Feb. 5, 2008

Contact: Greg Murphy

Complete Release in PDF Format

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State will attempt to extend its overall win streak to six and home win streak to seven when the Vikings host Milwaukee on Thursday, Feb. 7, beginning at 5:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. CSU is all alone in second place in the Horizon League at 7-2, one game behind Green Bay (8-1) and one game ahead of Milwaukee (6-3). The Vikings dropped a 64-53 decision at Milwaukee on Jan. 12 and the Panthers have won 13 of the last 16 meetings in the all-time series. The game will be a doubleheader with the CSU men's team hosting Wright State at 7:30 p.m.

PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: Cleveland State has made huge strides from last season's 8-22 team, having already surpassed that win total (13-7) and standing six games over .500 after 20 games for the first time since 1983-84. With the return of four starters, the Vikings have experience at every position and a solid bench to rely on. Horizon League Player of the Year candidate Kailey Klein (19.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg) leads the league in scoring. She is joined in the backcourt by senior Brittany Korth (9.6, 4.5, 4.0 apg) and sophomore Angel Roque (6.2, 2.3 apg), who has set the defensive tone for the Vikings this season with her ball pressure out front. Junior Dominique Butler (9.7, 6.1) and senior Robyn Hoying (6.0, 3.2) have started all 20 games in the frontcourt. CSU has received tremendous production from its bench, led by sophomore forward Stephaine Crosley (5.5, 4.1) and freshman guard Shawnita Garland (4.2, 1.9). Sophomore Jessica Roque (3.9, 1.8) has received minutes in the backcourt and junior Natalie Miller (2.8, 1.6) provides depth at the wing-forward spot.

THE HEAD COACH: Kate Peterson Abiad is in her fifth year as the head coach at CSU. She claims an overall record of 41-94 and ranks third all-time in coaching victories at Cleveland State. Prior to arriving at CSU, Peterson Abiad spent six years as an assistant at Wisconsin, serving as the recruiting coordinator starting in 1998. While in Madison, she helped lead the Badgers to the NCAA Tournament three times and to the 2000 WNIT championship. She also worked at Eastern Illinois (1993-97) and Indiana (1991-93). A 1991 graduate of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, she earned Kodak All-America honors as a senior after setting the NCAA Division III record for three-point field goals per game (3.85).

HOME WIN STREAK AT SIX: The Vikings extended their home win streak to six straight with a Jan. 26 win over Youngstown State. CSU, which is 7-2 at home this season, including a perfect 5-0 in league play, has not won seven straight at home since the end of the 1997-98 season and beginning of the 1998-99 campaign. The Vikings have already surpassed their home win total from a season ago (6-9). The school-record for home wins in a season is 11, held by the 1980-81 and 1998-99 teams.

DOUBLE DIP: It's too bad the Viking basketball programs can't play all doubleheaders as the teams have combined to win all four twinbills this season, the first time in school history that the men's and women's basketball programs have won four consecutive home doubleheaders. The teams are scheduled to share just two more home dates, Feb. 7 and Feb. 9, this season with the women hosting Milwaukee and Green Bay and the men playing Wright State and Detroit.

VIKINGS SHOOT LIGHTS OUT: Cleveland State recorded the second best shooting performance in school history in Saturday's win over Valparaiso as the Vikings shot .571 (32-56) from the field. The only time a Viking team shot better from the field was Jan. 21, 1980 at Niagara when CSU shot .627 (32-51).

PERFECTION: For just the second time in school history, the Vikings did not miss a free throw in a game as CSU was 14-for-14 at the charity stripe on Saturday at Valparaiso. It was the second best performance in a single game, topped only by a 15-for-15 effort at Milwaukee on Feb. 4, 1995.

IT ADDS UP: The Vikings kept the scoreboard operater at Valparaiso busy on Saturday, scoring a season high 86 points. It was the most points scored by a Viking squad since CSU defeated Youngstown State, 88-54, on Dec. 30, 2003.

FIVE ALIVE: CSU's road sweep of Butler and Valparaiso over the weekend extended CSU's win streak to five, the longest current streak in the Horizon League. It is also the second five-game win streak this season for the Vikings, who also won five straight from Dec. 17 - Jan. 5, marking the first time in program history that CSU has put together two separate five game win streaks.

