March 10, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ohio - Kailey Klein was one of four players in double figures with 29 points and fourth-seeded Cleveland State advanced to the Horizon League semifinals with a 78-72 victory over fifth-seeded UIC on Wednesday night in the Wolstein Center.
The Vikings improved to 17-13 overall and advanced to the semifinals of the league tournament for the third straight season. CSU will play at top-seeded Green Bay in Friday's second semifinal at 9:00 p.m. EST. Second-seeded Butler and third-seeded Detroit will meet in the other semifinal.
UWGB defeated Milwaukee, 72-48, in another semifinal tonight.
CSU and Green Bay are the only teams in the Horizon League who have played in the last three semifinals.
Klein scored her 29 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field, including 3-of-8 from three-point. She also made 10-of-11 from the free throw line. She was named the U.S. Army Player of the Game.
Shalonda Winton scored 14 points with five rebounds off the bench, while Shawnita Garland added 10 points, nine rebounds and five steals.
"Kailey stepped up for us and made a lot of big plays," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "And Shay Shay really settled into the game and and got some nice, easy looks at the basket.
"Two other players that I want to single out are Shawnita Garland and Angel Roque. Shawnita played a great all-around game and her hustle and extra efforts got us several loose balls and extra possessions.
"I thought we did a great job taking care of the ball, especially in the second half when we only turned it over one time. We followed our game plan in the second half, got the basket and the free throw line and made the most of our possessions."
The Flames opened up a 10 point lead (18-8) with 11:13 to play in the first half on a Lauren Gatto layup. However, CSU answered with an 18-7 run over the next seven minutes to take a 26-25 lead on Klein's basket with 4:14 on the clock.
Klein keyed the run with seven points.
However, the Flames came right back, scoring six consecutive points to regain a 31-26 with 2:44 to play in the half. After two Klein free throws, UIC used back-to-back buckets from Briana Hinkle and Jasmine Bailey to take a 35-28 lead with 56 seconds to play. Klein answered with a three-point play on the other end to slice the lead back to four, but Jessie Miller hit a jumper with 17 seconds left to give UIC a 37-31 lead at the half.
"They shot the ball extremely well in the first half," Peterson Abiad said. "UIC is a very good team, but we have a veteran team that has been here before. I never sensed any panic from our girls and they knew that they were eventually going to make a run."
UIC shot a blistering .552 (16-29) from the field in the first half, while holding CSU to an 11-for-28 (.393) effort.
The Flames maintained a six point advantage (45-39) five minutes into the second half, but Klein hit consecutive three pointers to knot the game at 45-45 with 14:09 to play in the game. After Shameia Green split a pair of free throws, the Vikings knocked down six straight free throws and Klein made a layup to give CSU a five point lead (51-46) with 11:08 left.
The lead would swell to eight points (60-52) on a Garland jumper from the wing with 8:02 left, but the Flames would not go away as Miller hit a three-pointer on the next possession to bring UIC back within five (60-55) with 7:41 left.
CSU again extended the lead to eight points (68-60) on a Winton layup inside, but the Flames again hung around, scoring the next two baskets to pull back within four. After two CSU free throws, Bailey hit a jumper to pull UIC back within four with 1:22 left, but Klein answered on the other end with a 15-footer.
Following a UIC miss, Winton was fouled and hit one of two free throws to extend the lead to seven (73-66) with 48 seconds to play, but Miller responded with a three-pointer on the other end. Garland answered with two free throws, but once again UIC had an answer as Taylor Foulks nailed a three-pointer to make it a three-point game (75-72) with 28 seconds left.
Forced to foul, UIC sent Klein to the line who hit both free throws and Miller couldn't hit a three-pointer on the other end as CSU held off the Flames.
"UIC is one of the best shooting teams in the league and they proved it tonight, especially with those three's at the end of the game," Peterson Abiad said. "But I am so proud of the way my team battled and hung tough tonight and love their determination and confidence that they displayed out there."
CSU committed a season-low eight turnovers.
Bailey led the Flames with 27 points.
