Feb. 12, 2011

Final Stats

Contact: Greg Murphy

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Shalonda Winton scored 20 points and Shawnita Garland and Destinee Blue added 13 each as Cleveland State, which was donning pink uniforms for the WBCA Pink Zone Game, earned a 69-64 win over Butler on Saturday afternoon in the Wolstein Center.

CSU improved to 14-10 overall and moved into sole possession of fourth place in the Horizon League at 7-6, while Butler fell to 15-10 overall and 9-4 in league play.

The Vikings are now just two games behind second place Butler and one and a half games behind third place Wright State (8-4).

Milwaukee (6-6) and UIC (5-6) play later tonight as both teams are also bunched in the standings.

Shawnita Garland finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and five assists, moving into seventh place on the all-time scoring list in CSU history with 1,239 points. Destinee Blue notched her second straight double-double and eighth of the season with 13 points and 11 boards, while Shalonda Winton scored a team-high 20 points and blocked three shots.

Blue dominated the first half, scoring 11 of her 13 points in the opening stanza, while Garland did a majority of her work in the second half, scoring 11 of her 13 points.

The game was close the entire second half with four ties and four lead changes and neither team leading by more than six points. A Garland jumper in the lane gave CSU a 63-58 lead with 3:53 left, but the Bulldogs used four straight free throws and an Alyssa Pittman basket to take a 64-63 lead with just over a minute to play.

On the ensuing possession, Janelle Adams drove the lane, made a floater and was fouled, completing the three point play with a free throw that gave CSU a 66-64 lead with 44 seconds left.

The Vikings got a stop on the other end and Winton split a pair of free throws to make it 67-64, giving the Bulldogs one last chance at a tie, but a deep three pointer by Brittany Bowen didn't fall and Blue hit two free throws after grabbing the rebound and being fouled to seal the win.

"We wanted to switch on everything during that final possession and not give them a good look at the basket because they were shooting the three pointer well all afternoon," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "But they were able to execute and get a good look at the basket, although it was a deep three pointer, and we were able to get one last rebound and come away with a huge win.

"This was a big win for us today because we were able to protect our home court and stay in the top four of the league standings. We wanted to be in a better flow offensively that we had been the past few games. They were using a soft press against us and I wanted to attack it and get settled into our offense and I thought we were able to do that early on."

CSU used a quick 6-0 start to take an early lead, using a layup by Garland and four points by Blue in the spurt. However, Butler used a pair of three pointers by Brittany Bowen as part of a 9-0 run that put the Bulldogs in front, 9-6, with 13:16 to play in the half.

The Vikings came back with nine unanswered points of their own with Keane supplying five and Winton four to put CSU back ahead, 15-9, with 11:04 left. The Viking lead swelled to as many as nine points (27-18) with just under five minutes left in the first half, but the Bulldogs would not let the Vikings pull away, using a pair of free throws and back-to-back three pointers to pull within one (27-26) with 3:13 left.

Blue stopped the Butler run with a layup off an offensive rebound, but Devin Brierly answered with a three pointer on the other end, the Bulldogs sixth of the half, to tie the game at 29-29. A Kaila Montgomery three pointer with 22 seconds left sent the Vikings into halftime with a 32-29 lead.

The Vikings shot .510 (26-51) from the field, including 15-of-23 (.652) in the second half.

"They switched to a zone in the second half and a full court press and we had a little bit of trouble getting into our offense and getting it to the high post," Peterson Abiad said. "But once Shay (Winton) started to get the ball in the high post, turn and attack the basket, we started to be more successful and get some good looks at the basket."

Butler managed just .311 (19-61) from the field, but did hit 10 three pointers. The Vikings were a workman-like 4-of-6 (.667) from three point.

The Vikings held a slim 38-37 advantage on the glass with Janelle Adams adding eight boards to go along with seven points and four assists.

The Vikings are back in action next week when CSU hits the road for the final time in the regular season, playing at Wright State on Thursday, Feb. 17 at 7:00 p.m. and at Detroit on Saturday (Feb. 19) at 2:00 p.m.