Jan. 3, 2002

Box Score

CLEVELAND - Cleveland State (6-5, 2-0 Horizon League) recovered from an early 10-point deficit to pull out an, 80-71, win Thursday night against Youngstown State (3-8, 0-1 HL). The victory moved the Vikings to 2-0 in league action for the first time since the 1992-93 campaign when they opened play in the Mid-Continent Conference with a pair of wins. In addition, CSU improved to 47-4 (5-0 this year) when scoring at least 80 points in seven seasons under head coach Duffy Burns.

Trailing, 20-10, at the 11:22 mark of the opening stanza, the Vikings closed out the half with a 32-13 run to go into the locker room with a, 42-33, lead. CSU increased the margin to 70-49 with 8:44 remaining in the game, but the Vikings went cold over the next eight minutes as the Penguins trimmed the lead to just 75-71. However, CSU made its free throws over the final 49 seconds to preserve the win.

"We don't exactly have the killer instinct that a veteran team would," pointed out Burns. "Hopefully we can learn how to finish games like this. The good thing is that we're 2-0 in the league and in first place."

Junior guard Erika Roudebush (Noblesville, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) led the Vikings with 20 points, seven assists and a career-high seven rebounds. Sophomore forward Ashley Schrock (Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon) added 15 points, while senior forward Tonya Crum (Lodi, Wis./Sun Prairie) tallied 12 points and a game-high nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Shannon Sword (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg) added 10 points off the bench.

Junior guard Maggie Johnston paced YSU with a career-high 20 points, while senior center Jen Horner and sophomore guard Devin Novak added 10 apiece for the Penguins.

"I'm proud of the way our kids finished the game," said YSU head coach Ed DiGregorio. "We started out with a 10-point lead then went through a lull. It's a learning process for our young kids."

Cleveland State is in action again on Monday, Jan. 7 when it hosts Wright State at 5:00 p.m. in Goodman Arena.