Feb. 16, 2008

Final Stats

Contact: Greg Murphy

DETROIT, Mich. - Kailey Klein tied her career-high with 33 points, the fourth time she reached the plateau in her career, but it was not enough as Cleveland State could not overcome full-court pressure from Detroit, falling, 68-57, to the Titans in Horizon League action Saturday afternoon in Calihan Hall.

CSU, which has lost three straight for the first time this season, drops to 14-10 overall and 8-5 in league play, while Detroit improved to 4-19 overall and won for the first time in league action this season (1-11).

"Detroit is a much better team than when we played them the first time," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "And they hit some really big shots.

"We knew they were going to come out and press us and we didn't handle it very well," Peterson Abiad continued. "We had a lot of unforced turnovers that they took advantage of. We had a chance to really give ourselves a cushion for second place in the league, but didn't take advantage of it."

Klein, who was the lone Viking in double-figures, added a game-high seven rebounds. She hit 11-of-18 from the field, including a pair of three-pointers, and was 9-of-12 from the free throw line.

Dominique Butler scored eight points and grabbed four rebounds for CSU.

Chanica Hall led four Titans in double-digits with 15, while Zemora Davis added 14 points off the bench. Gabi Hungerford finished with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from three-point, while India Bruster tallied 10 points and six rebounds.

Using a full-court press throughout the contest, Detroit forced 24 Viking turnovers and converted them into 32 points. The Titans were outrebounded, 32-28, but hit 6-of-11 (.545) from three-point and 25-of-55 (.455) from the field.

CSU was 20-of-47 (.426) from the field, but just 6-of-23 (.261) from three-point.

The Vikings opened the game quickly, jumping out to an 11-2 lead just four minutes into the contest as Klein scored eight quick points. However, the Titans employed a full-court press that slowed down the Viking attack and allowed Detroit to gradually crawl back into the game.

UDM sliced into the lead and took its first lead of the first half (19-18) when Sandi Brown converted a layup with 7:58 to play in the half. A layup by Stephaine Crosley on CSU's next possession gave the Vikings a one-point lead, but the Titans scored six straight points to assume its largest lead of the half (26-20) with 4:49 to play before CSU managed to cut the halftime lead to 30-27.

CSU started the second half on a 12-2 run over the first five minutes to assume a five-point margin (39-34). However, Detroit had another answer, going on a 17-2 run to take a 10-point advantage (51-41) with 9:05 to play.

The Vikings responded with back-to-back three-pointers from Klein and Jessica Roque and when Klein split a pair of free throws, CSU trailed by just three with 7:34 to go.

But once again, the Titans fought back, scoring nine of the next 11 points to regain a 10-point lead (60-50) with 5:18 left. CSU could get no closer than four points the rest of the afternoon as Detroit hit all six of its free throws down the stretch.

CSU will return to action when the Vikings conclude a three-game roadtrip on Saturday, Feb. 23, with a 2:00 p.m. contest at Youngstown State.