Jan. 31, 2008
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Kailey Klein and Brittany Korth combined for 39 points as Cleveland State snapped a five-game losing streak at Butler with a 65-61 victory over the Bulldogs in Horizon League action Thursday night in Hinkle Fieldhouse.
With the win, the Vikings improved to 12-7 overall and 6-2 in the Horizon League. The Vikings, who have won 12 games for the first time since 2003-04, moved into a tie for second place in the league standings with Milwaukee, one game behind league leader Green Bay. The Phoenix plays at Milwaukee on Saturday.
"This is a big win for us," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "I am so proud of the way the team competed tonight and to get a win like this on the road speaks volumes of how far this team has come. We are going to enjoy this victory, but we know that we have another big road game to prepare for on Saturday."
Butler fell to 13-6 overall and 3-5 in league play.
Klein went 5-of-10 from the field and hit 14-of-18 from the free throw line with the 18 attempts being tied for the second most in a single-game in CSU history. Klein added six rebounds and six assists.
Lade Akande and Susan Lester each recorded double-doubles for Butler. Akande finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Lester added 13 points and 11 boards.
Butler used torrid shooting in the early going, as the Bulldogs hit 10 of their first 14 shots en route to taking a 25-14 advantage with 8:04 to play following a traditional three-point play by Brittany Bowen.
However, the Viking defense put the clamps down, allowing Butler to make just one of its final eight shots of the half. In addition, CSU finished the half on a 17-6 run to knot the score at 31-31 at the intermission.
The second half did not get off to a good start for the Vikings as they were whistled for six quick fouls that put Butler in the bonus with 16:51 to play.
"I got a little nervous because Butler got in the bonus very quick in the second half," Peterson Abiad said. "But we didn't let that affect us and we continued to play hard on both ends of the court."
CSU claimed its largest lead of the second half (52-47) on a pair of free throws from Klein. However, Butler scored the next seven points to regain a two point lead (54-52) with 5:28 to play.
Three ties and three lead changes ensued until the Vikings took control of the game with 29 seconds to play.
After a pair of free throws by Akande with 57 seconds left, CSU brought the ball down the court and Dominique Butler was fouled Lester on a drive to the basket with 29 seconds left. Lester then slammed the ball to the floor and was called for a technical foul, giving the Vikings four free throws.
Klein made the two technical free throws and Butler added two more free throws to push the CSU lead to three (62-59). Following a Bulldog miss, Klein converted two more free throws to extend the lead to five, but Akande kept Butler in the game as she made a layup with seven ticks left. However, Klein knocked down one of two free throws with four seconds left to push the lead back to four and ice the game.
Butler outscored CSU in the paint, 30-20, and held a 33-23 advantage in rebounding. However, CSU shot .465 (20-43) from the field and hit 21-of-28 (.750) from the free throw line, while the Bulldogs shot .435 (20-46) from the field and 17-of-23 (.739) at the line. Each team hit four three-pointers.
CSU will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 2, when the Vikings travel to Horizon League newcomer Valparaiso for a 1:35 p.m. CST contest. It will be the first meeting between the two schools since the 1993-94 season.
