Feb. 10, 2007

Final Stats

DETROIT - Freshman Kailey Klein had the best game of her young career, notching 33 points, eight rebounds and four assists to lead Cleveland State to a 77-74 victory at Detroit on Saturday afternoon. The win was just the second for CSU in 17 tries in Calihan Hall.

Klein, who added a pair of steals and a block while not committing a turnover in 38 minutes, scored 16 in the first half and 17 in the second en route to tying for the 13th-best single game scoring effort in school history. In the last five games, she also has three 20-point efforts to average 22.2 ppg over the span.

"Kailey's great at going to the basket hard and making a good read as to what the defense is doing," CSU head coach Kate Peterson said. "When she shoots the ball well from three-point like she did today, she's really tough to guard."

Sophomore Dominique Butler added 14 points and five rebounds for the Vikings (6-18, 3-8 HL), while junior Brittany Korth tallied 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.

"We had a lot of different people step up today," Peterson said. "When Detroit made their run late in the game we shot the ball with confidence and made some big shots."

Joyce Massey paced the Titans (4-21, 1-11 HL) with 23 points six rebounds and four assists, while Chanica Hall finished with 15 points and four boards.

Detroit opened by scoring eight of the game's first 11 points, before Klein capped off a 9-0 burst with her second three-pointer of the game to put the Vikings up 12-8 at the 14:04 mark.

CSU went cold over the next eight minutes, scoring just seven points as the Titans opened up a 27-19 bulge. However, Klein (eight points) and Butler (six) combined to score 14 points down the stretch as the Vikings closed the half with a 16-8 run to head into the locker room with the score knotted at 35-35.

Cleveland State came out strong in the second half, opening up a 51-43 advantage with 12:43 left as Korth tallied seven points and Klein added six.

Detroit slowly chipped away at the lead, eventually tying the score at 64-64 on a three-pointer by Kandace Evans with 4:44 left to play. The Titans would then forge ahead for the last time on a Katy Dunlop triple - her only basket of the game - at the 2:35 mark.

Klein quickly answered with a lay-up at the other end and after a defensive stop, Butler corralled an offensive rebound and converted both free throws after being fouled to push CSU ahead 73-70 with 1:53 remaining.

After Massey and Butler traded lay-ups, Evans knocked down a pair of free throws to draw Detroit within one (75-74) with 19 ticks left.

Forced to foul, the Titans sent Klein to the line, where she calmly sank both free throw attempts. After a timeout, the Titans could only muster a harmless off-balance 23-footer at the buzzer.

Cleveland State returns home next week to host UW-Milwaukee and UW-Green Bay. The Vikings will battle the Panthers on Thursday, Feb. 15 at 7:00 p.m., followed by a 3:00 p.m. tip with the 24th-ranked Phoenix on Saturday, Feb. 17.