Jan. 24, 2009
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
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FAIRBORN, Ohio - Cleveland State raced out to a seven point halftime lead, fell behind by eight late in the game and had a shot at the end to tie the game, but the Vikings rally fell just short in a 55-52 loss to Wright State in the Nutter Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Vikings, who had their three-game win streak snapped, fell to 10-9 overall and 4-3 in the Horizon League, while WSU improved to 9-10 overall (5-3 HL).
"I thought we executed really well on offense in the first half and I was proud of the way we defended once again," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "I thought our downfall came with about eight minutes left in the game and we started to settle for jumpers instead of attacking the basket. Hopefully we can learn some things from this game as we move forward."
CSU held a 34-27 lead with 15:51 to play after a Kailey Klein jumper, a string of six straight Klein points.
However, the Raiders began to chip away, tying the game at 40-40 with 9:17 left. Neither team would lead by more than two points until a Ta-myra Davis free throw with three minutes to play gave WSU a 48-45 advantage.
Shey Peddy hit two free throws and followed with a three-pointer to give WSU an eight-point lead (53-45) with just 1:49 to play.
But the Vikings were not done.
Klein nailed a jumper and after a WSU turnover, Jessica Roque made two free throws to cut the lead back to four (53-49) with 21 seconds left. Peddy split a pair of free tosses with 13 seconds to play to push the lead back to five, but Roque responded with a three-pointer from the left wing, bringing the Vikings back to within 54-52 with five seconds left.
Forced to foul immediately, the Vikings sent Kanisha Ward to the line. She missed the first, but hit the second to give WSU a 55-52 lead with three seconds to play.
A final desperation heave by Roque from about 40 feet came up short as the Raiders held on for the win.
"I was disappointed with how far behind we fell late in the game, but we showed a lot of heart, never giving up and battling back," Peterson Abiad said. "I played all three of my guards 40 minutes and they never quit."
Roque and Butler combined for 17 first half points, helping the Vikings claim a 27-21 lead at the break.
Roque got CSU on the board with a three-pointer on the opening possession and Butler followed with a layup to give the Vikings a quick 5-0 advantage 1:30 into the contest.
WSU came right back, closing the gap to 12-9 with 10:59 to play in the half, but back-to-back jumpers from Butler and Shawnita Garland gave the Vikings their biggest lead of the half at seven points (16-7) with just over eight minutes to play in the half.
Once again, the Raiders battled back, cutting their deficit to three points (22-19) on a Shey Peddy layup with four minutes to play, but Crosley responded with a three-pointer and after a LaShawna Thomas bucket, Roque concluded the first half scoring with a layup.
Roque scored 11 first half points, including a sizzling 3-for-4 effort from three-point as the Vikings hit 4-of-9 from downtown in the opening stanza.
Klein and Roque finished with 16 point apiece to lead CSU, while Butler had 10 points and nine boards, as CSU outrebounded the Raiders, 35-32.
CSU's defense also held their sixth league opponent (out of seven) to 55 points or fewer.
LaShawna Thomas led the Raiders with 16 points and Davis had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.
The Vikings will be back in action on Thursday (Jan. 29) evening when CSU hosts Loyola at 5:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. It will be part of a doubleheader with the CSU men's squad taking on Detroit at 7:30 p.m.
Fans are encouraged to take advantage of the Alley-Oop Online Special in which anyone purchasing one $12 ticket will receive a second $12 ticket for free. The form is available to be downloaded at www.CSUVikings.com.
