Nov. 21, 2006

Final Stats

CLEVELAND - Cleveland State found itself in familiar territory on Tuesday night in Goodman Arena. Trailing at half for the fourth consecutive game, the Vikings (1-3) were finally able to reverse their fortunes in the final 20 minutes, as they rallied to defeat Colgate, 70-65.

CSU trailed for the first 14 minutes of the second half before going ahead 59-57 on a Chenara Wilson jumper at the 5:56 mark. The Raiders (1-3) battled back to knot the score at 63-63 with 3:21 remaining, but Wilson answered back with another basket and Nicole Thomas stole the ensuing inbounds pass, was fouled and finished off the three-point play to put the Vikings up by five.

After a pair of Colgate free throws cut the margin to three with 1:43 remaining, both teams misfired on their next two possessions. Forced to foul, the Raiders sent freshman Angel Roque to the line, where she calmly sank a pair of free throws with 13 seconds remaining to provide the final margin.

"As a team we're getting better at managing the end of the game, which is a good thing because we're going to play a lot of close games this season," CSU head coach Kate Peterson said. "We're getting more confident with playing under pressure -- Angel's free throws are a perfect example of that."

CSU trailed 39-33 at the half thanks largely in part to Caitlin Gillard, who paced the Raiders with 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks in the opening stanza.

Both teams shot 37 percent from the field, while Colgate held a huge rebound advantage (54 to 36). However, the Vikings' were able to overcome the deficit on the boards by converting 24 Raider turnovers into 28 points. Meanwhile, CSU had 17 assists to just 12 turnovers.

"We really focused on our defense this week in practice and were able to force a lot of turnovers today," Peterson said. "Our defense was much better on the whole, but we still need to learn to play for 40 minutes."

Thomas led the Vikings with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Brittany Korth knocked down four three-pointers en route to scoring 14 points. Wilson added 10 points and six boards and Angel Roque dished out a game-high seven assists with no turnovers.

Gillard finished with game-highs of 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks, while Gretchen Polinski notched 12 points and seven boards.

Cleveland State next travels to Brooklyn, N.Y. for the Long Island Turkey Classic on Nov. 24-25. CSU will tackle the host Blackbirds on Friday, followed by a contest with either the College of Charleston or South Alabama on Saturday.