Jan. 16, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - Shawnita Garland scored a career-high 24 points and Cleveland State rallied from an eight point halftime deficit to defeat Valparaiso, 71-68, and extend its win streak to three straight on Saturday afternoon.
CSU improved to 9-8 overall and 4-2 in the Horizon League, while Valpo fell to 5-11 (2-3 HL).
Kailey Klein added 18 points and six rebounds, while Stephaine Crosley scored seven points with seven rebounds.
The Vikings were outrebounded for the first time in four games, 35-32, but the Crusaders held a 19-8 advantage on the glass in the first half.
"This was a huge win for us and a great way to cap the weekend," head coach Kate Peterson Abaid said. "Valpo is a tough team when they are hitting shots and that's what they did in the first half. I told the team at halftime that we needed to increase the defensive pressure and hit the offensive glass and I thought they did a good job of responding.
"We gave up too many first half points (44), but did a better job of pressuring the ball and contesting their shots in the second half."
The Vikings controlled the early going, taking an 18-12 lead seven minutes in on a Klein jumper. A three-pointer by Angel Roque with eight minutes left helped CSU maintain a six point advantage (25-19), but that's when the Crusaders got hot.
A three-pointer by Raegan Moore and a layup by Whitney Farris cut the lead to one (25-24) and after a pair of free throws by CSU's Destinee Blue, the Crusaders went on to score the next 12 points to assume a 36-27 lead with 4:32 left.
Valpo hit all three of its three-point attempts to spark the run.
The lead swelled to as many as 12 points (44-32) with 46 seconds left, but Garland made a jumper and Angel Roque converted a layup right before the buzzer to help the Vikings cut the halftime deficit to 44-36.
Valpo still led by nine (51-42) with 14:36 left, but that's when the Vikings began to mount a charge. Jessica Roque nailed a jumper and Crosley hit a three-pointer, her first of the season, and Garland followed with a jumper to slice the lead to one (51-50) midway through the half.
After the teams traded baskets, CSU got a stop on the defensive end and Shalonda Winton converted a layup with 6:52 to play, giving the Vikings their first lead (54-53) in more than 19 minutes.
"I told them during a timeout that we couldn't wait to make a run, that the time was now," Peterson Abiad said. "I was fearful if we made a run that Valpo would answer with some three's because they were shooting the ball so well. But once we got going, we grabbed control and held on."
CSU took the lead for good on a Garland layup with 6:11 left and Angel Roque followed with a three-pointer to push the lead to four.
The lead reached six points (69-63) on two Klein free throws with 1:32 to play, but Betsy Adams hit a three-pointer and Kelly Watts made a layup with 33 seconds left to slice the Viking lead to one (69-68) with 33 seconds to play.
After a CSU turnover, the Crusaders could not convert and Garland out-raced the Valpo defense down the court for an uncontested layup with seven seconds left.
Valpo had one last chance to tie the game, but a three-point attempt by Adams fell short at the buzzer as CSU won for the fourth time in its last five games.
CSU will be back in action on Friday (Jan. 22) when the Vikings host Youngstown State at 5:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. It will be a doubleheader with the CSU men's squad hosting Green Bay at 7:30 p.m.
