Nov. 28, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Destinee Blue scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed a career-best 13 rebounds and Cleveland State held Indiana to 29-percent shooting (16-55), but the Hoosiers used a big disparity at the free throw line to hand the Vikings their first loss of the season, 66-56, on Sunday afternoon as Assembly Hall.
The loss drops the Vikings to 5-1 this season, snapping the second longest win streak to open a season in school history. Indiana improved to 3-3.
The Hoosiers hit 28-of-36 (.778) from the free throw line, including 22-of-27 in the second half.
The .291 field goal percentage by Indiana was the lowest allowed by the Vikings this season.
"I thought we played well on the defensive end, holding them to 29-percent shooting for the game, but they went to the free throw line way too much," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We had some good looks offensively, but never got in a good rhythm despite getting some good looks at the basket.
"We are going to have to work hard and see how we respond after our first loss now," Peterson Abiad said. "We'll learn a lot about our team in the next few days, but I am confident they will respond in a positive way."
The Vikings hit 18-of-57 (.316) from the field and went to the line 15 fewer times than the Hoosiers, hitting 16-of-21 from the charity stripe.
Blue finished 5-of-10 from the field and also hit 10-of-12 from the free throw line. She added three steals and three assists.
Shalonda Winton added 12 points, seven rebounds and four steals, while Shawnita Garland scored 10 points with four steals.
Neither team was able to get its offense on track in the first half as the teams combined to shoot just 16-of-60 from the floor.
The Vikings took a 9-6 lead on a layup by Blue at the 14:04 mark, but Indiana rattled off the next seven points to take its largest lead of the half (15-9) with 10:40 left in the half.
Blue followed a free throw with a layup and Takima Keane converted a fast break layup with 7:36 to play that capped a 6-0 CSU run, helping the Vikings pull within one at 15-14.
Indiana would extend the lead to 20-16 before a Winton free throw sparked a 5-0 run that gave the Vikings their final lead of the half (21-20) when Winton made a layup with 2:20 to play.
A 6-1 run to close the half gave the Hoosiers a 26-22 lead at halftime.
Two free throws by Hope Elam to open the second half extended the lead to seven points (29-22), but a 9-2 CSU run allowed the Vikings to tie things up at 31-31 on a Blue layup with 16 minutes left.
Two more ties followed, the fifth and sixth of the game, but the Hoosiers started to slowly pull away midway through the second half.
Leading 39-38, IU went on a 16-5 run to take its largest lead of the contest (55-43) with 5:46 to play. The Hoosiers made six free throws during the run and hit a pair of three pointers.
CSU did not back down, however, using a pressure defense to pull back within four points (55-51) when Winton made a layup with 2:27 left. The IU lead was still four points (58-54) with 1:34 to play, but the Vikings turned the ball over and the Hoosiers hit 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
CSU had 14 steals, forcing 24 IU turnovers.
Jori Davis led all scorers with 24 points, but made just 3-of-16 from the field. She did hit 17-of-18 at the free throw line.
The Vikings return home to host Western Michigan on Friday (Dec. 3) at 7:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.
