach the career 1,000 point mark. Butler, who scored 11 points versus Kent State on Dec. 6, needs 58 more points to reach the 1,000-point plateau. 1,000 TIMES TWO: If Dominique Butler joins Kailey Klein with 1,000 career points this season, they will be just the third pair of teammates to score their 1,000th point in the same season for CSU. Ashley Schrock and Shannon Sword were the last to accomplish the feat in 2003-04, while Terri Miller and Lisa Kipp were the first ones to do it during the 1987-88 season. ANOTHER MILESTONE IN REACH: Dominique Butler is on the verge of becoming just the 12th player in program history to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds in a career. Butler, who has 510 career rebounds, is 58 points shy of 1,000. She would join Audra Cook, Dianne Foster, Deb Taylor, Mary Petrecca, Lanette Taylor, Terri Miller, Sue Hlavacek, Ashley Schrock, Megan Williams, Mahogany Green and Shannon Sword as the only players in school history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds for their careers. ... AND IF YOU ADD STEALS: Dominique Butler will be in even more elite company as Dianne Foster is currently the only player in school history who has recorded 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 250 steals for a career. Butler needs just 11 more steals to reach 250 career steals. Foster is the school-record holder for career points (1,851) and ranks second in rebounds (941) and steals (355). TALE OF TWO HALVES: It seems the Vikings might need the first half to get warmed up on the offensive end. Through eight games, CSU is averaging 28.7 points and shooting .391 (95-243) from the field in the first half. However, the Vikings have been the complete opposite over the final 20 minutes, averaging 38.0 points in the second half, while shooting .533 (120-225) from the floor. IMPROVING AT THE LINE: Last season, the Vikings ranked fourth in the nation in free throws, hitting .797 (480-602) from the line. CSU got off to a slow start from the charity stripe this year, connecting on just 60-of-89 (.674) over the first five games. However, over the last three games, the Vikings have shown dramatic improvement, hitting .775 (55-71) from the line to raise their season percentage to .719. WORKING OVERTIME: Saturday's (Dec. 6) 84-77 overtime loss to Kent State marked the fourth consecutive season that the Vikings played an overtime game as CSU fell to 13-16 all-time in games that go into OT. In fact, the Vikings have lost five consecutive overtime games with CSU's last win coming against Wright State, 72-68, on March 10, 2000, in the Horizon League Championship semifinals. TOUGH SCHEDULE: CSU has six games on the schedule against teams that advanced to the postseason last year. CSU has already played Arizona State and Illinois State, teams that went to the NCAA tournament and American, an NIT qualifier a year ago. The Vikings still have contests with NCAA tournament qualifier Ohio State and NIT qualifier Green Bay (twice). FIT TO BE QUEEN: Junior Angel Roque picked up the title of Homecoming Queen during the annual Vike Fest activities and her honor was announced at Viking Madness on Oct. 17. The king was men's basketball standout Cedric Jackson. KLEIN AT THE LINE: Kailey Klein continues her torrid assault on the CSU record book for career free throws made and attempted. The junior, who has hit 39-of-47 (.830) at the line this season, ranks third in school history in free throws made (356), just 35 shy of breaking Debra Taylor's record. In addition, Klein's 449 career attempts are fifth all-time in program history, just 112 shy of Lanette Taylor's career mark. For good measure, Klein's .793 career free throw percentage is third all-time in CSU history. AND SHE CAN HIT THEM WITH ONE EYE: During the Nov. 30 game at American, Kailey Klein was fouled on a drive to the basket and had her contact knocked out. She made the first free throw with just one contact before finding the second one that was lost in her eye. ... AND ON THE SECOND ONE: Well, Kailey Klein did not get to attempt the second free throw as she was able to find her contact. Forced to go to the bench to put the contact back in, head coach Kate Peterson Abiad selected freshman Takima Keane to take the second free throw, but Keane missed her first career free toss. THE TOP-6: The majority of the damage done this season has been done by Cleveland State's top-six players - starters Stephaine Crosley, Dominique Butler, Kailey Klein, Angel Roque and Jessica Roque and sixth player Shawnita Garland. Together, the six have accounted for 94-percent of CSU's points, 81-percent of their rebounds, 94-percent of CSU's assists and 91-percent of the Vikings steals. In addition, the six players have been on the court for 1,468 of a possible 1,625 minutes this season, or 90-percent of the time. CROSLEY STEPS UP: After scoring just eight points and grabbing 16 rebounds in CSU's first four games, Stephaine Crosley has broken out of her mini-slump by averaging 6.8 points and 6.5 rebounds over CSU's last four games. She scored seven points with five boards vs. Toledo (Nov. 26), before coming back with four points and 10 rebounds, the second highest total of her career, at American on Nov. 30. Crosley then had a season-high 11 points and three rebounds on Dec. 3 at Akron before finishing with five points and eight rebounds versus Kent State (Dec. 6), including the game-tying basket with four seconds left that sent the game into overtime. DQ'D: Last season, the Vikings had 22 disqualifications from a game because of five fouls, marking the second highest total in school history. This year, it took five games for the first CSU player to foul out when Dominique Butler had five fouls in a Nov. 26 game vs. Toledo. Butler picked up five more fouls on Nov. 30 at American for her second straight disqualification and the 14th of her career. That total is tied for third most in school history. SPARK OFF THE BENCH: Sophomore Shawnita Garland has taken a liking to her role as CSU's top reserve and is playing herself into serious consideration for the Horizon League's Sixth Player of the Year Award. Garland is averaging 9.4 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game in 26.6 minutes per game, leading the league in field goal percentage (.575), and ranking sixth in steals (2.3). Garland, who dished out a career-best seven assists at Arizona State (Nov. 14), scored a season-high 17 points versus Kent State, hitting 7-of-12 shots from the field. ROQUE LIKES STARTING: Junior Jessica Roque has responded well in her return to the starting lineup this season as she is averaging 11.6 points and 3.1 rebounds per game. She leads the team with 14 three-pointers, ranking sixth in the league in three-pointers per game (1.8) and 10th in three-point field goal percentage (.350). Roque started all 30 games as a freshman and was CSU's top reserve last season, coming off the bench in 32 of the 33 games. She scored 19 points vs. Toledo, the second highest output of her career, hitting 4-of-8 from three point. KLEIN NAMED TO ALL-HORIZON LEAGUE SQUAD: Kailey Klein has been selected to the preseason All-Horizon League first team for the second straight season. A 5-foot-11 guard from Cherry, Ill., Klein was second in the league in scoring last season (19.9) and ranked among the top-15 in rebounding, assists, steals, field goal percentage, free throw percentage three-point FG percentage and minutes. A MUCH IMPROVED TEAM: The Vikings were the fifth most improved team in Division I in 2007-08 with a nine and a half game improvement. After going 8-22 in 2006-07, CSU turned things around by going 19-14 last season. UP NEXT: The Vikings travel to Athens, Ohio, for a 7:00 p.m. contest at Ohio on Friday, Dec. 19, before hosting Niagara on Sunday (Dec. 21) at 3:00 p.m.
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