Feb. 17, 2007

Final Stats

CLEVELAND - Cleveland State erased a 13-point second half deficit, only to come up just short in a 69-66 loss against 25th-ranked UW-Green Bay on Saturday afternoon in the Wolstein Center. The Phoenix (21-3, 12-0 HL) narrowly extended its school-record winning streak to 18 games, while defeating the Vikings (7-19, 4-9 HL) for the 11th straight time.

When the teams met a month ago in Green Bay, the Phoenix dominated in every possible way en route to an 82-39 victory. On Saturday, CSU held its own, matching UW-Green Bay in shooting percentage (42) while out-rebounding the Phoenix, 44-27.

"I thought we were as good as Green Bay today in every facet of the game," CSU head coach Kate Peterson said. "A month ago we didn't have to confidence to compete with a team of Green Bay's caliber. It was a different story today. We were ready to play and thought we had every right to win."

Rachel Porath carried the Phoenix to a 35-26 halftime lead, making the team's first five field goals on her way to 14 first half points. In addition, Green Bay was able to turn Cleveland State's 11 turnovers into 16 points.

"At the half, we talked about taking care of the ball," Peterson said about her squad only committing four second half miscues. "We also did a much better job of picking up the tempo and taking the ball to the basket."

UWGB extended its advantage to 13 (41-28) just 2:30 into the second stanza, only to have CSU respond with a 10-3 burst to trim the margin to 44-38 at the 14:01 mark.

Seven minutes later, the Phoenix still found itself up nine (58-49). However, Natalie Miller, Dominique Butler and Kailey Klein answered with consecutive buckets to pull the Vikings to within three points (58-55), forcing UWGB to call a timeout with 5:42 remaining.

The Phoenix responded with back-to-back baskets, before Klein answered with a lay-up and Jessica Roque followed with a three-pointer to trim the deficit to two (62-60) with 3:39 left to play.

After a pair of Green Bay free throws, Butler hit a jumper and Jessica Roque hit her second straight triple to give CSU its first lead since 4-2 early in the game.

Both teams would split a pair of free throws, leaving the Vikings ahead, 66-65, with just 36 seconds remaining. The Phoenix turned to Nicole Soulis, who responded with a lay-up and a block on the defensive end.

With CSU forced to foul, Natalie Berglin knocked down a pair of free throws with five seconds left to provide the final margin, as the Vikings' desperation three at the buzzer came up short.

Klein scored all of her team-high 16 points in the second half, while Nicole Thomas finished with 11 points and 12 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season.

Porath and Soulis both wound up with a game-high 17 points to lead UWGB, while Amanda Popp added 12 points.

Cleveland State closes out its three-game homestand -- and its regular season home schedule -- against Youngstown State as part of a doubleheader with the CSU's men's team on SportsTime Ohio on Saturday, Feb. 24. The 3:00 p.m. contest with the Penguins will also serve as Senior Day for Nicole Thomas and Chenara Wilson.