March 16, 2008
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
GREEN BAY, WISC. -- The sign on the bulletin board in the Cleveland State locker room said it all, "Never Retreat."
From the first day of practice in October to Sunday afternoon's Horizon League Championship game, the Vikings took that mantra to heart and truly put together a season to remember, capping it off with a 70-56 win over Wright State to earn the program its first-ever league tourney title and trip to the NCAA Tournament that goes with it.
The win improved the Vikings to 19-13 on the year, the most wins by CSU since a 23-6 record in 1982-83 and an 11-win improvement over last year's 8-22 record, the most in program history. The 19 wins is the second-highest total in school annals, trailing only the record 23 wins set in 1982-83.
For seniors Robyn Hoying and Brittany Korth, who had won a combined 16 games during their first three seasons at CSU, the victory provided them with a conclusion to their Vikings careers that made all of the hard work and struggles worth it.
"This was a tremendous win for our program," CSU head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We have been building towards this for five years and to go from four wins (in 2005-06) to an an NCAA Championship bid in just two years, is a tribute to these players and coaches.
"We are excited to represent the Horizon League in the NCAA Championship and we are looking forward to finding out who our opponent will be tomorrow.
"All year long people have questioned our lack of height inside but I think we showed over the last two games that there is more than to rebounding than height. When you have players going to the boards like Dominique (Butler) and Kailey (Klein) who play so hard,
"This season has been a journey from the start. We were picked to finish eighth in the league in the preseason and we were not a championship caliber team at the start of the year. But this team worked hard each and gradually improved to get to the point that we achieved today.
"The season was full of many ups and downs, but we were able to peak at the right time and win three games in the tournament. To be picked eighth in the preseason yet come back to follow up a great regular season with wins over Butler, Green Bay and now Wright State, it is a testament to how hard these coaches and players worked throughout the season," Petersion-Abiad added.
Sophomore Kailey Klein led the Vikings with 29 points, 13 rebounds and four assists while Dominique Butler added 16 points and 13 rebounds and senior Brittany Korth chipped in with 13 points. Freshman Sheylani Peddy was the only Raider in double figures, finishing with a game-high 31 points.
Klein, whose 638 points this season allowed her to break Dianne Foster's record for points in a season (635 in 1982-83), was tabbed as the MVP of the tournament with both Korth and Butler joining Peddy and Milwaukee's Traci Edwards on the all-tournament team.
The Vikings never trailed in the game, running off eight straight points to take a 10-2 advantage with 18:02 left as Korth scored seven of the first 10 Viking points.
Peddy's three-pointer with 14:57 left in the first half closed the Raiders to within 16-10, but back-to-back baskets from Klein and another basket from Korth would allow CSU top open up a 22-11 lead with 12:16 remaining.
The lead would grow to as many as 13 in the first half on a Butler basket in the lane (26-13, 6:47) with the Vikings taking a 30-21 lead into the intermission.
A pair of baskets from Butler and two free throws from Korth stoked a 6-2 Viking run to open the second half, extending the lead to 36-21 with 17:40 left.
The second-seeded Raiders refused to give up. With CSU holding a 44-32 lead with 13:37 left, Wright State went on a 9-0 run to pull to within 44-41 with 11:32 left.
LaShawna Thomas started the burst with a basket inside and Peddy followed with a pair of free throws and a three-pointer. When Sierra Crayton scored inside with 11:32 left, the Raiders were within a basket.
But Wright State would never get the opportunity to tie the game or take the lead as the Butler and Klein each scored baskets as part of a 6-0 CSU run that rebuilt the lead to nine (50-41, 8:55).
The Raiders would twice close to within a basket down the stretch, but the Vikings quickly answered each basket. When Peddy knocked down a jumper to close to within 52-49 (6:33), Butler would counter by taking the ball strong to the basket to get fouled, making one of the two free throws to push the lead back to four.
Peddy was at it again on the next possession, scoring on a short jumper to shrink the Viking lead to 53-51 (5:55), but Klein quickly answered with a three-pointer. When Robyn Hoying followed with a trey with 4:31 left, CSU lead 60-52 and would never be seriously challenged down the stretch.
The Vikings dominated statistically as well, shooting .533 from the field (24-45) and .417 from three-point (5-12) while holding a commanding 35-18 lead on the boards. Wright State struggled offensively, shooting just .419 from the field (18-43) and .300 from three-point (6-20) while committing 19 turnovers.
Cleveland State will return home to Cleveland late on Sunday night and await the announcement of the NCAA bracket, which will be unveiled on ESPN at 7:00 p.m. on Monday (March 17).
