Feb. 20, 2010

Final Stats

Contact: Greg Murphy

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YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio - A balanced scoring attack and big run centered around halftime helped Cleveland State to a 68-38 victory over Youngstown State in Horizon League action on Saturday afternoon in the Beeghly Center.

Angel Roque led the Vikings with 11 points and was the lone CSU player to reach double figures as 10 different players scored. Stephaine Crosley and Shawnita Garland added eight points each, while Garland added six steals to improve her league-leading total to 70.

Takima Keane, Jessica Roque and Shalonda Winton finished with seven points apiece, while Janelle Adams and Destinee Blue scored six each.

It was CSU's seventh straight win over the Penguins in the series.

CSU improved to 13-12 overall and 8-6 in league play, while the Penguins fell to 0-25 overall (0-14 HL).

"We didn't play a very good game the last time we played Youngstown and there were some things that we wanted to accomplish today," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We turned the ball over 20 times against that last time and were able to cut that number in half today. We only shot 28-percent the first time and got that up to 44-percent today.

"I thought we came out a little slow, but really picked up the intensity and were able to build a bbig lead. That allowed everyone to play and give us a good scoring balance. Some of the younger players were able to get some experience, while the starters were able to get some rest for the stretch run."

YSU kept it close for the first 10 minutes, taking a 13-12 lead on a Brandi Brown bucket with 7:26 to play. However, Roque answered with back-to-back three-pointers to ignite a 21-4 CSU spurt to close the half.

"They came out playing a triangle and two on Kailey and Shawnita and that left the two wings open," Peterson Abiad said. "We needed someone to step up and hit some outside shots and Angel was able to do that. I thought those two shots really got us rolling offensively."

The Vikings held YSU to just two field goals over the final seven minutes of the first half, one coming at the 1:33 mark and the other with seven seconds on the clock.

CSU had a very balanced scoring attack in the first half as Roque was the lone player in double figures with 11. No other player had more than four points as nine of the 10 players that played score in the first half.

The Vikings defensive effort was also stout, holding the Penguins to a 5-for-25 effort from the field, including 0-for-4 from three-point.

CSU opened the second half by scoring 16 of the first 20 points, taking a 49-21 lead on Winton's three-pointer with 13:48 left. The lead swelled to as many as 34 points (61-27) on a Keane jumper with 6:31 left.

CSU held a 43-35 advantage on the boards and committed just 10 turnovers, a season-low.

Brandi Brown led the Penguins with 16 points and 11 rebounds as YSU shot just 15-of-55 (.273) from the field.

The Vikings will be back in action on Thursday (Feb. 25) when CSU hosts league-leading Detroit at 5:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. It will be a doubleheader with the Viking men entertaining Detroit at 7:30 p.m.