Women's Basketball 1/18/2008 12:00:00 AM

Vikings Put Four-Game Home Win Streak on Line Against Wright State

Jan. 18, 2008

Game #17
Wright State (5-10, 2-2) at Cleveland State (9-7, 3-2)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 19, 2008
Time: 5:00 p.m.
Series: CSU leads, 26-22
Site: Goodman Arena, Wolstein Center (8,500)
TV: SportsTime Ohio (Mike Cairns & Franklin Edwards)
Radio: www.CSUVikings.com (David Wilson)
Tickets: $8, $12, $15

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State continues its brief three-game homestand and puts a four-game home win streak on the line when the Vikings host Wright State on Saturday, Jan. 19, beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. The game will be a doubleheader with the men's squad who will play Valparaiso at 7:30 p.m. Both games will be broadcast live on SportsTime Ohio with Mike Cairns and Franklin Edwards providing commentary.

PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: Cleveland State has made huge strides from last season's 8-22 team, having already surpassed that win total (9-7) and standing two games over .500 after 16 games for the first time since 1999-2000. With the return of four starters, head coach Kate Peterson Abiad has experience at every position on the floor and a solid bench that she can rely on at any point during the game. Sophomore guard Kailey Klein (17.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg) leads the returnees, as she is second in the league in scoring. She is joined in the backcourt by senior Brittany Korth (9.9, 4.6,3.9 apg) and sophomore Angel Roque (5.9, 2.2 apg), who has set the defensive tone for the Vikings this season with her ball pressure out front. Junior Dominique Butler (9.1, 6.0) and senior Robyn Hoying (5.6, 3.1) have started all 16 games in the frontcourt. CSU has received tremendous production from its bench, led by sophomore forward Stephaine Crosley (5.8, 4.2) and freshman guard Shawnita Garland (4.3, 2.1). Sophomore Jessica Roque (3.4, 1.8) has also received minutes in the backcourt, while junior Natalie Miller (3.0, 1.6) provides depth at the wing-forward spot.

THE HEAD COACH: Kate Peterson Abiad is in her fifth year as the head coach at CSU. She claims an overall record of 37-94 and ranks third all-time in coaching victories at Cleveland State. Prior to arriving at CSU, Peterson Abiad spent six years as an assistant at Wisconsin, serving as the recruiting coordinator starting in 1998. While in Madison, she helped lead the Badgers to the NCAA Tournament three times and to the 2000 WNIT championship. She also worked at Eastern Illinois (1993-97) and Indiana (1991-93). A 1991 graduate of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, she earned Kodak All-America honors as a senior after setting the NCAA Division III record for three-point field goals per game (3.85). ABOUT WRIGHT STATE: The Raiders are 5-10 overall and 2-2 in league play following a 61-58 loss at Youngstown State on Thursday night. Sheylani Peddy leads the team in scoring with 15.2 points per game, while Whitney Lewis (12.3) and LaShawna Thomas (10.3) also average double digit points.

DOING SOMETHING WRIGHT: The Vikings enter Saturday's contest with a 26-22 all-time record against the Raiders. WSU is one of just two teams in the Horizon League that the Vikings have a winning record against with Loyola (19-10) being the other.

BEYOND THE ARC: The Vikings 9-for-14 (.643) effort from three-point range on Thursday against Detroit equaled the school-record for the best percentage by a CSU team. CSU also went 9-for-14 against Green Bay on Jan. 2, 2003.

HOME WIN STREAK INTACT: The Vikings extended their home win streak to four straight with Thursday's win over Detroit. CSU, which is 5-2 at home this season, has not won five straight at home since the 1999-2000 season. A win over Wright State on Saturday would equal CSU's home win total from last season (6-9).

