Jan. 17, 2009

Final Stats

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - Cleveland State had three players in double figures and tied a season high for points in a game as the Vikings earned an 80-51 win over Youngstown State on Saturday afternoon in the Beeghley Center.

The victory improved CSU to 9-8 overall and 3-2 in the Horizon League, while YSU slipped to 2-14 overall (0-4 HL).

"This game started are really big stretch for us if we want to establish ourselves as a championship team," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We opened with one of the most difficult league schedules and we have been able to gain some momentum with two consecutive solid wins. We are embarking on an important stretch and need to take care of business."

Kailey Klein paced the Vikings with 23 points, while Shawnita Garland had a season-high tying 18 points. Jessica Roque chipped in 11 points and a career and CSU season-high nine assists, just missing her first career double-double.

Dominique Butler had eight points and eight rebounds as nine of the 10 players who played for CSU had at least two points and all 10 players grabbed at least one rebound. The Viking bench had 16 points, including a career-high five from both Justine Hayes and Takima Keane.

The Vikings shot .561 (32-57) from the field, including a blistering .529 (9-17) from three-point. CSU's defense was equally as impressive, as YSU became the fifth CSU opponent in the last six games to be held under 55 points.

The Penguins shot just .313 (20-64) from the floor and 5-of-18 (.278) from three-point.

"We had a defensive gameplan coming in and I thought we executed it perfectly," Peterson Abiad said. "We also did a tremendous job of sharing the ball and took care of the ball as well as we have all season."

CSU finished with 21 assists and just 14 turnovers.

Klein gave the Vikings a quick 6-0 lead with a pair of three-pointers just 1:26 into the contest. A Shawnita Garland layup, Jessica Roque three-pointer and Dominique Butler layup extended CSU's advantage to 13-5, forcing a quick Penguin timeout.

YSU came out of the timeout with six straight points to pull within 13-11, but Klein hit a jumper at the 13:32 mark to fuel a 10-0 Viking run that pushed CSU's lead back to 23-11 with nine minutes to play.

CSU took a 31-18 lead into the locker room thanks to a 16-point effort from Klein.

The Penguins sliced the lead to eight points (36-28) with 17:19 to play in the game, but it was all Vikings from there.

Garland hit a three-pointer and followed it with a layup before a Roque three-pointer started a 19-1 CSU run that gave the Vikings a 55-29 lead with 13:08 left in the game.

During the run, the Vikings hit 7-of-8 from the field, including all three of their three-pointers.

"We are a good shooting team with a versatile offense," Peterson Abiad said. "If we can take care of the basketball like we did today, that will only give us more opportunities on the offensive end."

CSU held a 36-35 advantage on the glass, but the Penguins did grab 17 offensive rebounds.

Kelsey Gurganus led the Penguins with 13 points, while Nikita LaFleur had seven points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Vikings will be back in action on Thursday, Jan. 22, when CSU travels to Detroit for a 5:00 p.m. contest before heading to Wright State for a 4:30 p.m. game on Saturday, Jan. 24.