Jan. 7, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
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CHICAGO, Ill. - Loyola rode a hot shooting second half, including an 8-for-17 effort from three-point, and held off a late charge by Cleveland State to hold on for a 66-63 victory in Horizon League action on Thursday night in the Gentile Center.
The Vikings fell to 6-8 overall and 1-2 in the Horizon League, while Loyola improved to 7-7 and 1-2 in the league, snapping a four-game losing streak to CSU in the process.
"We need to start coming out and take all of our opponents seriously because this is unacceptable," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We dug ourselves to big a hole and couldn't overcome the deficit and that has to stop."
Kailey Klein led the Vikings with 28 points and 11 rebounds, her fourth straight double-double against the Ramblers. Klein, who was held to just two points in the first half, scored 26 in the final stanza on a variety of moves near the basket, two three-pointers and a 6-for-8 effort at the free throw line.
Shawnita Garland added 11 points and five assists, while Stephaine Crosley scored nine points with seven rebounds.
After a sluggish first half by both teams, Loyola caught fire at the start of the second half, hitting five three pointers as part of a 22-8 run to open the half and gain an 11 point lead (48-37) with 10:42 to play.
The lead was still 11 points (56-45) with 8:36 left, but Garland, Klein and Stephaine Crosley keyed a 13-2 CSU run that tied the game for the third time (58-58) with 4:44 to play on a Klein jumper.
A three-pointer by Maggie McCloskey stopped the run and pushed the Ramblers ahead by three points. Keisha Collins followed with a jumper to extend the lead to five points (63-58; 3:03).
Still trailing by five points with 1:15 to play, the Vikings got two free throws from Klein to bring CSU within three (64-61) with one minute to play. A pair of free throws by Collins extended Loyola's lead back to five points with 32 seconds left, but Klein's jumper 11 seconds later once again cut the LU lead to three.
Forced to foul, CSU sent Collins to the line for a 1-and-1 and she missed the first, but Klein couldn't convert on a three-pointer with six seconds left that would have tied the game. The Vikings were again forced to foul, sending Collins to the line for another 1-and-1 in which she missed the front end, giving the Vikings another chance to tie.
However, CSU failed to get a shot off despite getting the ball to the three-point line.
"We have to get a shot off in that situation," Peterson Abaid said. "We need to know how much time is left and where we are at on the court."
CSU out-rebounded the Ramblers, 34-32, committing just 16 turnovers.
CSU will be back in action on Saturday (Jan. 9) when the Vikings conclude their two-game trip to Chicago with a 4:00 p.m. EST game at UIC.
