Feb. 5, 2009
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
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MILWAUKEE, Wis. - Dominique Butler made sure her final trip home to Milwaukee in a Cleveland State uniform was a memorable one.
The Milwaukee, Wis., native finished one point shy of the sixth triple double in school history, totaling nine points, 10 rebounds and 10 steals to help lift the Vikings to a 53-45 win over Milwaukee in the Klotsche Center on Thursday night.
Butler's 10 steals were tied for the second most in school history, one shy of the CSU single game school record of 11 held set by Diane Foster in 1982.
The win was CSU's first in Milwaukee since a 74-69 triumph on Jan. 14, 1999, and also allowed the Vikings to sweep the season series from UWM for the first time since the 1998-99 campaign.
CSU improved to 13-9 overall and 7-3 in the Horizon League, while the Panthers slipped to 9-12 overall and 4-6 in league play.
Shawnita Garland led the Vikings with a game-high 15 points, while Jessica Roque added 13 points. Kailey Klein just missed a double-double, registering 10 points and nine rebounds.
The Vikings used three-pointers from Jessica Roque and Shawnita Garland, as well as a pair of buckets from Garland and one from Dominique Butler to race out to a quick nine point lead (12-3) with 14:25 to play in the half.
CSU still held a nine point lead (20-11) with 6:57 to play, but UWM began to slowly chip away at its deficit, using a 10-3 run to pull within two points (23-21) with 3:11 left in the half.
But the Vikings responded by scoring six of the final eight points of the half to take a 29-23 lead into the locker room.
The story of the first half was CSU's defense, which forced 17 Panther turnovers and came up with 13 steals, including seven from Butler. The Vikings allowed Traci Edwards, last season's Horizon League Player of the Year, to take just three shots from the field as CSU employed double team efforts in the post.
UWM cut its deficit to just two (31-29) as they opened the second half by scoring the first four points. However, a 13-2 spurt by the Vikings over the next eight minutes extended CSU's lead to a game-high 13 points (44-31) with 8:15 to play.
But once again, UWM was not done.
The Panthers scored the next 11 points, once again clawing back to within two (44-42) with 4:18 to play.
But another Milwaukee native, freshman Janelle Adams, stopped the bleeding with a jumper to push CSU's lead back to four points (46-42) with 3:16 to play.
Neither team would score again until Garland hit the final of her three free throws after being fouled on a three-point attempt with 1:07 left, giving CSU a 47-42 lead.
But the Panthers went right back inside to Edwards who converted a traditional three-point play to bring UWM back within two points (47-45) with 50 seconds left. But once again, CSU had an answer, hitting all six of its free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
The Vikings wound up 16-of-19 (.842) from the charity stripe and turned the ball over just 15 times, their third straight game of 15 or fewer turnovers.
CSU did lose the rebounding battle, 39-37, the first time in nine games that the Vikings were outrebounded.
Edwards led the Panthers with 13 points and 11 boards, while Ashley Imperiale had 12 points.
CSU will conclude its two-game swing through Wisconsin when the Vikings travel to Green Bay for a 2:00 p.m. CST contest (3:00 p.m. in Cleveland) on Saturday, Feb. 7.
