Feb. 8, 2008

Contact: Greg Murphy

Complete Release in PDF Format

SETTING THE SCENE: First place in the Horizon League will be on the line on Saturday, Feb. 9, when second place Cleveland State (14-7, 8-2) hosts league leading Green Bay (17-4, 9-1) beginning at 1:00 p.m. in the Wolstein Center. Green Bay has dominated the all-time series, 42-3, including an 87-61 win in Green Bay on Jan. 10. Saturday's game will be the final doubleheader of the season as the CSU men will host Detroit at 5:30 p.m. The 33rd annual Hall of Fame Induction ceremony will take place between the two games on the fourth floor of the Wolstein Center.

PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: Cleveland State has made huge strides from last season's 8-22 team, having already surpassed that win total (14-7) and standing seven 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 (18.9 ppg, 5.5 rpg) leads the league in scoring. She is joined in the backcourt by senior Brittany Korth (9.5, 4.6, 3.9 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 (10.0, 6.0) and senior Robyn Hoying (6.2, 3.3) have started all 21 games in the frontcourt. CSU has received tremendous production from its bench, led by sophomore forward Stephaine Crosley (5.4, 4.3) and freshman guard Shawnita Garland (4.2, 1.9). Sophomore Jessica Roque (4.0, 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 42-94 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).

TALE OF THE TURNOVER: Over the last four games, CSU has done a much better job of taking care of the basketball, turning the ball over just 12.3 times per game. The Vikings have had 15 or fewer turnovers in each of these contests, including a season-low nine in Thursday's win over Milwaukee. Over the first 17 games, CSU averaged 19.3 turnovers per game and had eight games with 20 or more miscues.

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 won four consecutive home doubleheaders before the streak was snapped on Thursday as the men's team fell to Wright State. The teams are scheduled to share just one more home date this season with the women hosting Green Bay and the men playing Detroit on Saturday.

VIKINGS SHOOT LIGHTS OUT: Cleveland State recorded the second best shooting performance in school history in a Feb. 2 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).

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. Here are some highlights from Klein's 2007-08 campaign.
• Leading the league and is 18th in the country in scoring (18.9) by tallying double figures in 19 of the 21 games.
• Has nine 20-point games and three 30-point efforts, including in two of her last four.
• Averaging 23.7 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.5 assists during CSU's six-game win streak, shooting .529 (45-85) from the field, .458 (11-24) from three-point and .804 (41-51) at the free throw line.
• Third in the league in free throw percentage (.850), sixth in steals (1.86), seventh in offensive rebounds (2.14), eighth in assists (3.29), 12th in rebounding (5.5), 13th in field goal percentage (.449) and three-point FG percentage (.354) and 15th in assist-to-turnover ratio (0.93).
• 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) and January Scholar-Athlete of the Month.
• 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 jumper at the buzzer to lift CSU over American, 65-63 (12/29).
• Recorded first career double-double versus Youngstown State (1/26) with 30 points and career-high 11 rebounds.
• Has made 130 free throws, the second most in a single season at CSU, three shy of the school-record. Her 153 attempts are eighth most in a season at CSU.

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.

AND START FAST IN FEBRUARY: CSU is off to a quick start in its attempt to earn its third straight winning month as the Vikings have won their first two games of the month. The Vikings play seven games in February and need just two more wins to secure a winning month.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING: CSU enters the Green Bay contest with several prominent winning streaks. Following is a list of what is at stake during Thursday's game against Milwaukee.
• Seven consecutive home wins, the longest streak since 1982-83.
• 8-2 in league play for the first time since 2003-04.
• Six consecutive league wins for the first time in school history.
• A six game winning streak. CSU has not won seven straight since 1983-84.
• 11 wins in the last 13 games, the best 13-game streak in program history.
• Two separate win streaks of at least five games for the first time in program history. CSU won five straight from Dec. 17-Jan. 3 and is currently on a six-game win streak (Jan. 17-Feb. 7).

