Dec. 11, 2009

Contact: Greg Murphy

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GAME #8
Cleveland State (2-5) at Niagara (2-7)
Date: Sunday, Dec. 13, 2009
Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
Site: Gallagher Arena (2,400) - Niagara, N.Y.
TV: None
Audio: Live audio available online at CSUVikings.com (David Wilson)
Series: CSU leads, 12-8
Last Mtg: @CSU 80, NU 61 (12/21/08)
Tickets: Available at site

Complete Release in PDF Format

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State returns to action on Sunday (Dec. 13) when the Vikings travel to Niagara for a 2:00 p.m. contest. CSU has not played since a 71-56 setback at Kent State on Saturday (Dec. 5), taking this week off for final exams. After defeating Ohio, 56-34, in the season opener, the Vikings have lost five of their last six games and enter the contest at 2-5 overall. Niagara, which lost its first six games of the season, had its two-game win streak snapped on Thursday (Dec. 11) night with a 70-48 loss at Hofstra. The Purple Eagles are 2-7 overall this season.

PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: With four starters and eight letterwinners back from last year's 19 win team, seventh year head coach Kate Peterson Abiad has her most experienced squad to date. Headlining the list of returnees is senior guard and the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year, Kailey Klein (12.4 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 1.3 apg). Joining her in the starting backcourt are senior Jessica Roque (9.7, 2.6, 3.3) and junior Shawnita Garland (9.7, 3.7, 3.6), who joined Klein on the preseason all-league first team. Senior Angel Roque (6.4, 2.7, 2.3) gives the Vikings an experienced point guard, while freshman Honesty King (7.0 ppg) is working her way into the rotation after redshirting last season. Sophomore Janelle Adams (5.0, 6.1) is an athletic wing-forward who is being counted on to fill a bigger role this season and sophomore guard Takima Keane (1.5) will attempt to build upon last season. Senior Stephaine Crosley (6.7, 4.2) is the most experienced post player on the roster after starting 31 games last season and is joined in the starting frontcourt by freshman Shalonda Winton (7.7, 7.1). Sophomore Destinee Blue (2.3, 2.6) provides CSU with a low post presence off the bench, while freshman Kaila Montgomery is working her way back from a knee injury and should be ready to contribute in the next week or two.

HEAD COACH Kate Peterson ABIAD: Kate Peterson Abiad is in her seventh season as the head coach of the Vikings and claims an overall record of 68-117 (.368) after leading the Vikings to 19 wins in each of the last two seasons. The sixth head coach in school-history, Peterson Abiad spent six years as an assistant coach at Wisconsin, serving as the recruiting coordinator starting in 1998 after working as an assistant coach at Eastern Illinois (1993-97) and Indiana (1991-93). A 1991 graduate of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, Peterson Abiad earned Kodak All-America honors her senior season after setting the NCAA Division III record for three-point field goals per game at 3.85.

CROSLEY'S BIG WEEK: Senior Stephaine Crosley enjoyed a big week last week, averaging 11.5 points and 5.5 rebounds in CSU's two contests. She opened the week with a 14 point, six rebound effort against Marshall on Wednesday (Dec. 2), one point shy of equaling her career high scoring total. Crosley then recorded nine points, five rebounds and three steals in Saturday's (Dec. 5) loss at Kent State.

KING ME: After redshirting last season and missing the first four games due to an ankle injury, freshman guard Honesty King made her collegiate debut by playing 23 minutes in the two contests last week. The Elyria, Ohio, native averaged 7.0 points, hitting 6-of-14 (.429) from the field. In her first career contest, King scored two points in eight minutes, while running the offense as the point guard. In Saturday's game at Kent State, King scored for 12 points.

WINTON PASSES HER BOARDS: Freshman Shalonda Winton has done a more than admirable job for the Vikings in her first season, especially on the glass where she leads the team and ranks eighth in the Horizon League with 7.7 rebounds per game. Winton, who has grabbed at least five rebounds in every game this season, registered nine rebounds in the season opener against Ohio and bested that career high with 11 rebounds at Kent State on Saturday (Dec. 5).

CLOSING IN ON 1,000 POINTS: Senior Jessica Roque enters Sunday's contest with 826 career points, needing 174 more to become the 22nd player in school history to reach the career 1,000 point mark. With at least 23 games left this season, Roque needs to average 7.6 points per game to reach the mark. She is currently tied for second on the team at 9.7 points per night.