BUTLER JINX SNAPPED: The Vikings win at Butler on Thursday, Jan. 31, snapped a five-game losing streak in Hinkle Fieldhouse. In fact, it was almost six years to the date of CSU's last victory at Butler, a 79-71 win on Feb. 2, 2002.

ALL ABOUT KLEIN: With two-thirds of the season complete, Horizon League Player of the Year candidateKailey Klein has put together one of the best seasons in school history making her one of the top candidates for Horizon League Player of the Year honors. Here is a recap of some highlights from Klein's 2007-08 campaign.
• Leading the league in scoring (19.0). • Has nine 20-point games and three 30-point games, including two of her last three.
• Averaging 24.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists during CSU's five-game win streak, while shooting .551 (38-69) from the field, .526 (10-19) from three-point and .792 (38-48) at the free throw line.
• Third in the league in free throw percentage (.847), seventh in steals (1.90) and offensive rebounds (2.10), 11th in rebounding (5.5), 13th in field goal percentage (.449) and 14th in three-point FG percentage (.367) and assists (3.15).
• Named to Preseason All-Horizon League first team and Great Alaska Shootout All-Tournament team.
• Has had two separate streaks of 18 consecutive made free throws.
• Tied school-record with 15 free throws made against Ohio (11/26).
• Horizon League Scholar-Athlete of the Week (11/27).
• Went 11-for-11 at the free throw line at Colgate (12/20), the second best performance at the charity stripe in school history for a single game.
• Three-time Horizon League Player of the Week (12/31 & 1/28 & 2/4).
• Tied her career-high with 33 points at Alaska Anchorage (11/20) and at Valparaiso (2/2).
• Hit a 17-footer from the left wing at the buzzer to lift CSU over American, 65-63 (12/29).
• Recorded first career double-double versus Youngstown State (1/26).
• Has made 127 free throws, the fifth most in a single season at CSU and just seven shy of the school-record. Her 150 attempts are the 10th most in a single season at CSU.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING: CSU enters the week with several prominent winning streaks. Following is a list of what is at stake during Thursday's game against Milwaukee.
• Six consecutive home wins, the longest streak in more than 10 years.
• 7-2 in league play for the first time since 2003-04.
• Five consecutive league wins for the first time in school history.
• A five game winning streak. CSU has not won six straight since 1983-84.
• 10 wins in the last 12 games the best 12-game streak in program history.

AFTER 20: The Vikings carry a 13-7 record into Thursday's game against Milwaukee, the first time CSU has won 13 of its first 20 games since the 1983-84 team started the year with a 15-5 mark. It is only the fourth time in school history that CSU opened the season with a 13-7 record or better.

KORTH KEEPS PLAYING: Senior Brittany Korth has played in 107 career games and needs to play in 10 more to equal Juli Grant's school record of 117 career games played. Barring unforseen circumstances or injury, Korth will tie the record as CSU has nine more regular season games on the schedule and will play at least one game in the league tournament.

AND SHOOTS PAST LAST YEAR'S RECORD: Cleveland State's win at Valparaiso on Saturday improved the Vikings to 13-7 overall and 7-2 in league play, giving CSU five more overall and two more league wins than all of last season. The Vikings went 8-22 overall and 5-11 in league play last season. The 13 wins are the most for a CSU team since the 2001-02 team went 13-15.

ON THE HORIZON: Saturday's victory at Valparaiso allowed the Vikings to surpass last season's league win total (5-11) by two as CSU moved to 7-2 in the Horizon League this season, the best league start since the 2003-04 team also opened 7-2. The school-record for league wins in a season is nine, set by the 2003-04 squad (9-7).

HOYING HITS CENTURY MARK: When Robyn Hoying started Thursday's (Jan. 31) game at Butler, it marked the 100th career game for the senior. She became the second CSU player to reach that milestone this season, joining Brittany Korth who played in her 100th career gameon Jan. 5 against UIC.

SPEAKING OF KORTH: When Brittany Korth drew another starting assignment on Saturday at Valparaiso, she moved into sixth place on the all-time list at CSU for most career starts with 86. Korth needs six more starts to take over fifth place from Terri Miller who started 91 contests between 1984-88.

