Jan. 20, 2011
Final Stats |
Notes
By: Robert Ivory
CLEVELAND, Ohio- Shawnita Garland scored a career-high 33 points as the CSU Vikings held off a late University of Detroit Mercy run to beat the Titans 61-51 Thursday night at the Wolstein Center.
Garland's career-high night came aided by eight three-point baskets, which breaks a Cleveland State single-game record. Amazingly, Garland went eight-for-eight from beyond the arc.
Destinee Blue helped with 11 points of her own and Shalonda Winton scored four points, but added 11 rebounds.
Cleveland State moves to 11-7 on the year and 4-3 in the league.
After Garland hit an opening three from the right side, Garland hit another from the left side, helping CSU climb to an 8-2 run in the opening three and a half minutes.
Garland would help herself to another three and started the night 6-6 from three-point land. Destinee Blue collected the rebound from a Janelle Adams fade away jumper, put the rebound back up and helped the Vikings to a healthy 13-4 lead.
Janelle Adams hit a wide-open layup from Shalonda Winton to get the Vikings out to a 22-9 lead with 9:40 left in the half, and the Vikes biggest lead to that point.
CSU shot 55% or better throughout the half and led by as many as 18 in the opening half.
After Honesty King hit a three pointer from the left-hand corner, The Titans went on a 7-1 run over the last three minutes to close the half at 30-18.
The halftime story was the play of senior Shawnita Garland. Garland hit six of her 10 shots, went 4-4 from three pointers, grabbed four rebounds, and had an assist and a block to lead the Vikes.
Garland started the second half off much like she did in the first, as she knocked down a three from the top right hand side of the arc to give the Vikes a 33-20 lead.
The turnovers hurt the Vikings in the half and let Detroit back into the game. CSU turned the ball over three times in the first five minutes and the Titans made it a 33-23 ballgame.
Dominique Dixon led the charge for the Titans, as her early baskets her bring UDM closer to the Vikings.
After the Vikes turned the ball over nine times in the first half, CSU gave the ball up often in the second, but Garland helped the Vikes keep the lead after her career-high sixth three pointer to make it 38-26 CSU with 12:20 left
Detroit answered with two threes of their own and got the CSU lead to six with 10:52 left to go.
Blue and Garland would be the only Viking scorers for most of the second half, as the pair scored the first 11 points for the Vikings.
Detroit got within four after a Thornton three (41-37) as CSU was unable to find their shot, going almost three minutes without a basket, until Honesty King hit a layup to extend the Viking lead to six with six minutes to go.
Garland hit her seventh straight three pointer to make it 46-39. The three tied the CSU single game record of three pointers in a game.
CSU finished with 22 turnovers, but 13 of those were committed in the second half.
That basket seemed to ignite the Vikings as Winton grabbed a UDM rebound and put the jumper in on the other side of the paint to give CSU a nine-point advantage.
Garland would be sent to the free-throw line and collected her 26th and 27th points of the night. The Vikings were able to stretch their lead out to as much as 13 with a pair of Blue free throws with two minutes left to play.
Garland hit her final three from the right hand corner to break the single-game record and set her career-high in scoring.
CSU finished the night shooting 46% and held UDM to 28.6 %.
UDM falls to 8-9 and 2-4 in the league.
The Vikings close out their brief two-game home stand Saturday afternoon against Wright State starting at 4:00 p.m. at the Wolstein Center. It will be game two of a doubleheader as the men's team takes on the Raiders at 2:00 p.m.