ROQUE EN FUEGO IN MEXICO: Jessica Roque did a majority of her damage against Iona (Nov. 27) from behind the three-point line, connecting on a school-record tying seven three pointers in eight attempts. Her .875 (7-8) percentage from beyond the arc was a CSU single game record, while Roque's seven three pointers were the most by a Viking player since Omega Harrington hit seven against Green Bay on Jan. 16, 2006.

... AND TWIN SISTER SETS CAREER HIGH: Angel Roque set a career-high with 16 points on Wednesday (Dec. 2) night against Marshall. She hit 4-of-5 from three point to best her old career high of 15 points against Green Bay as a sophomore.

FROM DOWNTOWN: One area that the Vikings have excelled at this season has been three point shooting as CSU leads the Horizon League and ranks 72nd in the nation with 6.4 trifectas per game. CSU hit a season-high nine three-pointers against Iona. Individually, Jessica Roque is fifth in the league with 2.0 three pointers made per game.

GAME NO. 102 NEXT FOR KLEIN & ROQUE: When seniors Kailey Klein and Jessica Roque take the court on Sunday afternoon at Niagara, it will be the 102nd game in each of their CSU careers. With at least 23 games left this season, the duo is on pace to break the school record for games played in a career, currently 120 by Brittany Korth (2004-08).

... AND START NO. 89 NEXT FOR KLEIN: When Kailey Klein is announced as a starter for Sunday's game, it will be her 89th consecutive start after she came off the bench for the first 13 contests of her career. The 89 starts are the eighth most in program history, two shy of seventh place.

ADAMS MAKES FIRST CAREER START: Sophomore Janelle Adams was pressed into the starting lineup for the first time in her career against Iona (Nov. 27) when Stephaine Crosley could not play due to an ankle injury. Adams finished with three points, but grabbed a career-high nine rebounds to help the undersized Vikings win the battle on the glass, 38-34. Adams made her second straight start on against Marshall (Dec. 5), but was back to coming off the bench against Kent State.

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE (THROWS): One huge discrepency in CSU's statistics this season has been at the free throw line where the Vikings have gone 90-of-141. In stark contrast, their opponents have taken just 95 total attempts, making 62.

KLEIN SCHOOL RECORD SCORING WATCH: With her 14 point effort versus Marshall on Dec. 2, Kailey Klein raised her career scoring total to 1,601 points, needing just 251 to break the CSU career scoring record held by Dianne Foster. Klein is also attempting to become the only player in school history to score at least 500 points in three separate seasons. She scored a school-record 654 points as a sophomore and 542 last year.

2K FOR DOUBLE K: Kailey Klein is 399 points shy of becoming just the third player in Horizon League history to score 2,000 career points. Former Milwaukee standout Traci Edwards (2005-09) is the all-time leading scorer in league history with 2,340 points, while former Butler great Julie VonDielingen (1989-93) ranks second in the Horizon League annals with 2,018 points.

GARLAND SHOWCASING ALL AROUND SKILLS: Junior Shawnita Garland is proving that he selection to the preseason All-Horizon League first team was worthy as she ranks second on the team in scoring (9.7), leads the squad in assists (3.6) and steals (1.9), while also ranking fifth in rebounding (3.7). Garland, who scored just six points in CSU's first two games while fighting an ankle injury, has averaged 12.4 points per game over the last five contests, including a career-high tying 23 point outburst at Wisconsin (Nov. 22)

1,500 POINTS & 500 BOARDS: With her seven rebounds at Toledo on Nov. 15 senior Kailey Klein became just the fourth player in school history to record 1,500 points and 500 rebounds for a career. Klein who now has 1,601 points and 521 rebounds, joins Dianne Foster, Audra Cook and Debra Taylor as the only players to accomplish the feat in program history.

... AND 500 FIELD GOALS: Kailey Klein's eighth and final field goal in Mexico proved to be a memorable one as it was the 500th made field goal of her career. She became just the eighth player in school history to make 500 field goals and is just 35 makes shy of moving past Mary Petrecca (1982-86)into fourth place on the all-time list at CSU.

SHE'S A FRESHMAN: Freshman Shalonda Winton has had a great start to her career, ranking fourth on the team in scoring (8.3) and second on the team and ninth in the league in rebounding (6.5). Winton's best game to date was the season opener against Ohio when she finished just short of a double-double with 16 points and nine rebounds.

KLEIN AFTER FOURTH SCORING CROWN: Kailey Klein is attempting to become the second player in school history to lead the team in scoring in four straight seasons. Klein, who averaged 11.0 points as a freshman, 19.9 points as a sophomore and 16.9 last season, would join Debra Taylor (1987-91) as the only players in school history with four straight scoring titles.

