March 19, 2011
Final Stats
Contact: Greg Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Cleveland State women's basketball team had its season come to an end with a 68-50 setback to Chicago State in the quarterfinals of the Women's Basketball Invitational on Saturday afternoon in the Wolstein Center.
The Vikings conclude the season at 21-12 overall, the second most wins in school history and just the second 20 win season at CSU.
The Cougars improved to 24-9 and advance to the semifinals of the WBI.
"This was a disappointing way for us to end the season, especially because we had been playing some pretty good basketball," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "We just picked a bad time to play one of our worst games of the year.
"They did a good job of disrupting our offense with their zone defense. They have a lot of size and length and took us out of rhythm for most of the game."
Playing her final game in a CSU uniform, senior Shawnita Garland tallied a double-double with 10 points and a career-high 13 rebounds. She finished her career ranked fifth on the all-time scoring chart at CSU with 1,468 points.
Garland, who leaves the program as the winningest senior in school history with 77 wins, is also third on the all-time steals chart at CSU with 315.
"Shawn has worked so hard during her career to help turn this program around and I am so proud of what she has been able to accomplish during her career," Peterson Abiad said. "She is one of the top all-around players to ever play at Cleveland State."
The afternoon started well for CSU as the Vikings took a 21-12 lead midway through the first half on a three pointer by Takima Keane. However, an 12-0 run by the Cougars gave them a 23-21 lead with 3:53 left.
Garland stopped the run with a three pointer on the other end, but an 8-2 run to close the half gave Chicago State a 31-26 lead at the half.
The Cougars opened the second half on a 13-3 run over the first five minutes to take a 44-29 lead at the 15:23 mark and CSU could not get the deficit under double figures the rest of the day.
Destinee Blue had 15 points and nine boards for the Vikings, while Haley Schmitt chipped in six points and five rebounds off the bench.
The Cougars had balanced scoring with five players in double figures, led by 15 points from Courtney Waldon.