FOR THE RECORD: Kailey Klein didn't set any school-records with her 14-for-18 performance at the free throw line at Butler (Jan. 31), but she came awfully close. Her 14 makes were one shy of the school-record held by Deb Taylor (1/11/90; at Valparaiso) and Klein (11/26/07; vs. Ohio), while her 18 attempts are tied for the second most in a game with Sue Hlavecek (3/3/78; vs. Miami (OH)). Taylor holds the CSU record with 21 free throw attempts vs. St. Bonaventure on Jan. 4, 1992.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Kailey Klein added another first to her career on Jan. 26 when she recorded her first career double-double in a 77-64 win over Youngstown State. Klein finished with a game-high 30 points, just three shy of her career-high, and added a career-best 11 rebounds. Klein is the third CSU player to tally a double-double this season, joining Stephaine Crosley, who had 11 points and 13 rebounds at IUPUI (12/5), and Robyn Hoying, who totaled 20 points and 10 boards at Green Bay (1/10).

VIKINGS GO BACK-TO-BACK: The Vikings finished the month of January with a 6-2 (.750) record, their best mark in a month since going 9-3 (.750) in December of 1983. It was also CSU's second consecutive winning month after posting a 4-2 mark in December. It is the first time that the Vikings have recorded back-to-back winning months since November (3-1) and December (5-2) of 1999. CSU has not put together three consecutive winning months since December of 1983 through February of 1984.

ROAD SWEET ROAD: The Vikings entered the season with a 4-42 record away from the Wolstein Center over the last three seasons. But it appears that CSU has figured out how to win on the road as the Vikings have posted a respectable 6-5 mark away from Cleveland this season. LIVING AT THE LINE: CSU has dominated from the free throw line in its eight league games this season, making more free throws (132) than their opponents have combined to attempt (131).

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE: CSU is the best free throw shooting team in the league, hitting 301-of-378 attempts for a .796 percentage, a far cry from last season's .684 (425-621) percentage from the line. In fact, the Vikings, who are also ranked fifth in the nation in free throw percentage, are shooting better from the free throw line than all but three NBA teams. CSU is on pace to shatter the school-record for free throw percentage in a season, currently held by the 2000-01 squad which shot .728 (480-659). The league record for free throw percentage in a season is .801 by Green Bay last season.

.700 CLUB: The Vikings have had just three seasons (out of 34) in which they have finished with a free throw percentage better than .700. The last time it happened was the 2003-04 season when CSU hit .709 (406-573). The other two seasons were 2000-01 (480-659; .728) and 2001-02 (442-617; .716).

FREE THROWS ARE A TEAM EFFORT: The Vikings have made it a true team effort to lead the league in free throw percentage as seven players are shooting better than .700 from the line. However, only Kailey Klein ranks among the league leaders in free throw percentage, ranking third at .847 (127-150). No other player has made the minimum of 2.0 free throws per game to be ranked among the leaders. Dominique Butler is second on the team with 35 made free throws.

WHAT A START: Following a 63-60 setback at Buffalo on Dec. 15, the Vikings were just 3-5, but since that time, CSU has rattled off wins in 10 of its last 12 games to improve to 13-7. It is the first time in program history that CSU has put together a streak of 10 wins in 12 games.

DEFENSIVE MINDED: The Vikings continue to be one of the top defensive teams in the league, ranking first in opponent field goal percentage (.386) and second in steals (10.2) and scoring defense (62.0). The Vikings have allowed only four teams to shoot better than .400 from the field and have held four teams under 50 points. Last season, CSU allowed teams to shoot better than .400 on 19 occasions and better than .500 five times, while holding just three teams under 50 points.

THE BUTLER DID IT: Dominique Butler recorded three more steals last week to raise her team leading total to 52. Butler, who led the league in steals in each of her first two seasons and is ranked second this season, has swiped 180 career steals, needing five more to move into 10th place on the all-time list at CSU.

MOVING ON UP: Brittany Korth continues to move up the all-time list for career three-pointers made and attempted. Korth ranks fourth in school-history with 144 career makes and third with 515 attempts. She is seven makes shy of third place and 28 attempts short of second place. Korth is also seventh on the all-time assist list with 302 after dishing out a carer-high tying seven at Valparaiso on Saturday. Korth is 17 assists shy of taking over sixth place.

