Feb. 25, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Kailey Klein recorded her 14th career double-double with 32 points 10 rebounds and Cleveland State used a strong overtime period to knock off league-leading Detroit, 70-60, on Thursday evening in the Wolstein Center.
CSU improved to 14-12 overall and moved into a tie for fourth place in the league with UIC at 9-6, while the Titans fell to 14-13 overall and 12-4 in league play.
Klein, who came up one point shy of equaling her career-high, tallied her school-record eighth career 30-point, game, hitting 8-of-17 from the field and 15-of-16 from the free throw line.
She took over the extra session, scoring eight of CSU's points, while a stingy Viking defense held the Titans to just two points on 1-of-6 shooting from the field.
"This was a great win for this program, especially coming at the time of the year it did," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We want to make a strong statement during these last weeks of the regular season and I think we have been doing that in practices and games over the last two weeks.
"Detroit is a very talented and well-coached team and they do a great job of putting their players in position to be successful. But I thought we did a great job of taking them out of what they wanted to do, especially in overtime. Offensively, we wanted to attack the basket and get to the free throw line and we shot 27 tonight. It was an important win for us, especially with the point of the season we are at. Now, we have to sustain this momentum moving forward."
The Vikings had a new look right from the start as senior Angel Roque started in place of Shalonda Winton, finishing with eight points and six rebounds.
"I thought match-ups were essential in this game and that's why we changed the starting lineup," Peterson Abiad said. "I thought that's what the situation called for and I felt comfortable with what we had out there and didn't want to disrupt the chemistry."
Both teams struggled to take care of the ball early on as the teams combined for seven straight turnovers to open the contest and would up combining for 26 in the opening stanza, 14 by Detroit and 12 for CSU.
Yar Shayok got the Titans on the board first with a jumper with 17:27 showing on the clock, starting a string of six straight points to open the game by UDM.
However, a Shawnita Garland jumper with 15:04 left in the half began a 12-0 CSU run, giving the Vikings a 12-6 lead midway through the half on a Klein layup. The lead would swell to as many as nine points (22-13; 5:24) on another basket by Garland, but the Titans closed the half on a 13-4 run to knot the game at 26-26. It was the only tie score in the first half.
The second half was a different story as neither team was able to pull away. The largest lead came with 9:45 left in the half when two free throws by Klein gave the Vikings a 39-35 lead. But two free throws and a basket by the Titans tied it at 39-39 with 9:09 to play.
The teams continued to trade baskets until Brigid Mulroy and Lauren Allen hit back-to-back three-pointers to give the Titans a 55-52 lead with 2:37 left.
Stephaine Crosley answered with an offensive rebound and putback to cut the lead to one and after a CSU defensive stop, Klein went to work in the lane, hitting a tough leaner over a UDM defender to put the Vikings on top, 56-55, with 18 seconds left.
The Vikings got another stop and Jessica Roque knocked down two free throws, pushing the lead to three points (58-55) with 11 seconds left, but Demeisha Fambro knocked down a desperation three-pointer from the top of the key with 2.7 seconds left, sending the game into overtime. Her shot hit the backboard, bounced off the front of the rim, hit softly off the back iron and fell through.
Despite the shot, CSU dominated the overtime, scoring the first 10 points, including eight by Klein, to seize control of the game.
CSU held a commanding 41-33 advantage on the boards and wound up with 19 turnovers to Detroit's 21.
Garland finished with 11 points and three steals, while Jessica Roque scored 12 points. Crosley grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
The Vikings will be back in action on Saturday, Feb. 27, when CSU hosts Wright State at 4:30 p.m. in the regular season home finale. It will be a true doubleheader with the Viking men playing WSU at 2:00 p.m. Both games can be seen live on SportsTime Ohio.
It will also be Senior Day with Stephaine Crosley, Kailey Klein, Angel Roque and Jessica Roque being honored in a pre-game ceremony.
Saturday's game will be CSU's Pink Zone game in conjunction with the WBCA. The Pink Zone is a national breast cancer awareness initiative. The Vikings will wear pink uniforms and shoes during the contest and they will be auctioned off after the game with all proceeds benefiting the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Northeast Ohio Affiliate. In addition, the first 500 fans in attendance will receive a free pink awareness stress reliever.