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE: CSU continues to be the best free throw shooting team in the league, hitting 236-of-301 attempts for a .784 percentage, a far cry from last season's .684 (425-621) percentage from the line. In fact, the Vikings, who are also ranked fifth in the nation in free throw percenrage, are shooting better from the free throw line than all but two NBA teams, Dallas and Toronto. CSU is on pace to shatter the school-record for free throw percentage in a season, currently held by the 2000-01 squad which shot .728 (480-659) from the charity stripe.

.700 CLUB: The Vikings have had just three seasons (out of 34) in which they have finished with a free throw percentage better than .700. The last time it happened was the 2003-04 season when CSU hit .709 (406-573). The other two seasons were 2000-01 (480-659; .728) and 2001-02 (442-617; .716).

FREE THROWS ARE A TEAM EFFORT: The Vikings have made it a true team effort to lead the league in free throw percentage as eight players are shooting better than .700 from the line. However, only Kailey Klein ranks among the league leaders in free throw percentage, ranking second at .857 (96-112). No other player has made the minimum of 2.0 free throws per game to be ranked among the leaders. Stephaine Crosley is second on the team with 24 makes out of 32 attempts and would rank 13th with a .750 percentage. Dominique Butler (23-31; .742) and Brittany Korth (20-28; .714) are the only other players with at least 20 free throws made this season.

NOT FINE WITH NINE: Thursday's win over Detroit improved the Vikings to 9-7 overall, allowing CSU to surpass last season's win total (8-22). With one more victory, the Vikings will reach double-digit wins for the first time since 2003-04, when CSU finished 12-16 in Kate Peterson Abiad's first season at the helm.

BACK ON TRACK: Kailey Klein failed to score in double figures in both games last week in Wisconsin, snapping her streak of reaching double figures at 17. However, the sophomore guard was back to her old self on Thursday against Detroit, scoring a game-high 24 points. Klein hit 7-of-12 from the field and all three of her three-point attempts, while adding five assists, four rebounds and three steals.

SOMETHING ABOUT DETROIT: Maybe all Kailey Klein needed to break out of her mini slump was a game against Detroit. After all, it seems like the Titans bring out the best in Klein as she is now averaging 24.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 2.3 steals per game in three games against Detroit. Klein set a career-high with 33 points in a win at Detroit last season.

WHO NEEDS BATMAN...: When you have Robyn, as in Viking senior Robyn Hoying. The Minster, Ohio native had her best game in a Viking uniform on Jan. 10 at Green Bay, setting career-highs in points (20) and rebounds (10) for her first career double-double. Hoying hit 5-of-10 from the field, including 3-of-5 from three-point. In addition, she knocked down all seven of her free throws to extend her streak of consecutive makes to nine.

AN ANGEL AMONG US: Robyn Hoying wasn't the only player to enjoy success in Green Bay, as sophomore Angel Roque finished with a career-high 15 points. She hit a career-high five three-pointers on eight attempts. In fact, Roque knocked down .533 (8-15) of her three point attempts in two games last weekend.

NO MORE WISCONSIN: The Vikings are probably glad that their annual trip to Wisconsin is complete as CSU is just 1-20 all-time in Green Bay and 4-11 all-time in Milwaukee. CSU is also 0-4 in games played in Madison against Wisconsin.

BUTLER MAY MISS IT THOUGH: One player who may wish CSU made another trip to Milwaukee is junior Dominique Butler, a native of the city. In three career games in her hometown, Butler has averaged 13.7 points and 7.0 rebounds, while shooting .487 (18-37) from the field. Butler scored a team-high 13 points and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds in Saturday's loss.

WHAT A START: Following a 63-60 setback at Buffalo on Dec. 15, the Vikings were just 3-5, but since that time, CSU has rattled off wins in six of its last eight games to improve to 9-7.The start equals CSU's best since the 1999-2000 team also opened 9-7. The last time a Viking team began the season with a better record was 1983-84 (12-4).

ROAD SWEET ROAD: The Vikings entered the season with a 4-42 record away from the Wolstein Center over the last three seasons. But it appears that CSU has figured out how to win on the road as the Vikings have posted a respectable 4-6 mark away from Cleveland this season. In fact, CSU had its modest two-game road win streak snapped on Thursday at Green Bay. It was the Vikings first two-game road win streak since 2004.