KLEIN PASSES 3,000 MINUTE MARK: Kailey Klein surpassed the 3,000 minute mark for her career against Marquette (Nov. 26) and has now logged 3,114 minutes during her career. She is the only player in school history to play more than 1,000 minutes during two separate seasons, playing 1,099 minutes as a sophomore and 1,127 as a junior. Those totals rank third and second, respectively, for most minutes played in a single season in program history. Klein is averaging a team-high 30.8 minutes per game through the first seven contests, putting her well on pace to log more than 1,000 minutes for the third consecutive season.

KLEIN AT THE LINE: After not going to the free throw line in the season opener vs. Ohio, senior Kailey Klein has taken 29 trips (16-29) to the line over the last six contests. That has allowed her to extend her school record for free throws made (469) and free throws attempted (599). The 13 misses this season are out of the ordinary for Klein, who ranks fifth in school-history in all-time free throw percentage (.783).

FOR OPENERS: The win over Ohio (Nov. 13) marked the first time that Cleveland State won its season opener since a 106-58 victory over Chicago State on Nov. 16, 1998, a span of 11 seasons. CSU is now 13-23 all-time in season openers, including 1-6 under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN: After playing their season opener at home, the Vikings are spending a majority of the next month on the road, playing six of their next seven games away from home. The only home game during that stretch came on Wednesday (Dec. 5) when CSU hosted Marshall.

THE DEFENSE DOES NOT REST: Cleveland State's defense was at its best against Ohio on Nov. 13, holding the Bobcats to 34 points and just 13 field goals on 44 attempts (.295). The 34 points given up were the fewest by a Viking team since a 62-24 win over Ashland on Feb. 8, 1983.

KLEIN NAMED PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Kailey Klein was selected as the 2009-10 Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year in voting conducted by the league head coaches, sports information directors and select media. Klein, a two-time first team All-Horizon League pick, was the co-Player of the Year last season and the runner-up for top league honors as a sophomore. She is the third player in school history to earn preseason Player of the Year accolades, joining Mahogany Green (2000-01) and Audra Cook (1999-00). Cook went on to capture postseason honors and Green was a first team all-league pick.

GARLAND ON PRESEASON ALL-LEAGUE FIRST TEAM: Junior Shawnita Garland joined Klein on the preseason All-Horizon League first team, making the Vikings the only team with two first team picks. Garland had a breakout season last year, finishing second in the league in steals (2.8), fifth in three-point field goal percentage (.390), sixth in scoring (12.4), seventh in field goal percentage (.517) and ninth in minutes played (32.3) en route to earning second team all-league accolades.

VIKINGS SECOND IN PRESEASON POLL: Cleveland State was picked to finish second in the Horizon League Preseason poll, the highest finish in the poll in school history. The Vikings received four first place votes and 243 points to finish behind Green Bay, who earned 266 points and 19 first place votes. Butler picked up three first place votes and 234 points to finish third, while UIC was fourth with 160 points and Milwaukee fifth with 155 points and the final first place vote. Valparaiso (145 points), Wright State (126), Detroit (103), Loyola (78) and Youngstown State (30) rounded out the poll.

BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK: A winning season this year will give the Vikings their third straight, a feat that has never been accomplished in school history. CSU has had back-to-back winning seasons only four times in program history and the consecutive winning seasons in 2007-08 and 2008-09 marked the first time in 25 years that CSU accomplished the feat.

VIKINGS PLAY FOUR DOUBLEHEADERS: The Vikings will play four doubleheaders with the men's basketball team this season. The first will come on Saturday (Dec. 19) with the women hosting Indiana and the men entertaining West Virginia. The second was just added when the women's game against Youngstown State was moved up one day to Friday, Jan. 22, as the men play Green Bay that night. The other two doubleheaders will be league contests with both teams playing Detroit on Thursday (Feb. 25) and Wright State on Saturday (Feb. 27). Over the last two seasons, the squads have combined to go 19-3 in doubleheaders with the women owning a 9-2 mark and the men going 10-1.

UP NEXT: CSU is back in action on Saturday (Dec. 19) when the Vikings return home to host Indiana at 4:30 p.m. It will be the first doubleheader of the season with the CSU men's squad hosting West Virginia at 2:00 p.m. CSU then closes its pre-holiday schedule with a 1:30 p.m. contest against Lake Erie on Wednesday (Dec. 23).