Feb. 28, 2008
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Kailey Klein scored a game-high 25 points (10-for-17 FG), but it was not enough as Valparaiso shot .500 (25-50) from the field and .450 (9-20) from three-point range en route to a 66-52 victory over Cleveland State on Thursday night in the Wolstein Center.
CSU falls to 15-11 overall and 9-6 in league play, while the Crusaders improve to 13-14 overall and 8-8 in the Horizon League.
"The story of the game was we couldn't make shots and they did," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We had a lot of open looks, but just couldn't knock anything down and as the game went on, we got tighter and tighter. I thought we got more tentative and were not as aggressive as we normally are. When shots are not falling, you need to get to the basket and create.
"It's crunch time now. We are coming down to the final weeks of the season and we need to gut it out.
Klein added seven rebounds to lead the Vikings, while Dominique Butler totaled 12 points and seven steals. The Vikings shot just .328 (21-64) from the field, including a season-worst .095 (2-21) from three-point.
Valparaiso took a 29-22 lead at the half as the Vikings could not find their touch from the field, going just 9-of-34 (.265) in the first half, including just 2-of-11 (.182) from three-point.
CSU took its largest lead of the half (11-6) on a three-pointer by Brittany Korth with 13:18 to play and maintained a five-point advantage when Jessica Roque converted a layup to give the Vikings a 16-11 lead with 9:07 to go.
However, an 11-2 Valpo run, fueled by three three-pointers, gave the Crusaders a 22-18 lead with just under five minutes to play.
A steal and layup by Dominique Butler stopped the Valpo run and cut the CSU deficit to two points (22-20) with 3:34 to play, but a layup by Kelly Peller, a jumper from Sarah Ott and a three-pointer by Aimee Litka pushed the Crusader lead to seven at the intermission.
The Crusaders hit 12-of-25 (.480) from the field in the first half, including 4-of-9 (.444) from three-point range.
Valparaiso pushed the lead to 11 points by scoring the first two baskets of the second half. A Klein jumper in the lane cut the lead to nine points, 33-24, at the 17:56 mark. However, that proved to be the closest the Vikings would get as Valpo scored the next six points and led by double digits for the remainder of the game.
The Crusaders were led by Agnieszka Kulaga, who scored a team-high 16 points (6-for-11 FG), adding seven rebounds and four assists. Aimee Litka finished with 14 points and six rebounds, while Kelly Peller chipped in 10 points.
The Vikings will return to action on Saturday, March 1, when they host Butler at 3:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. It will be the final regular season contest of the season for CSU and will serve as Senior Day for Robyn Hoying and Brittany Korth.
