Jan. 26, 2008

Final Stats

Contact: Greg Murphy

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Saturday was dubbed Joe Thomas Day at the Cleveland State women's basketball game as the Cleveland Browns Pro Bowler met fans and autographed pictures during pregame.

However, it probably should have been termed Kailey Klein day as the sophomore guard recorded her first career double-double with a game-high 30 points and career-best 11 rebounds to lead the Vikings to a 77-64 victory over Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon in the Wolstein Center.

"Kailey found ways to get open today and really took another big step offensively," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "She has such a versatile game and is difficult to guard."

CSU improved to 11-7 overall and moved into third place in the Horizon Leauge at 5-2. YSU slipped to 9-9 overall and 4-3 in the league. The Vikings also ran their home win streak to six straight, their longest streak since the 1998-99 through 1999-2000 season.

Robyn Hoying added 16 points and five rebounds for CSU, while Jessica Roque chipped in a season-best 10 points off the bench. Dominique Butler added eight points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Kelsey Gurganus led the Penguins with 14 points.

"I felt that Youngstown State was playing at their pace in the first half, but we were still only down one at the half," Peterson Abiad said. "We were able to come out in the second half and limit their transition game and slow the game down. If we can control the half court game on offense and defense, I think we can be a very successful team."

CSU fell behind in the first six minutes as the Penguins raced out to a 14-10 advantage with 14:12 to play. However, the Vikings came back to outscore YSU, 13-1, over the next six minutes to take their biggest lead of the first half (23-15) with 8:21 to play in the half. Kailey Klein scored five points and Jessica Roque had four to key the run.

But the Penguins were not done as they battled back to knot the score for the sixth time in the half, 30-30, on a layup by Kelsey Gurganus with 3:26 to play. The teams traded a pair of baskets apiece, but back-to-back buckets by Lauren Branson and Heather Karner gave the Penguins a four-point lead (38-34) with 34 seconds left.

With the first half winding down, CSU played for the last shot and Angel Roque delivered as she hit a three-pointer from the right wing with eight seconds to play to cut the Viking deficit to one point (38-37) at the intermission.

YSU opened up a 46-40 lead with 17:19 to play in the game, forcing an early Viking timeout. It seemed to work as CSU proceeded to go on a 17-4 run over the next seven minutes to open up a 57-50 lead with 10:32 to play.

The Penguins put one more run together, slicing their deficit to 59-57 with 8:15 to play on a jumper by Ashley Pendleton, but CSU responded by scoring the next eight points, including four from Butler, to take a 10-point lead. YSU never threatened from there.

CSU shot .483 (29-60) from the field and continued to shoot well from the free throw line, hitting 13-of-14 (.929) attempts.

"We are very capable of shooting the ball well and can do it game in and game out," Peterson Abiad said. "We shot 55 percent in the second half and only turned the ball over four times. If we can continue to shoot well and take care of the basketball, we will be a tough team to beat."

YSU shot just .394 (26-66) from the field and hit just .500 (6-12) from the free throw line.

The Vikings outrebounded the Penguins, 44-31, and also held a 24-15 advantage in second chance points.

The Vikings will return to action for a pair of games in Indiana next week, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. game at Butler on Thursday, Jan. 31. CSU will then travel to league newcomer Valparaiso on Saturday (Feb. 2) for a 1:35 p.m. contest.