NEW ORLEANS, La. – The Cleveland State women's basketball team closed out play at the Big Easy Classic Saturday, picking up a 79-52 victory over Lamar. With the win, the Vikings are now 5-2 on the season, and went 2-0 at the Big Easy Classic this weekend.

Game Stats
-Four Vikings finished with double-digit points, including Mickayla Perdue with a team-best 26 points. Destiny Leo and Sara Guerreiro both finished with 14 points, while Jordana Reisma chipped in 13.
-Destiny Leo finished with a team-best nine rebounds, while Sara Guerreiro grabbed six and Jordana Reisma posted five boards.
-Cleveland State combined for 17 assists on the game, including seven from Sara Guerreiro and five from Mickayla Perdue.
-The Viking defense recorded 14 steals on the day, including four from Mickayla Perdue and Sara Guerreiro.

Game Notes
-Saturday's game marked the 100^th career game for Destiny Leo in a Cleveland State uniform.
-Mickayla Perdue recorded her fifth 20-point game of the season after posting 26 against Lamar.
-The 14 steals on the day marked the first time that the Vikings have recorded double-digit steals this year.
-Saturday's game marked the fifth time that the Vikings have tallied 15+ assists this season.

The Game
Cleveland State was once again able to jump out to a quick lead during the opening quarter, as a 6-0 stretch midway through the frame put the Vikings up 10-7 on a Macey Fegan layup. Although Lamar stopped the CSU run on their next possession, the Vikings responded by closing out the quarter with a 9-0 run, including a Destiny Leo three-pointer with just three seconds left on the clock to take a 19-9 lead into the second frame.

The Vikings quickly added to their lead to begin the second quarter then, as a Perdue steal and layup put the score at 21-9 less then 30 seconds into the frame. Despite Lamar trimming the lead to single digits midway through the quarter, another Fegan layup at the 3:49 mark spurred a 6-0 CSU run that put the Vikings back up by double-digits at 33-21, before taking a 37-23 advantage into the halftime break.

The two teams then traded baskets over the start of the third quarter, until a 12-0 run late in the frame – including a stretch of three straight three-pointers from Leo and Perdue – extended Cleveland State's lead to 20+ points, with the Vikings eventually taking a 65-38 lead into the final 10 minutes of play.

After outscoring Lamar 28-15 during the third quarter, Cleveland State went on to control play throughout the final frame, with another Leo three-pointer putting the Vikings up by 31 points at 76-45 midway through the quarter, before CSU eventually came away with the 79-52 victory.

Up Next
Cleveland State will begin Horizon League play with two games next week, hosting Northern Kentucky on Wednesday, December 4 and IU Indy on Saturday, December 7.