March 12, 2008
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ohio - A solid second half effort secured a win for fourth-seeded Cleveland State, 79-68, in their first round game of the Horizon League Tournament against Butler Wednesday night at the Wolstein Center. With the win, the Vikings advance to the tournament semi-final round for the first time since the 2002-03 season.
"We had a specific game plan tonight, and our team executed it to a T," head coach Kate Peterson-Abiad said.
With the win, the Vikings improve to 17-13 (11-8 HL), ending the Bulldogs' season at 20-10 (10-9 HL).
Kailey Klein paced the Vikings with a game-high 20 points (5-11 FG, 2-6 3PT, 9-12 FT) to go with her game-high 13 rebounds. She also contributed six assists and two steals.
After a first half that saw the Vikings lead by as many as 21 and as little as three, and a second half that featured four lead changes, CSU proved to have the answers to Butler's attack when it mattered most, outscoring the Bulldogs 19-10 in the final eight minutes of the game to take the lead and secure the win.
The Vikings started the game shooting well, using a 7-0 run to take the initial lead. Bulldog head coach Beth Couture then called a timeout to halt CSU's momentum, and Butler quickly responded with their first points of the game on a Susan Lester lay-up to make the score 7-2 at the 16:41 mark.
"We came out and hit some shots to get some confidence early on," Peterson-Abiad said.
The Vikings then outscored the Bulldogs 26-10 over the next seven minutes of regulation to build a 21-point lead, 33-12, at the 9:29 mark following a three-pointer by Jessica Rouque. The lead was CSU's largest of the game.
The Bulldogs then showed resolve to make a game out of it, going on a run of their own to cut the Vikings' lead in the first half to as little as three with a Tara Miller three-pointer to make the score 42-39. The Vikings added another two from Dominique Butler to go into the locker room with a five point lead, 44-39.
Butler was able to take their first lead of the game at the 13:21 mark of the second half on a lay-up by Candace Jones, 51-50. After three more lead changes, the Vikings gained the lead for good following three free throws from Klein, making the score 60-59 at the 8:05 mark. CSU never looked back, closing out Butler with a 19-10 final eight minutes to run the final score to 78-69 in favor of the Vikings.
"We were able to sustain a run by Butler and really made some adjustments," Peterson-Abiad continued, "We wanted to attack the basket tonight and did so early on and late in the game. This is an exciting time for the women's basketball program, and we are excited to be involved to be in the final four."
Reigning Horizon League defensive player of the year Dominique Butler also gave the Vikings a boost with 13 points (5-for-10 shooting, 3-for-3 FT) to go with seven boards, while Jessica Roque came off the bench to contribute 15 points (5-9 FG, 2-3 3PT, 3-3 FT).
The Bulldogs were led in their losing effort by Brittany Bowen, who had a team-high 17 points on 7-for-16 shooting, including 2-for-5 from three and 1-for-2 from the line.
The Vikings will return to action in the second round of the Horizon League tournament on the road at number one seeded Green Bay at the Kress Events Center in Green Bay, Wisconsin on Friday, March 14 at 8:00 p.m. CST.
