Dec. 21, 2007
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
HAMILTON, N.Y. - Cleveland State evened its overall record at 5-5 and concluded its five-game roadtrip at 3-2 with a convincing 60-34 victory over Colgate at Cotterell Court on Friday night.
The 34 points allowed represented the best defensive effort by a Viking squad since a 62-24 victory over Ashland on Feb. 8, 1983 and was the second-lowest point total allowed against a Division I opponent in the 35-year history of the program - bettered only in a 58-27 win at Toledo on Jan. 6, 1979.
"I thought we played very solid defense and took them out of what they wanted to do offensively," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We forced them into a lot of three-point attempts and didn't let them go inside much. Offensively, we never got into a flow and turned the ball over to much. But I was happy with the way we rebounded, especially on the offensive end. That has been a big focus of ours lately.
"Getting back to .500 overall is a big boost for us and it is evident that we have made large strides during the nonconference season," Peterson Abiad continued. "Having five straight road games was a big concern, but being able to go 3-2 is acceptable."
Kailey Klein led the Vikings with 19 points and eight rebounds, while Brittany Korth scored 12 points. Dominique Butler tallied nine points and nine rebounds, while Natalie Miller chipped in five points, four boards and four assists off the bench.
Shevorne Martin paced Colgate with nine points, while Kendra Brim grabbed a team-high seven rebounds.
The Vikings raced out to a 13-2 lead midway through the first half as both teams struggled to find their shooting range. Colgate cut its deficit to 22-14 with 4:30 to play in the first half, but a jumper by Korth with 3:03 to play extended CSU's lead back to 10 points (24-14) and the Raiders would never cut the lead under double digits the rest of the way.
Colgate fell to 1-11 with the loss.
CSU dominated every statistical category shooting better from the field (.351-.255) and free throw line (.850-.545), while recording more rebounds (48-30), assists (13-8), steals (8-7) and forcing 18 Raider turnovers that translated into 22 CSU points.
The Vikings also held a distinct 28-8 advantage in points in the paint.
CSU will be off for the holidays before returning to action on Saturday (Dec. 29) with a 3:00 p.m. game against American in the Wolstein Center. It will be the Vikings first home game since they hosted Ohio on Nov. 27.
