Dec. 21, 2008
Final Stats
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Kailey Klein had 25 points, nine rebounds, six assists and four steals to help Cleveland State snap a three-game losing streak with an 80-61 victory over Niagara on Sunday afternoon at the Wolstein Center.
The Vikings improved to 5-6 this season, while the Purple Eagles fell to 1-10.
"This was a good win for us to get," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "I still don't feel that we came out with a lot of intensity, but we were able to hang around and stay close before closing the half on a run. We have a few things to work on and we still have to come out with an intensity and play hard for 40 minutes."
Klein, who played 39 minutes, went 14-of-14 from the free throw line and has now made 26 straight. That effort is the second best performance in school history, trailing only Deb Taylor who went 15-for-15 against Valparaiso on Jan. 11, 1990.
In addition, her effort at the charity stripe allowed Klein to break the CSU career record for free throws made with 392. It surpassed the old mark of 391 makes by Deb Taylor.
Klein is also just six points shy of moving into ninth place on the CSU all-time scoring list.
"Kailey is a special player and she proved it again tonight," Peterson Abiad said. "She has a scorer's mentality and has done a great job of finding open teammates this season."
Niagara raced out to a quick 5-0 lead just over one minute into the contest as Jennifer McNamee hit a three-pointer and Ali Morris connected on a jumper. That forced Peterson Abiad to call a quick timeout.
"I had to call that quick timeout because we weren't playing with a lot of emotion and intensity," Peterson Abiad said. "We have to find a way to be able to start games quicker and sustain it over the course of the game."
Dominique Butler added 11 points, six rebounds and five steals for CSU, while Stephaine Crosley and Shawnita Garland had 10 each.
The Vikings responded with a 9-3 run to take their first lead of the game (9-8) when Angel Roque hit a three-pointer from the top of the key with 15:08 left.
Six lead changes and three ties followed from there until CSU closed the final 3:25 of the half on a 10-2 run to break a 26-26 tie and claim an eight point advantage at the half (36-28).
Klein led the run to end the half with six points, as the Viking defense also forced Niagara into a 1-for-5 effort from the floor and three turnovers during that stretch. The lone Purple Eagle basket came just before the buzzer when Kristina Walton hit a layup after an offensive rebound.
The Vikings, who have been a strong second half team this season, made sure that was again the case today, coming out of the locker room on a 14-2 run, keyed by 10 points from Crosley, to assume a 50-30 advantage and take control of the game.
Crosley, who was held scoreless in the first half, connected on her first four shots of the second stanza and had two three-point plays. Crosley, the Vikings starting center, was able to slide over to the power forward slot early in the second half as 6-foot-3 freshman Destinee Blue was inserted into the lineup early in the second half and received a large amount of playing time with CSU's starters.
"I think that may have been the tallest lineup I have ever had here at Cleveland State," Peterson Abiad said. "Destinee was giving us some good things in the first half and it was nice to see her out there with the starters."
Niagara was able to slice the lead to as few as 14 points late in the second half, but the Vikings full court pressure forced the Purple Eagles into a CSU opponent season-high 32 turnovers that CSU turned into 30 points.
Niagara was led by a 13 point, 12 rebound double-double effort by Kristina Walton.
The Vikings will now have a week off for the holidays before returning to action on Monday, Dec. 29, with a 7:00 p.m. contest against Buffalo in the Wolstein Center. It will be CSU's final nonconference game of the 2008-09 season as the Vikings open Horizon League play on Saturday, Jan. 3, with a 2:00 p.m. contest at Butler.
