Feb. 14, 2008

Final Stats

Contact: Greg Murphy

DAYTON, Ohio - Cleveland State, which was playing with just eight healthy players, was held to a season-low 43 points as the Vikings dropped their second straight game, 51-43, to Wright State on Thursday night in the Ervin J. Nutter Center.

The previous low point total for CSU this season was 52 in an 11-point setback at Milwaukee on Jan. 12. It was also just the fourth time all season that the Vikings were held under 60 points.

CSU slipped to 14-9 overall and 8-4 in the Horizon League, while the Raiders improved to 10-12 overall and 7-5 in league play. The Vikings maintained their hold on second place in the Horizon League, one-half game ahead of Wright State and one-game ahead of Milwaukee.

"I am disappointed with our performance tonight," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We came into the game shorthanded and a little banged up, but I told the team we can't use that as an excuse. We need to continue to work hard and play with a high level of intensity."

Stephaine Crosley led CSU with 10 points and nine rebounds off the bench. Dominique Butler added nine points and five rebounds, while Brittany Korth tallied eight points, a career-high tying seven rebounds and five assits.

Erica Richardson scored a game-high 14 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Raiders, while Whitney Lewis chipped in 10 points and nine boards.

CSU dug itself into an early hole, falling behind 12-2 with 12:41 to play in the first half. The Raiders extended the lead to 17 points (35-18) at the half as the Vikings could not find an offensive groove. CSU was just 7-of-25 (.280) from the floor in the first half.

WSU maintained its double-digit lead for a majority of the second half and claimed its biggest lead of the contest (47-28) after a three-point play by Erica Richardson with 9:14 to play.

CSU did continue to fight back and got the deficit under 10 points (50-41) on a layup from Crosley with 16 seconds to play. After two free throws by Richardson, Robyn Hoying hit a jumper at the buzzer for the final eight-point margin.

CSU shot just .306 (15-49) from the field and was only 8-of-13 (.615) at the free throw line. The Vikings came in ranked fourth in the nation in free throw percentage (.800).

The Raiders did not fare much better from the floor, hitting 18-of-49 (.367), but went to the line 20 times and made 12.

Both teams recorded 36 rebounds, while CSU turned the ball over 21 times, leading to 20 Raider points. WSU also held a 26-16 advantage in points in the paint.

The Vikings will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 16, when they travel to Detroit for a 2:00 p.m. contest.