March 7, 2009
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Kailey Klein scored 18 points and Cleveland State shot .489 from the field, but dropped its regular season finale, 68-59, to Butler on Saturday afternoon in the Wolstein Center.
CSU fell to 18-12 overall and finished 12-6 in the Horizon League, good for a third place finish. Butler concluded the regular season with a 19-10 mark and in second place in the league at 14-4.
The third-seeded Vikings will host sixth-seeded UIC in a Horizon League Championship quarterfinal game on Wednesday, March 11, at 7:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.
Klein went 6-of-10 from the field, hitting 2-of-4 from three-point and made all four of her free throws for her 18 points. She also had four assists. Her four free throws improved her season total to 131, the third highest total in a single season in program history.
In addition, her 18 points gave her 514 total points this season, making her the first player in school history to score at least 500 points in two different seasons. She scored a school-record 654 points last season.
Jessica Roque added 12 points and five assists and four steals for CSU, while Stephaine Crosley had 11 points and a game-best 11 rebounds. Dominique Butler scored eight points with three rebounds.
"I thought today was all about two good teams battling," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We made some decisions on defense and they responded to it by hitting some outside shots. That's the sign of good team, being able to find something else to beat you with.
"I was not displeased with our effort and execution. We shot 49 percent from the field, but I thought we did turn the ball over to many times and that gave them some extra opportunities. We've just got to bounce back from this and prepare for the league tournament. Hopefully, we will be able to draw on our experience from last season and make a run."
Both teams struggled to find their rhythm on offense in the early going as the game was tied at 9-9 with 11:49 to play. However, Butler used a 17-6 run over the next six minutes to assume a 26-15 lead at the 5:38 mark.
A Klein layup brought the Vikings back within nine, but Terra Burns answered with a bucket on the other end to put the Bulldogs back up by 11 (28-17) with 4:50 to play.
Six straight points by CSU followed as the Vikings were able to cut their deficit to five points (28-23) with 2:09 to play when Klein hit a pair of free throws.
Butler led at the half, 32-25.
A quick 9-0 spurt to open the second half gave the Vikings a 34-32 lead with 18:03 left, forcing a quick Butler timeout. Four different CSU players scored during the run.
CSU pushed the lead to five points (46-41) with 12:18 to play, its largest of the game, when Klein nailed a three-pointer.
But the Bulldogs responded with an 8-2 run, assuming a 49-48 advantage midway through the second half. Butler pushed the lead to eight points (61-53; 5:33) on a Susan Lester three-point, but the Vikings were not done.
Klein hit a pair of free throws and Crosley followed with two of her own to bring CSU within four (61-57) with 4:49 to play.
That was as close as the Vikings would get, however, as Butler answered by scoring the next seven points to take an 11 point lead with two minutes to play.
Lester led the Bulldogs with 22 points and nine boards, while Brittany Bowen scored 13.
The Bulldogs held a 29-23 advantage on the boards, including 12 on the offensive end. Butler also shot .491 (13-27) from the floor, including 7-of-15 (.467) from three-point. Bowen made all three of her three-pointers.
CSU will return to action on Wednesday, March 11, when the Vikings host UIC in a quarterfinal game in the 2009 Speedway Horizon League Championship. The game will tipoff at 7:00 p.m.
