March 14, 2010
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
GREEN BAY, Wis. - The clocks may have sprung forward one hour early today, but it's not quite midnight for the Cleveland State women's basketball team as the Vikings won their second Horizon League Championship in the last three years with a 66-57 win over Butler on Sunday afternoon in the Kress Events Center.
The win improves CSU to 19-13 overall and gives the Vikings the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament for the second time in the last three seasons. The official announcement will come on Monday (March 14) at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN.
Senior Kailey Klein capped one of the most dominant performances in league tournament history with her 16th career double-double of 23 points and 10 rebounds. She finished the three game tournament with 80 points, the most by a player in league tournament history, besting the old mark by seven points.
Klein was named the U.S. Army Player of the Game for the third time in the tournament and was also named the MVP of the league tournament for the second time in her career (2008).
Jessica Roque added 16 points, including a perfect 4-for-4 effort from three-point as the Vikings hit 7-of-13 overall for the game.
Shawnita Garland added 16 points and seven rebounds, joining Klein on the all-tournament team.
"We started out the season by talking about this moment," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We wanted to win the regular season title, but hit a little bump in the road midseason. We kept battling through and worked hard and really peaked at the right time.
"When it was time to play, it was really the four seniors that put us on their backs and refused to let us lose and I couldn't be happier for them. They came into the program a year after we won four games and they have made such a difference in putting this program on the map and will now play in two NCAA tournaments."
The senior quartet of Klein, Stephaine Crosley, Angel Roque and Jessica Roque have now been part of 65 career wins at CSU, tied for the most by a senior class in school history.
"That group has helped start a new tradition of women's basketball at Cleveland State," Peterson Abiad said. "They have made a name for the program and continued to do special things throughout their careers."
Despite playing a tough, hard-fought overtime contest against top-seeded Green Bay on Friday night, Peterson Abiad kept her starters on the floor for 196 of a possible 200 minutes, including 40 minute efforts from Garland, Klein and Angel Roque.
"Who else would you want on the floor in a game like this or a situation like this," Peterson Abiad said. "I didn't think they needed a break and the adrenaline we had really carried us throughout this tournament."
CSU raced out to a 20-9 lead 13 minutes in and maintained a double digit lead (30-20) at the half.
"We came out strong and really defended how we talked about defending," Peterson Abiad said. "Butler is a great team and we knew a 10 point lead at the half wasn't going to be safe and that they would make a run."
The run didn't come to start the half as the Vikings pushed the lead to a game-high 15 points (45-30) on a Garland jumper with 11:57 left. The lead was still nine points (52-43) with 6:24 to play, but that's when the Bulldogs got hot.
Terra Burns nailed a three-pointer and after a Klein layup, Alyssa Pittman and Melanie Thornton made back-to-back baskets to slice the lead to four points (54-50) with 4:31 left. After a Pittman free throw cut the lead to three points, Jessica Roque responded with her fourth three-pointer of the game with 3:12 on the clock to push the lead back to six (57-51).
"I came out shooting the ball well and realized when I got the ball in that situation that I hadn't taken a three-pointer in the second half," Roque said. "So I just let it fly and it went it."
The teams traded baskets and CSU led by four (61-57) with 1:12 left and after a CSU miss, the Vikings got a stop on the defensive end and Janelle Adams hit two free throws to extend the lead to six. CSU forced a turnover on the next possession, leading to a Garland breakaway layup that iced the game with 18 seconds left.
"We knew Butler was going to make a run in the second half, but when they did, we were able to keep our composure and make enough plays to keep the lead," Peterson Abiad said.
Thornton led Butler with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Pittman scored 18.
Thornton and Susan Lester of Butler and Kayla Tetschlag of Green Bay joined Klein and Garland on the all-tournament team.
