March 10, 2008
Contact: Greg Murphy
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Two days after helping Cleveland State finish as the number four seed in the upcoming Horizon League Championship, Viking sophomore Kailey Klein and junior Dominique Butler have received recognition in the Horizon League women's basketball awards, announced on Monday morning by the league office.
Klein was named to the All-Horizon League first team, while Butler earned a spot on the All-Defensive Team and was also tabbed as the Defensive Player of the Year.
"I am very happy for both Kailey and Dom," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "They are both very deserving of these awards and I am happy to see both players being recognized for helping us accomplish what we did as a team this season. Both players have been key to our success this season."
Klein, a 5-foot-10 guard from Cherry, Ill., is the first CSU player to earn first team accolades since Ashley Schrock and Shannon Sword were both named to the first team following the 2003-04 season. She leads the team and is second in the league in scoring (19.7) and is also ranked among the top-15 in the league statistics in rebounding, assists, steals, field goal percentage and three-point field goal percentage. A three-time Horizon League Player of the Week this season, Klein has scored 571 points this season, second most in program history, and also made 190 free throws, a single-season CSU record.
Butler, a 5-foot-9 guard/forward from Milwaukee, Wis., is making her third straight appearance on the All-Defensive Team, but is earning Defensive Player of the Year honors for the first time in her career. She is also the first player in school-history to be named Defensive Player of the Year. This season, Butler leads the team in steals (2.76) and rebounding (5.7), while ranking second and seventh in the league in each category, respectively. She has swiped 79 steals this season to raise her career total to 207, fifth most in school-history. Butler has 57 career multiple steal games.
Klein was joined on the first team by Milwaukee's Traci Edwards, the league Player of the Year, Green Bay's Rachel Porath, Butler's Lade Akande and Wright State's Shey Peddy.
The second team consisted on Kayla Groh and Lavesa Glover from Green Bay, Jessie Miller of UIC, Valparaiso's Agnieszka Kulaga and Tiara Scott of Youngstown State.
Butler was joined on the All-Defensive Team by Peddy, Groh, Milwaukee's Turquoise McCain and Youngstown State's Lauren Branson.
The All-Newcomer Team was led by Peddy, who also claimed Newcomer of the Year honors. She was joined on the squad by Loyola's Brittany Boeke and Keisha Collins, as well as McCain and Branson.
Matt Bollant (Green Bay) and Bridgett Williams (Wright State) shared Coach of the Year honors with Wright State's Sierra Crayton being voted Sixth Player of the Year.
Fourth-seeded Cleveland State will open the 2008 Horizon League Championship when the Vikings host fifth-seeded Butler at 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 12, in the Wolstein Center.