THREE BIG REASONS: When looking at the statistics, it is easy to see there are three big factors in determining when the Vikings win and when they lose. Those factors are rebounding, scoring defense and field goal defense. In 13 wins, the Vikings own a +2.2 rebounding advantage, while holding opponents to 54.4 points and .356 shooting from the field. On the other hand, CSU has a -8.4 deficit in rebounding and gives up 76.3 points on .435 shooting in seven losses this season.

DISHING IT OUT: The Vikings have been extremely generous in sharing the basketball this season, ranking second in the conference with 15.20 assists per game. CSU has recorded an assist on 68-percent of its baskets this season, including a season-high 26 assists (on 32) baskets in a win over Bradley (Nov. 21). The 26 assists are tied for the 10th most in a single game in program history.

...AND TAKING IT, TOO: The Vikings are also second in the Horizon League with 204 steals. In addition, CSU boasts three of the top seven individuals as Dominique Butler (2.60) ranks second, while Kailey Klein (1.90) is seventhand Brittany Korth (1.80) eighth. The Vikings have swiped double-digit steals in 12 contests this season, including a season-best 19 vs. Akron (Nov. 17), which were the most steals by a Viking squad since CSU recorded 19 steals against IPFW on Feb. 26, 2003.

BEYOND THE ARC: The Vikings 9-for-14 (.643) effort from three-point range against Detroit on Jan. 17 equaled the school-record for the best percentage by a CSU team. CSU also went 9-for-14 against Green Bay on Jan. 2, 2003.

NO SUSPENSE: Fifteen of CSU's 20 games have been decided by 10 points or more with the 13 wins coming by an average of 14.1 points. CSU's seven losses have been by an average of 13.9 points. The only games not decided by double figures are an 80-72 overtime loss at Alaska Anchorage (Nov. 20), a 63-60 loss at Buffalo (Dec. 15) a Dec. 29 win over American (65-63), a Jan. 5 win over UIC (66-58) and a 65-61 win at Butler (Jan. 31).

AND WE TEND TO KNOW BY HALFTIME ...: Whether CSU will win or not. After all, the Vikings are 11-2 this season when holding a lead after the first 20 minutes of action. CSU's two losses when leading at the half this season were an 80-72 overtime loss at Alaska Anchorage when the Vikings led 24-20 at halftime and a Jan. 12 loss at Milwaukee (63-52) when the Vikings held an eight-point (30-22) lead at intermission. The Vikings are just 2-5 when trailing or tied at the half with the lone wins coming Jan. 26 against Youngstown State when CSU overcame a 38-37 halftime deficit and Jan. 31 at Butler when the teams were deadlocked at 31-31 at the intermission.

WHO NEEDS BATMAN...: When you have Robyn, as in Viking senior Robyn Hoying. The Minster, Ohio native has picked up her game during league play, averaging 7.2 points and 3.8 rebounds per game. She had the best game of her career at Green Bay (1/10) when she produced career-highs in points (20) and rebounds (10) for her first career double-double. Hoying, who has hit all 14 of her free throw attempts in league play, also scored 16 points in a Jan. 26 win over Youngstown State.

SAME `OLE ROUTINE: Head coach Kate Peterson Abiad has had the luxury of using the same starting lineup for all 20 contests this season, which in turn has allowed her to define the roles of her five bench players and establish a consistent roatation with nine players averaging double digit minutes. That is a far cry from last season when injuries forced Peterson Abiad to use six starting lineups through the first 20 games.

JUMP SHOTS: CSU has posted a 13-7 mark through 20 games this season, the best start in program history since the 1983-84 season. Here are a few more highlights.
• Shawnita Garland is named the Player of the Game in the consolation game of the Great Alaska Shootout after setting career highs in points (19), rebounds (8), assists (5) and steals (5) against Bradley (11/21).
• Dominique Butler connects on 9-of-10 (.900) field goals in a loss at Miami (OH) (12/1). It is the second best effort from the field in CSU history.
• Head coach Kate Peterson Abiad moves into third place on the all-time wins list at CSU (33) as CSU defeats Colgate, 60-34, and holds the Raiders to a .255 (12-47) effort from the floor (12/21).
• CSU holds Colgate to 34 points, the lowest scoring output by a Viking opponent since a 62-24 win over Ashland on Feb. 8, 1983. It was also the second-lowest point total allowed against a Division I opponent - bettered only in a 58-27 win at Toledo on Jan. 6, 1979.

UP NEXT: CSU remains at home to host league leading Green Bay on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center.