Box Score
Jan. 22, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
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CLEVELAND, Ohio - It was just another day at the office for the Cleveland State women's basketball team on Friday as the Vikings used good defense and some timely shooting to race past Youngstown State, 57-43, in the Wolstein Center.
The Vikings, who have won four straight, moved to 10-8 overall and 5-2 in league play, a half-game behind Green Bay and Detroit (5-1), who will both be in action tomorrow. Youngstown State dropped to 0-18 overall and 0-7 in Horizon League action.
Shalonda Winton led the Vikings with 13 points and 13 rebounds while Angel Roque added 13 points and six rebounds and Shawnita Garland chipped in with 11 points. Brandi Brown was the lone Penguin in double figures with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
"This wasn't the best game for us, especially on the offensive, end, but anytime you can hold a Horizon League team to 43 points, that is a great effort," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We couldn't get anything going offensively and Youngstown State really slowed the game down which didn't allow us to get any easy baskets in transition.
"Overall, I am very happy with the defensive effort. We had a tough time scoring and I think that is going to be magnified. But hopefully we can get back on track next week as we have two big road contests."
On a night in which the Viking offense struggled to shoot just .283 from the field (17-60), it was its defense that shone as CSU forced the young YSU squad into committing 25 turnovers. Kailey Klein, Winton, Garland and Angel Roque each made three steals as part of a 16 steal evening by the Vikings.
CSU limited the Penguins to 304 shooting (14-46), including just two-for-10 (.200) from beyond the arc, and grabbed 20 offensive rebounds as part of a 43-34 rebounding advantage.
After a first eight minutes that left the game with CSU holding an 8-6 lead, the Vikings took control, running off 15 of the next 17 points over the next 5:06 to build a 23-8 advantage with 6:55 left.
It was just a matter of playing the final 25 minutes after that as the Penguins could come no closer than nine points in the first half, before CSU took a 30-17 lead to the locker room.
It was more of the same in the second half as CSU opened up a 41-25 lead with 9:22 to play before YSU made its final rally, using a 12-2 spurt to pull to within 43-37 with 5:15 to play.
CSU would close the door however as Winton would score seven points and Angel Roque five during a 13-4 Viking run that would put the contest away.
The Vikings closed out the game by making five-of-six free throws in the final minutes and held YSU to just two points in the last three minutes to secure the win.
CSU is back in action on Thursday (Jan. 28) when the Vikings head to Wright State for a 5:00 p.m. contest.
