March 15, 2008

Final Stats

Contact: Greg Murphy

GREEN BAY, Wis. - Robyn Hoying scored a career-high 22 points and was one of five Cleveland State players in double figures as the fourth-seeded Vikings advanced to the Horizon League Championship for the first time since 1999-00 with a 90-66 victory over top-seeded Green Bay on Friday night in the Kress Events Center.

The Vikings advance to the Horizon League Championship game and will square off with second-seeded Wright State at 12:00 p.m. CST in the Kress Events Center. The game will be televised live on ESPNU.

The Raiders defeated third-seeded Milwaukee, 57-55, in the first semifinal.

"Our team is peaking at the right time and this was our best performance of the season against a team that we have had limited success against," head coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. "This win changes the face of Cleveland State basketball. It is the biggest win since I have been here."

The win improves CSU to 18-13 this season with the 18 wins being the third most in school-history and the most since the 1983-84 team won 19.

Kailey Klein finished with 18 points, while Dominique Butler chipped in 14 points and eight boards. Jessica Roque added 14 points off the bench, while Brittany Korth tallied her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

The Vikings shot a season-best .596 (31-52) from the field, the second best percentage in school-history. CSU also nailed 13-of-25 (.520) from three-point, including a 6-for-8 effort by Hoying.

Lavesa Glover led the Phoenix with 17 points and Kati Harty added 15.

The Vikings got off to a quick start as Butler scored the first six points of the game to give CSU a quick 6-0. Green Bay rallied to take a 9-7 lead with 13:36 remaining in the half. From there, the game featured two lead changes and three ties, including the final time at 21-21 on a Klein three-pointer with 7:07 left.

From there, CSU closed the half on a 21-5 run, which included four three-pointers, including two from Hoying, as CSU opened up a 42-26 lead at the half.

CSU shot .615 (16-26) in the first half, including a sizzling 6-of-10 (.600) from three-point.

The Phoenix battled back at the start of the second half behind the play of Glover inside as the junior scored eight quick points to help Green Bay slice its deficit to seven points (44-37) four minutes into the half.

But Klein and Hoying hit consecutive three-pointers to extend the lead back to 13 points. Green Bay would attempt to make several runs and cut the lead to 11 points five times in the second half, but the Vikings had an answer each time.

Green Bay trailed 68-57 following a three-pointer from Erin Templin with nine minutes left, but 12 straight points by the Vikings put the game out of reach as Green Bay would not get closer than 18 points the rest of the way.

CSU claimed a +11 (33-22) rebounding margin, while outscoring the Phoenix bench, 20-3. In addition, the Vikings outscored Green Bay in the paint, 30-24.