Dec. 6, 2008

Final Stats

Contact: Greg Murphy

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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State rallied from an 11-point deficit over the final four minutes to force overtime, but Kent State held CSU scoreless in the extra session and defeated the Vikings, 84-77, in a nonconference game on Saturday afternoon in the Wolstein Center.

CSU evened its overall record at 4-4, while the Golden Flashes improved to 6-1.

"I am extremely disappointed that we lost this game today," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "This is a game that we should have won. There were three times in the game that we were down big and we fought back and performed well to get back in the game. I have six players that I can play big minutes right now and they just ran out of gas in overtime because they had to fight back.

"There are things we have to get better at and we can't keep digging ourselves in holes like this."

Kailey Klein scored a game-high 27 points with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals, while Dominique Butler had 11 points, seven rebounds and a career-high nine steals, just two of the school-record. Shawnita Garland chipped in a season-high 17 points, while Stephaine Crosley added five points and tied Klein for game-high honors with eight rebounds.

Kent appeared to be in complete control, leading by as many as 14 points in the second half and holding a 73-61 advantage with 4:59 to play. However, the Vikings slowly began their comeback with a full court press and a stifling defensive effort.

CSU began the run when Klein split a pair of free throws and Angel Roque followed with a pair of her own free tosses. A jumper by Anna Kowalska pushed the Kent lead back to 11 with 3:34 to play, but Klein and Garland had back-to-back layups, Klein added a three-pointer and Garland had another layup and two free throws to knot the score at 75-75 with 34 seconds to play.

The Golden Flashes responded by going to Jamilah Humes who drove down the lane for a bucket in the paint as Kent regained a 77-75 lead. Following a CSU timeout, the Vikings got the ball to Klein who dribbled to the left wing and was double teamed. She found a wide open Stephaine Crosley under the basket and Crosley converted a layup with five seconds left to tie the game at 77-77.

Kent had a final chance in regulation, but Asheley Harkins missed a three-pointer as time expired.

The Vikings proceeded to go 0-for-8 from the field in overtime after battling all the way back, while Kowalska scored four of Kent's seven points.

"It's a positive sign that we were able to battle back and force overtime because it shows that this team will never quit," Peterson Abiad said. "But we need to play good, solid basketball for 40 minutes."

The Vikings began the game cold from the field, missing their first seven field goal attempts, as Kent opened up a 7-0 lead at the first media timeout with 15:43 to play in the first half.

On the first possession after the timeout, Kailey Klein was fouled and hit 1-of-2 free throws to put the Vikings on the board. Back-to-back fast break layups by Jessica Roque and Dominique Butler brought CSU back to 7-5, but the Golden Flashes responded with six straight points to rebuild an eight-point advantage (13-5) with 11:53 left.

A Destinee Blue free throw and Shawnita Garland's three-pointer brought the Vikings back to within four points at 13-9 with 11:04 left, but Kent used an 11-2 run over the next four minutes to open up a 13 point lead (24-11).

Kent still held a 13-point advantage (32-19) following two free throws by Rachel Bennett with 4:27 to play, but CSU went on an 11-4 run to cut the Golden Flashes lead to 34-30 with 40 seconds to play. Kailey Klein and Dominique Butler combined for all 11 points during the run.

"I told Kailey and Dom that they are the heart and soul of our offense," Peterson Abiad said. "We go as they go and that's why they are here. They knew that when they arrived, it was on their shoulders.

"We sent this game into overtime tonight because Kailey played the final minutes of the first half and the entire second half with a scorer's mentality. She thought about attacking the basket and scoring and got Crosley a wide open layup on the game-tying basket in regulation because she drew a double-team."

Stephanie Gibson hit a pair of free throws for Kent to extend the lead back to six with 40 seconds left, but a Shawnita Garland driving layup with 10 seconds later brought CSU back to within four (36-32).

CSU appeared to have a stop on the other end as Asheley Harkins missed a layup and the ball went out of bounds. However, Kent was awarded possession and Jena Stutzman responded with a three-pointer with 11 seconds to play, giving the Golden Flashes a 39-32 lead at halftime.

Kent hit just nine field goals in 23 attempts in the first half, but stayed ahead by going 18-of-20 (.900) from the free throw line.

The Golden Flashes wound up hitting 28-of-34 (.824) from the line, while CSU went 24-of-33 (.727).

CSU shot 23-of-59 (.390) from the field, but had a 45 point second half, thanks in large part to hitting 13-of-21 (.619) from the floor.

The Vikings will have the week off before returning to action on Monday, Dec. 15, with a 7:00 p.m. contest at 18th-ranked Ohio State.