BLACK JACK: The Vikings carry a 14-7 record into Saturday's game against Green Bay, the first time CSU has won 14 of its first 21 games since the 1983-84 team started the year with a 16-5 mark. It is only the fourth time in school history that CSU opened the season with a 14-7 record or better.

A LOOK AT THE STREAK: When taking a look at the statistics over the last six games, it is easy to see why the Vikings are 6-0. Following is a breakdown of CSU's stats compared to its opponents.

Statistic CSU Opponents
Points per game 71.2 56.8
Field goal % .485 .398
Three-point FG% .413 .336
Free throw % .805 .615
Rebounds per game 33.5 29.8

HOMETOWN COOKIN': Milwaukee native Dominique Butler apparently likes to save her best for when the Vikings play her hometown Panthers. Butler averaged 14.5 points and 6.0 rebounds, while shooting .560 in two games against UWM this season. In six career games against the Panthers, Butler is averaging 12.0 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.

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 Feb. 2 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 Feb. 2, 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.

BUTLER JINX SNAPPED: The Vikings win at Butler on 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.

CSU BLOWS PAST LAST YEAR'S RECORD: Cleveland State's win on Thursday over Milwaukee improved the Vikings to 14-7 overall and 8-2 in league play, giving CSU six more overall and three more league wins than all of last season. The Vikings went 8-22 overall and 5-11 in league play last season. The 14 wins are the most for a CSU team since the 2000-01 team went 14-14.

ON THE HORIZON: At 8-2 in Horizon League play with eight games to play, the Vikings are on the verge of setting a program record for league wins in a season. The record is currently held by the 2003-04 squad which went 9-7 in league play in Kate Peterson Abiad's first season at the helm.

KORTH KEEPS PLAYING: Brittany Korth has played in 108 career games and needs to play in nine more to equal Juli Grant's school record of 117 career games played. Barring unforseen circumstances or injury, Korth will at least tie the record as CSU has eight more regular season games on the schedule and will play at least one game in the league tournament.

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 Thursday versus Milwaukee, she inched closer to fifth place on the all-time list at CSU for most career starts.Korth, who has started 87 career games, needs five 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).

THE BUTLER DID IT: Dominique Butler recorded two more steals on Thursday night to raise her team leading total to 54. Butler, who led the league in steals in each of her first two seasons and is ranked second this season, has swiped 182 career steals, needing three more to move into 10th place on the all-time list at CSU.

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.

SAME `OLE ROUTINE: Head coach Kate Peterson Abiad has had the luxury of using the same starting lineup for all 21 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 21 games.

LIVING AT THE LINE: CSU has dominated from the free throw line in its eight league games this season, making more free throws (148) than their opponents have combined to attempt (146).

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE: CSU is the best free throw shooting team in the league, hitting 317-of-397 attempts for a .798 percentage, a far cry from last season's .684 (425-621) percentage from the line. In fact, the Vikings, who are also ranked fourth 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 .850 (130-153). 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.

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.

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 146 career makes and third with 525 attempts. She is five makes shy of third place and 18 attempts short of second place. Korth is also seventh on the all-time assist list with 304, needing 15 assists to take over sixth.

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 14 wins, the Vikings own a +1.9 rebounding advantage, while holding opponents to 54.6 points and .358 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.

NOT PLAYING NICELY: The Vikings rank second in the Horizon League with 212 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: Sixteen of CSU's 21 games have been decided by 10 points or more with the 14 wins coming by an average of 13.8 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 12-2 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.

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 7.0 points and 4.1 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 15 of her free throw attempts in league play, also scored 16 points in a Jan. 26 win over Youngstown State.

UP NEXT: CSU will hit the road for three straight games beginning with a Thursday (Feb. 14) night contest at Wright State. Tipoff is slated for 5:30 p.m. in the Nutter Center. The Vikings will then travel to Detroit for a 1:30 p.m. contest on Saturday, Feb. 16 in Calihan Hall.