OPPONENTS CAN'T CONNECT: The Vikings continue to lead the league in field goal percentage defense (.378), allowing only four teams (Ohio, Miami (OH), Buffalo, Green Bay) to shoot better than .400 from the floor this season. Last season, the Vikings allowed teams to shoot better than .400 on 19 occasions and better than .500 five times.

TWO BIG REASONS: When looking at the statistics, it is easy to see there are two big factors in determining when the Vikings win and when they lose. Those factors are rebounding and field goal defense. In eight wins, the Vikings own a +0.8 rebounding advantage, while holding its opponents to 51.7 points and .328 shooting from the field. On the other hand, CSU has a -8.4 deficit in rebounding and gives up 76.3 points on .435 shooting in seven losses this season.

KLEIN AT THE LINE: Kailey Klein has been just about automatic from the free throw line this season, ranking second in the league in free throw percentage (.857), which would also rank as the best for a single season in school history. Deb Taylor currently holds that honor, hitting .855 (106-124) in 1989-90. Klein has moved up to fourth place on the career free throw percentage list at CSU (202-261; .774). Klein has had two near record-setting games this season. In a Nov. 26 loss to Ohio, she tied the school-record by hitting 15-of-16 free throws to equal Taylor's record of free throws made set against Valparaiso on Jan. 11, 1990. In addition, Klein was a perfect 11-of-11 from the line at Colgate (Dec. 20), which tied her for the second best effort from the line in school history, trailing Taylor's 16-of-16 performance against Valparaiso.

BEYOND THE ARC: Brittany Korth is also moving up the all-time list for career three-pointers made and attempted. The senior ranks fifth all-time with 138 three-pointers made and is two shy of fourth place. Korth also ranks third all-time with 495 three-point attempts, needing to take 49 more to move into second.

KORTH KEEPS PLAYING: Senior Brittany Korth has played in 103 career games and needs to play in 14 more to equal Juli Grant's school record of 117 career games played. Barring unforseen circumstances or injury, Korth will at least tie the record as CSU has 13 more regular season games on the schedule and will play at least one game in the league tournament.

... AND PASSING: With her 10 assists in two games last weekend, Brittany Korth moved into 10th place on the all-time assist list at CSU and has now tallied 285 career assists. She is 15 helpers shy of becoming just the eighth player in CSU history with 300 career assists.

NOT MUCH SUSPENSE: CSU has not been giving its fans much to worry about as 12 of its 16 games have been decided by double digit points. The nine wins have come by an average of 14.3 points, while CSU's seven losses have been by an average of 13.9 points. The only games not decided by double figures are an 80-72 overtime loss at Alaska Anchorage (Nov. 20), a 63-60 loss at Buffalo (Dec. 15) a Dec. 29 win over American (65-63) and a Jan. 5 win over UIC (66-58).

AND WE TEND TO KNOW BY HALFTIME ...: Whether CSU will win or not. After all, the Vikings are 9-2 this season when holding a lead after the first 20 minutes of action. CSU's two losses when leading at the half this season were an 80-72 overtime loss at Alaska Anchorage when the Vikings led 24-20 at halftime and Saturday's 63-52 loss at Milwaukee when the Vikings held an eight-point (30-22) lead at intermission. The Vikings are 0-5 when trailing or tied at the half.

SAME `OLE ROUTINE: Head coach Kate Peterson Abiad has had the luxury of using the same starting lineup for all 16 contests this season, which in turn has allowed her to define the roles of her five bench players and establish a consistent roatation with nine players averaging double digit minutes. That is a far cry from last season when injuries forced Peterson Abiad to use six different starting lineups, including four through 16 games.

