Feb. 7, 2002
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Surging Vikings Eye Fifth Place
Just two weeks ago, Cleveland State was mired in a six-game losing streak and sat in eighth place in the conference. However, four consecutive wins later, the Vikings find themselves playing tonight for fifth place. A victory this evening would also match the longest road winning streak in school history at four games (twice in 1982-83 & once in 1977-78). Youngstown State leads the all-time series with CSU by a 25-10 margin, including winning 12-of-14 in Youngstown. The Vikings did win the first meeting this season in Cleveland, 80-71, after rallying from an early deficit. 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. Junior guard Erika Roudebush led the Vikings with 20 points, seven assists and seven rebounds, while sophomore forward Ashley Schrock added 15 points. Junior guard Maggie Johnston paced YSU with a career-high 20 points.
Shooting Percentage Mirrors Wins
One fact of life has been nearly set in stone for the Vikings this year: shoot over 40% and win, less than 40% and lose. CSU is 10-2 this season when topping the 40% mark, only dropping games at Niagara (47.4%) and at UW-Milwaukee (41.9%). On the flip side, the Vikings have lost all nine games in which they have hit less than 40% of their shots. During its current four-game winning streak, CSU is shooting .469 as a team, led by sophomore center Karyn Woloszynek's .700 (14-20). During the run, the Vikings are also shooting .796 from the line.
Triple Threat
Last year the Vikings continued their torrid pace from behind the three-point arc during Duffy Burns' tenure, knocking down 215 bombs to finish 4th in the nation with 7.7 per game (Iowa State led at 9.1 pg), while pacing the conference for the sixth consecutive year. Overall, CSU has made a three-pointer in 265 straight contests - ranking behind only Louisville's current 312 game run in NCAA annals. The last time the Vikings failed to drain at least one triple in a game was in a 78-55 loss at Cincinnati on December 17, 1992. CSU is currently second in the Horizon League with 6.43 triples per game.
80's Enough
In the seven seasons since Duffy Burns arrived in Cleveland, the Vikings have hit his self-proclaimed "magic number" of 80 points 53 times in 189 games (28%). Of those 53 contests, CSU has been victorious on 49 occasions (92%). All four losses were to conference opponents: UW-Milwaukee (2/17/96), Butler (2/24/96) and Detroit (1/30/97 & 2/5/00). The Vikings were 9-0 last season when topping 80 points and are 7-0 this year.
