Dec. 27, 2008

Contact: Greg Murphy

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SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State (5-6) returns from the holiday break and will attempt to get back to the .500 mark when the Vikings host Buffalo for their final nonconference game of the season on Monday, Dec. 29, beginning at 7:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. CSU has not played since an 80-61 win over Niagara on Dec. 21. The Bulls are 4-7 and have also been out of action since losing to Houston (80-62) on Dec. 21.

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. The lineup is keyed by six players who made significant contributions to last year's squad, headlined by junior guard Kailey Klein (18.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 3.1 apg), a first team All-Horizon League pick last season. Klein is joined in the backcourt by junior twin sisters Angel (6.5 ppg, 3.3 apg) and Jessica Roque (9.3 ppg, 2.8 rpg), while sophomore Shawnita Garland (9.8 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 2.5 apg, 2.6 spg) serves as the top reserve off the bench. Senior Dominique Butler (11.8 ppg, 6.7 rpg, 3.3 spg) leads the frontcourt after earning Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year accolades last season, while junior Stephaine Crosley (4.5 ppg, 4.5 rpg) slides into the starting lineup. Senior Natalie Miller (1.1 ppg, 0.7 rpg) also figures into the rotation, while freshman guards Janelle Adams (2.2 ppg, 1.9 rpg) and Takima Keane (1.4 ppg, 0.6 rpg) and forward Destinee Blue (2.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg) have worked their way into the rotation during the nonconference portion of the season.

THE HEAD COACH: Kate Peterson Abiad is in her sixth year as the head coach of the Vikings and claims an overall record of 52-107 (.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 PERFECT AT THE LINE: Kailey Klein was a perfect 14-for-14 at the free throw line on Sunday (Dec. 21) against Niagara, marking the second best performance by a Division I player this season. Only DePaul's Deirdre Naughton who made 16-of-16 against Illinois State (11/28) ranks higher than Klein. In addition to being the second best performance in the nation this season, it ranked as the second best effort in school history, trailing only Debra Taylor, who went 15-for-15 against Valparaiso (1/11/90). For Klein, it was the third time in her career that she made all of her free throws while attempting at least 10 after going 11-for-11 at Colgate and at Loyola last season.

... AND HAS MADE 26 STRAIGHT: With her 14 made free throws on vs. Niagara on Sunday (Dec. 21), Kailey Klein extended her streak of consecutive made free throws to 26. The streak started with Klein making all eight of her free throws at Ohio State (Dec. 15) and connecting on all four of her free tosses at Ohio (Dec. 19).

... AND BREAKS SCHOOL RECORD: With her 14-for-14 performance at the line against Niagara on Sunday (Dec. 21), Kailey Klein broke Deb Taylor's school record for career free throws made. Klein has now made 392 free throws at CSU, one better than Taylor's old record of 391. In addition, Klein's 488 career free throw attempts rank third all-time in school history, just 74 shy of breaking Lanette Taylor's career record of 561. For good measure, Klein's career .803 (392-488) percentage from the free throw line is second in program history.

THE ONE AND ONLY: Kailey Klein is proving that her selection to the preseason All-Horizon League first team was indeed no fluke as she is the only player in the league to rank in the top-10 in points, rebounds and assists. Klein is second in scoring (18.9), ninth in rebounding (6.5) and 10th in assists (3.1).

KLEIN 10TH ON SCORING LIST: With her 25 point effort versus Niagara on Sunday, Dec. 21, junior Kailey Klein increased her career scoring total to 1,180 points and remained in 10th place on the CSU career scoring list. Klein is now just eight points shy of moving past Megan Williams (1993-97) for ninth place on the list.

... AND CHASING THIRD STRAIGHT SCORING CROWN: Kailey Klein is once again in familiar territory, leading the team and ranking second in the Horizon League with an 18.9 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.

A PERFECT 30: Kailey Klein scored a CSU season high 30 points in a Dec. 15 loss at Ohio State, marking the sixth time in her career that she scored at least 30 points in a game, the most in school history. Klein's six 30 point games betters the old mark of five 30 point contests, which was shared by Deb Taylor, Dianne Foster and Lanette Taylor.

