Feb. 24, 2007

Final Stats

Contact: Alan Ashby

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Senior Chenara Wilson scored 18 points, 14 coming in the second half, as Cleveland State rallied from a 13-point first half deficit to claim a 68-57 win over Youngstown State on Saturday in the Wolstein Center.

The game served as the regular season home finale for the Vikings with CSU seniors Nicole Thomas and Wilson being honored during a pre-game ceremony.

Cleveland State trailed 55-52 with 4:31 left before running off 14 straight points to take control of the contest.

Brittany Korth added 14 points and Robyn Hoying chipped in with 10 points while Wilson added a game-high 10 rebounds. Velissa Vaughn paced Youngstown State with 27 points.

Cleveland State improves to 8-19 overall and remains in a three-way tie for sixth place in the Horizon League with a 5-9 record. Youngstown State drops to 7-18 and 5-9.

Our players now believe that we've turned the corner and we're starting to see the results from all of our hard work," CSU head coach Kate Peterson said. "Our defense has gotten much better and our confidence is soaring."

The Vikings struggled in the opening minutes of the game, spotting Youngstown State a 16-3 lead at the 12:22 mark. CSU made just one of its first eight field goal attempts and committed three turnovers during the run.

But just like that, the Vikings found their offense.

Trailing 21-9 with 9:58 left, CSU closed the half on a 21-4 run that gave the Vikings a 30-25 halftime lead.

The run started with nine straight CSU points, including a pair of baskets inside from Butler that cut the lead to 21-18 with 6:45 left.

A Monique Godfrey basket at the 6:09 mark only served to slow the run as CSU answered by running off 12 straight. The run started along the perimeter as Kailey Klein and Korth each connected on three-pointers, Klein's giving the Vikings their first lead of the night (24-23, 3:16). Robyn Hoying followed with a pair of buckets inside, including a basket off an offensive rebound to open a 30-23 lead with 33 seconds left in the half.

Nikita Lafleur stopped the run, knocking down a jumper with 13 seconds left.

The second half was a see-saw affair.

Wilson opened the scoring with a basket inside to extend the CSU lead to 32-25 and the Vikings led by as many as six (40-34, 14:56) before the Penguins ran off five straight points to close to within 40-39 with 13:05 left.

The lead changed hands six times and the game was tied twice after that with neither team leading by more than three until CSU made its decisive rally. The Penguins took a 55-52 advantage with 4:31 left on a Vaughn field goal but YSU could put nothing together after that as Wilson started the CSU comeback with a pair of free throws. Klein followed with two charity tosses, the last coming with 2:57 left and put CSU ahead for good, 56-55.

Jessica Roque made a steal on Youngstown State's next possession, capping the ensuing possession with a long three-pointer from the right side.

Wilson's final basket ended any Penguin comeback thoughts as CSU lead, 61-55 with 1:29 left.

"We moved the ball much better down the stretch," Peterson said. "Jessica hit a huge three-pointer and Chenara hit a big jumper with the shot clock running down."

The Vikings will close the 2006-07 regular season with road games at Wright State on Thursday (March 1) and at Butler on Saturday (March 3).