Jan. 8, 2011

Final Stats

By: Robert Ivory

CLEVELAND, Ohio-Despite shooting 55 percent in the second half, a 33-21 half time deficit was too much to dig out of, as the Cleveland State Vikings fell 63-55 Saturday afternoon to the Green Bay Phoenix at the Wolstein Center.

Three Vikes scored in double figures, but CSU was led by their senior Shawnita Garland who had 17 points, four rebounds, and went 9-9 from the free throw line. Destinee Blue added 15 (with eight rebounds), and Janelle Adams chipped in with 12 points of her own.

Cleveland State drops to 9-6 on the year and move to 2-2 in Horizon League play, as the loss is the first on the CSU court since February of last year, snapping a nine game home win streak which had tied a school record.

"We are not big on moral victories, but I was very pleased with the way we played and went toe-to-toe with the 20th-ranked team in the country," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We battled hard and never gave up all afternoon. I thought we had a lot of good looks at the basket early on, but couldn't convert and that allowed them to get an early lead. "But once we started to hit some shots and make some adjustments, we were able to get back into the game and never let them run away from us. We faced a lot of adversity tonight and I am proud of the way we hung tough and battled all day."

The first bit of adversity came just two minutes in when junior Takima Keane was injured her ankle after missing a three point attempt from the right corner. Making her way back on the defensive end, Keane rolled her ankle on the foot of a Green Bay coach, forcing her to miss the rest of the first half.

However, she returned to play a gritty 20 minutes in the second half, finishing with seven points and tying her career-high with five assists.

CSU also battled foul trouble all day, especially the duo of Adams and Shalonda Winton. Adams eventually fouled out, while Winton finished with four.

The Vikings started the day off 0-8 shooting and had a hard time finding their shot, as they finished shooting 38% (19-50) and turned the ball over 24 times.

Green Bay was only able to muster 2-5 from the field, until Janelle Adams ran down the lane and hit the first CSU basket at the 15:39 mark, making a 6-2 Green Bay advantage. A Sarah Eichler three moments later extended the lead to 9-2 just moments later.

The shooting woes would continue as the Vikes went 1-11, until Adams knocked down another jumper. In fact, Adams would score the Vikings first six points.

The Vikings looked to settle down and went on a 8-2 run over a 1:33 span to get closer at 18-14 with 8:48 left in the half.

The Phoenix had the answers to the Vikes attack with buckets of their own, but back-to-back Destinee Blue layups and a free throw brought CSU back within four at 25-21 with 3:44 left in the half.

A Kayla Tetschlag three from on top of the arc with nine seconds to go gave the Phoenix a 33-21 halftime advantage, their biggest lead of the half.

Garland led CSU with seven points and Adams had six, despite the Vikings shooting 26.7% from the floor, and turning the ball over 12 times.

Garland and Adams led the second half attack, as the pair scored the Vikings first 12 points of the half for CSU. A pair of Garland free throws got the Vikes within nine at 40-31 with 13:00 to go.

Takima Keane found a bucket in the paint, then found Destinee Blue on the drive on the next possession to get CSU within eight, 51-43, with 9:12.

Back-to-back buckets by Destinee Blue made it 51-47 with 7:17 in the game, capping an 8-0 run over 3:27. All of the eight points on the streak were scored in the paint.

"We were able to make some adjustments in the second half and get some mismatches with Destinee underneath and she took advantage of them," Peterson Abiad said.

Om the ensuing possession, the Vikings forced Green Bay into a missed shot, but the Phoenix grabbed the offensive rebound and Hoewisch nailed a three pointer for a 54-47 lead with 5:23 left. After a Viking miss, Kayla Tetschlag made a layup to push the lead back to nine points (56-47) with 4:25 left.

The lead swelled to 11 points (60-49) with three minutes to play before a bucket by Blue and a three-pointer by Keane brought the Vikings back to within six (60-54) with 2:11 left, but CSU could get no closer.

"We played very well on the offensive end in the second half, getting a lot of easy looks at the basket," Peterson Abiad said. "But we also turned the ball over to many times and they took advantage of that on the other end."

Green Bay improves to 15-1 and 4-0 in league play.

The Vikings next head on the road with a two-game trip to Indiana. Cleveland State take on the Butler Bulldogs Thursday (Jan. 13) with tip slated for 7:00 p.m. CSU then run to Valpo for a Saturday (Jan. 15) afternoon matinee (2:35 p.m. EST) with the Crusaders.