DISHING IT OUT: The Vikings have been extremely generous in sharing the basketball this season, ranking second in the conference with 15.1 assists per game. CSU has recorded an assist on 68-percent of its baskets this season, including a season-high 26 assists (on 32) baskets in a win over Bradley (Nov. 21). The 26 assists are tied for the 10th most in a single game in program history.

...AND TAKING IT, TOO: The Vikings are one of the top defensive teams in the league, leading the conference with 174 steals. In addition, CSU boasts three of the top nine individuals as Dominique Butler (2.7) ranks second, while Brittany Korth and Kailey Klein are tied for sixth (1.9). The Vikings have swiped double-digit steals in 10 contests this season, including a season-best 19 vs. Akron (Nov. 17), which were the most steals by a Viking squad since CSU recorded 19 steals against IPFW on Feb. 26, 2003.

SHE CAN SCORE: A year after leading the team in scoring (11.0) as a freshman, Kailey Klein ranks second in the league with a 17.4 scoring average this season, including a league season-high 33 point effort at Alaska Anchorage (Nov. 20). Klein, who trails Milwaukee's Traci Edwards (19.6) in the scoring race, has scored in every way this season, hitting 84-of-199 (.422) from the field, including 15 three pointers. In addition, she has knocked down a league leading 96 free throws on 112 attempts to rank second in the conference in free throw percentage (.857).

KLEIN HONORS: Kailey Klein has picked up several accolades this season, beginning with her selection to the Preseason All-Horizon League first team. She followed that by earning a spot on the Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament Team and was the Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Week on Nov. 27 for her efforts in the Great Alaska Shootout. Most recently, Klein was selected as the Horizon League Player of the Week on Dec. 31 for her efforts against American. She was also selected as the CSU Athlete of the Month for December.

BEATING THE BUZZER: Kailey Klein provided some last second heroics in the Dec. 29 win over American as, despite having two defenders in her face, she drained a 17-footer from the left wing at the buzzer. It was the first time CSU won a game at the final horn since Erika Roudebush nailed an off-balance three-pointer as time expired in an 84-82 victory over Butler on Dec. 28, 2001.

VIKINGS GET DEFENSIVE: The 34 points CSU allowed in a 60-34 win at Colgate (Dec. 20) represented the lowest scoring output by a Viking opponent since a 62-24 win over Ashland on Feb. 8, 1983. It was also the second-lowest point total allowed against a Division I opponent - bettered only in a 58-27 win at Toledo on Jan. 6, 1979.

JUMP SHOTS: CSU has posted a 9-7 mark through 16 games this season, the best start in program history since the 1999-2000 squad also opened 9-7. Here are a few more highlights from the first 16 contests of the season:
• The Vikings swipe 19 steals in a 59-47 win over Akron, marking the 10th most steals in a single game by a CSU squad.
• Kailey Klein ties her career-high with 33 points in a loss at Alaska Anchorage (11/20) in the opening round of the Great Alaska Shootout. It is the most points scored by a Horizon League player this season.
• Shawnita Garland is named the Player of the Game in the consolation game of the Great Alaska Shootout after setting career highs in points (19), rebounds (8), assists (5) and steals (5) against Bradley (11/21).
• CSU shoots a season-best .552 (32-58) and scores a season-high 82 points in a victory over Bradley in the consolation game of the Great Alaska Shootout (11/21).
• Kailey Klein ties a school-record by knocking down 15 free throws (out of 16 attempts) in a loss to Ohio (11/26).
• Dominique Butler connects on 9-of-10 (.900) field goals in a loss at Miami (OH) (12/1). It is the second best effort from the field in CSU history.
• Stephaine Crosley notches CSU's first double-double of the season with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds in a 60-49 win at IUPUI (12/5).
• CSU has been near automatic from the free throw line this year, hitting on .796 (222-279) from the charity stripe to rank among the top-10 teams in the nation.

UP NEXT: CSU will be back in action next Saturday, Jan. 26, when the Vikings host Youngstown State beginning at 3:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.

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