Jan. 14, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Cleveland State shot a season-best .534 from the field and had four players in double figures and the Vikings earned an 81-68 victory over Butler on Thursday night in Horizon League action.
The 81 points were a season-high for the Vikings, helping CSU snap a three-game losing streak to Butler
CSU improved to 8-8 overall and 3-2 in league play, while the Bulldogs slipped to 9-6 overall (2-2 HL).
Kailey Klein flirted with a triple-double before finishing with 19 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, all game-highs. Klein, the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week, notched her third straight double-double and the fourth in her last six games.
Shawnita Garland, celebrating her 21st birthday, added 17 points, four boards and four assists, while Angel Roque scored 14 points of f the bench. Jessica Roque finished with 10.
"I felt like this was one of our best efforts of the season," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "Butler is a well-coached team and one of the best teams in the league and I think a win like this speaks volumes for how much we have grown and matured.
"We shot the ball extremely well and every time they made adjustments, we came back to make our own adjustments."
Neither team was able to take control during the first 12 minutes as the game featured three ties and four lead changes.
Holding a slim 18-15 lead midway through the first half, the Vikings used a 15-3 run over the next seven minutes to gain a 15 point lead (35-20) with 2:48 left.
A layup by Butler's Brittany Bowen stopped the run, but the Vikings kept pushing, eventually settling on a 43-25 lead at the half by scoring the final six points of the half.
CSU shot a blistering .567 (17-30) from the field in the first half, while its bench also held a 14-2 advantage thanks to five points each from Destinee Blue and Takima Keane and four from Angel Roque.
"Takima has come in the last few games and made an immediate impact and that was no different today," Peterson Abiad said. "We need her to continue to do that. And Destinee has really improved her defense and is really starting to play some consistent basketball."
However, the Bulldogs opened the second half with back-to-back three-pointers and a steal and layup to cut the lead to 43-33 less than two minutes in.
"They made that run to start the second half and I got nervous, but the team never freaked out," Peterson Abiad said. "They stayed poised and continued to knock down big shot after big shot."
Garland hit a short jumper for CSU's first points of the half, but Alyssa Pittman answered on the other end with a traditional three-point play, slicing the CSU lead to single digits (45-36) for the first time since the 7:16 mark of the first half.
However, the Vikings answered with a Klein layup and Jessica Roque three-pointer to regain a 50-36 lead with just over 16 minutes to play.
Once again, the Bulldogs would whittle the lead down to six points (53-47) with 14:28 left, but Garland answered with a jumper to start an 8-0 CSU run that put the Vikings back ahead by 14 (61-47) with 11:36 left and the Bulldogs would not cut the lead under 10 the rest of the night.
CSU hit 31-of-58 from the field, including 7-of-19 (.368) from three point. CSU also held a dominating 41-27 advantage on the boards.
Butler shot .419 (26-62) from the floor and was led by Pittman and Melanie Thornton who scored 17 points each and Bowen who added 16.
The Vikings will be back in action on Saturday (Jan. 16) when CSU hosts Valparaiso at 3:00 p.m.