CSU IN THE NCAA STATS: The fourth edition of the NCAA statistics were released on Monday, Dec. 22 and Cleveland State was well represented. As a team, the Vikings ranked 31st in the country in free throw percentage (.747) and 65th in steals (10.3). Individually, CSU's Kailey Klein was 26th in scoring (18.9) and 35th in free throw percentage (87.2), while Dominique Butler (3.3) and Shawnita Garland (2.6) were 16th and 51st, respectively in steals.

BUTLER'S 99TH GAME: When Dominique Butler takes the floor on Monday night against Buffalo, it will be the 99th contest of her CSU career. With at least 20 games left on the schedule (including at least one in the Horizon League Championship), Butler could wind up playing 118 games, which would rank as the second most in school history. Brittany Korth (2004-08) holds the school record with 120 games played.

BUTLER NEARING 1,000 PONTS: Senior Dominique Butler is continuing her quest to become the 21st player in school history to reach the career 1,000 point mark, needing just 31 points to reach the career 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 BUTLER 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 527 career rebounds, is 31 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 one more steal 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).

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 third highest total in a Division I game this season. Only Vivian Frieson of Gonzaga and Angel McCoughtry of Louisville have had more swipes in a game this season (10).

TALE OF TWO HALVES: It seems the Vikings might need the first half to get warmed up on the offensive end. Through 11 games, CSU is averaging 27.5 points and shooting .354 (119-336) from the field in the first half. However, the Vikings have been the complete opposite over the final 20 minutes, averaging 39.2 points in the second half, while shooting .516 (162-314) from the floor.

WORKING OVERTIME: The 84-77 overtime loss to Kent State on Dec. 6 marked the fourth consecutive season that the Vikings played an overtime game and 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, Illinois State and Ohio State, teams that went to the NCAA tournament and American, an NIT qualifier a year ago. The Vikings still have two league contests against Green Bay, an NIT participant last season.

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 9.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.6 steals per game in 26.5 minutes per game, ranking eighth in the league in field goal percentage (.512), and fifth in steals. Garland, who dished out a career-best seven assists in the season opener at Arizona State (Nov. 14), scored a season-high 18 points with a career-high tying seven rebounds at Ohio on Dec. 19.

MAKING HER POINT: Junior point guard Angel Roque ran her consecutive games starting streak to 55 when she started against Niagara on Dec. 21. Roque has played some of her best basketball over the last six games, averaging 7.7 points and 3.8 assists per contest. The streak started with a 13 point, three assist effort at American (Nov. 30) and was followed by a 10 point, four assist game at Akron on Dec. 3. Roque then had back-to-back five assist games agaisnt Kent State and Ohio State before scoring 11 points at Ohio. Roque is ranked ninth in the Horizon League with 3.2 assists per game.

OUT OF THE BLUE: Freshman Destinee Blue has seen a bump in her playing time over the last three contests, averaging 14.3 minutes during that time, including a career-high 19 minutes against Niagara (Dec. 21). Over the three game stretch, Blue is averaging 3.7 points and 2.7 rebounds, totaling a career-high tying six points and career-high five rebounds versus Niagara. She also had four points and three boards at Ohio State (Dec. 15).

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE: After struggling at the free throw line through six games (73-106; .689), the Vikings have picked up the pace over the last five games, hitting .795 (101-172) from the charity stripe. CSU has vaulted all the way up to second in the league in free throw percentage (.747) one year after leading the league and finishing fourth in the nation (.797) from the line.

HOME SWEET HOME: The Vikings have not gotten to enjoy their home court much this season, playing only four of their first 11 contests in the Wolstein Center. However, CSU has made the most of its time on its home court, posting a 3-1 mark in those contests with the lone loss coming in overtime to Kent State. Over the last two seasons, the Vikings are 12-6 at home.

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.

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.

UP NEXT: The Vikings begin Horizon League play when CSU travels to Indiana for a pair of games. CSU plays at Butler on Saturday, Jan. 3, at 2:00 p.m. before heading to Valparaiso on Monday, Jan. 5, for an 8:05 p.m. contest.