Dec. 29, 2007
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Kailey Klein hit a 17-footer from the left wing at the buzzer to give the Vikings a 65-63 win over American and extend CSU's win streak to three straight in its final nonconference game of the season on Saturday afternoon at the Wolstein Center.
"We use a shot clock play when the shot clock is winding down and I told them to get to their positions," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "I knew Kailey would go to a scoring position on the floor, but when she took the handoff, I don't think she had a good look at all with two defenders in her face. But Kailey doesn't need much room to get a shot off.
"This was an important win for us because we had not been able to win close games down the stretch in past years," Peterson Abiad continued. "We need to build off this momentum as we start conference play."
It is CSU's first three-game win streak since the Vikings defeated Youngstown State, Butler and Loyola between Feb. 5-11, 2004.
Klein finished with a game-high 21 points, six rebounds and four assists, while Dominique Butler added 12 points, five rebounds and six steals. Stephaine Crosley added 12 points and six rebounds off the bench.
The Vikings were able to earn the win despite being whistled for nine more fouls (24-15) than American with the Eagles going 20-of-30 from the free throw line compared to 15-of-17 for the Vikings.
American's Liz Hayes started the scoring with a three-pointer at the 19:05 mark, but Angel Roque knocked down a three-pointer for the Vikings to knot the score at 3-3 at the 16:38 mark and start a streak of seven straight CSU points over the next minute plus.
The Eagles responded with a Talicia Jackson three-pointer to slice the deficit to 7-6 with 15:17 to play in the half, but the Vikings proceeded to go on a 15-4 run and open up a 12 point lead (22-10) with 7:58 to play on Natalie Miller's three-pointer.
CSU pushed the advantage to as many as 13 points with 4:13 to play in the first half as Stephaine Crosley grabbed an offensive rebound and converted a layup. However, the Eagles scored the final nine points of the half to close the gap to 31-27 at intermission.
"We played well defensively, but got hurt because American was in the bonus so early," Peterson Abiad said. "Our foul trouble hurt us because we had to substitute more frequently and I felt like they were getting a majority of their points at the free throw line with the clock stopped."
Neither team led by more than five points in the second half and the Eagles took their first lead of the contest since the opening basket when Jackson hit a three-pointer with 6:40 left to break a 51-51 tie.
The contest featured four ties from there, including the final time when Hayes hit a three-pointer with 55 seconds left which knotted the score at 63-63.
Following a Viking turnover, Hayes missed a jumper from the left elbow that went out of bounds. CSU got the ball over halfcourt and called timeout with 7.2 seconds left and set up Klein's heroics.
The Vikings were outrebounded by American, 42-28, but held advantages in points in the paint (26-12), points off turnovers (22-11), assists (16-12), steals (13-7) and field goal percentage (.426-.354).
Hayes and Jackson led American with 16 points each, as both players hit four three-pointers.
CSU will return to action on Thursday, Jan. 3, 2008, when it opens Horizon League play against Loyola at 5:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.
