March 15, 2008

Contact: Greg Murphy

Complete Release in PDF Format

SETTING THE SCENE: Cleveland State (18-13) will play in the Horizon League Championship for just the second time in school-history and first time since 1999-00 when the fourth-seeded Vikings play second-seeded Wright State (16-15) on Sunday, March 16, beginning at 1:00 p.m. CST in the Kress Events Center in Green Bay. The game will be televised nationally on ESPNU with Dan McLaughlin and Sarah Kustok providing the commentary. The winner will earn the Horizon League's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship.

PREVIEWING CLEVELAND STATE: Cleveland State has made huge strides from last season's 8-22 team, as the Vikings have more than doubled their win total from a season ago (18-13). With the return of four starters, the Vikings have experience at every position and a solid bench to rely on. First team All-Horizon League selection Kailey Klein (19.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.1 apg) is ranked second in the league in scoring. She is joined in the backcourt by senior Brittany Korth (9.6, 4.6, 3.9) and sophomore Angel Roque (5.8, 2.6 apg), who has set the defensive tone for the Vikings this season with her ball pressure out front. Junior Dominique Butler (10.3, 5.9 rpg), the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, and senior Robyn Hoying (6.5, 3.5) have started 30 of the 31 games in the frontcourt. CSU has received tremendous production from its bench, led by sophomore forward Stephaine Crosley (5.0, 4.0), freshman guard Shawnita Garland (3.7, 1.9) and sophomore guard Jessica Roque (5.3, 1.8). Junior Natalie Miller (2.7, 1.5) 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 46-100 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).

CSU IN HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNEY: This year marks the 13th year that Cleveland State has taken part in the Horizon League Championship with the Vikings now owning a 7-13 record following wins over Butler and Green Bay this season.. CSU had lost three straight tournament games with the last win coming in the first round of the 2005 tournament, 62-55 at Loyola. Friday's game at Green Bay was the first time CSU played in the semifinals since 2002-03.

CSU VS. WRIGHT STATE: The Vikings own a 3-0 record against Wright State in league championship play, including a 2-0 mark in the Horizon League Championship. The last meeting occured in the 2000 semifinals with the Vikings claiming a 72-68 double overtime win over WSU.

IN ALL TOURNAMENT PLAY: CSU has posted a 7-19 all-time record in 20 years of conference tournament play. CSU has never won a postseason tournament title and has played in the championship game one time, a 79-72 loss to Green Bay in 2000. Friday's game at Green Bay will be the fourth time CSU has reached the semifinals.

FINALLY!: CSU's win at Green Bay on Friday snapped a nine-game losing streak to the Phoenix and was CSU's first win at Green Bay since Feb. 15, 1997. In addition, it was just the fourth win in 47 all-time games versus the Phoenix.

QUITE A PERFORMANCE: Cleveland State posted the second best shooting performance in school-history in Friday's win over Green Bay, connecting on .596 (31-52) from the field. The only time CSU shot better from the field was Jan. 21, 1980 at Niagara when the Vikings hit 32-of-51 (.627) field goal attempts. CSU also hit 13-of-25 (.520) from three-point on Friday with the 13 makes tying for the fifth most in school-history.

ON THE TUBE: Sunday's game against Wright State will be the sixth time that the Vikings have been on television this season with CSU claiming a 4-1 mark in those games. SportsTime Ohio broadcasted the CSU wins at home over UIC (Jan. 3) and Wright State (Jan. 19), while the Vikings also won televised games at Youngstown State (Feb. 23) and Friday's league semifinal at Green Bay. The only time CSU has lost when playing on TV this season was Feb. 16 at Detroit.

THIS NOTE IS PROBABLY A JINX: But it's definatley worth mentioning. Dominique Butler has a streak of 17 consecutive free throws made dating to the Feb. 16 game at Detroit. Butler's last miss came on Feb. 14 at Wright State when she went 2-for-3 at the charity stripe. In fact, Butler has converted 31 of her last 32 free throws dating back to the Jan. 19 game against Wright State.

KLEIN NAMED TO ALL-LEAGUE TEAM: Kailey Klein earned a spot on the All-Horizon League first team for her performance this season. The Cherry, Ill., native is the first CSU player to earn a spot on the first team since teammates Ashley Schrock and Shannon Sword earned the honor following the 2003-04 season. Klein is the sixth player (11th time) from CSU to earn a spot on the first team after finishing second in the league in scoring and ranking in the top-15 in rebounding, assists, steals, field goal percentage, free throw percentage three-point field goal percentage and minutes.

THE BUTLER DID IT: Junior Dominique Butler was selected to the All-Defensive Team for the third time in her career and was also tabbed as the 2007-08 Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year, the first time a player from CSU won the award. Butler is ranked second in the conference in steals (2.72) and eighth in rebounding (5.7). For her career, Butler has swiped 207 steals, which is fifth on the all-time list at CSU. Butler, the eighth player in school-history with 200 career steals, is 18 steals shy of fourth place.

VIKINGS SCORE 90: CSU scored a season-high 90 points in Friday's win at Green Bay, marking the most points scored by a Viking team since Jan. 28, 2002, when CSU topped IPFW, 99-65.

KORTH BREAKS RECORD: When Brittany Korth played Friday's game at Green Bay, she became the all-time leader in school-history with 118 career games played. It broke the previous record of 117 held by Juli Grant (1995-00).

... AND DOUBLES UP: Brittany Korth recorded her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's win at Green Bay. She is the fourth Viking to record a double-double this season, joining Kailey Klein, who has three, Stephaine Crosley and Robyn Hoying.

FOR STARTERS: When Brittany Korth drew a starting assignment on Friday against Green Bay, she inched closer to sole possession of third place on the CSU career stars list. Korth, who has started 97 career games, needs one more start to move move past Lori Johnson, who started 97 games from 1990-95, and into third place all alone.

ROQUE GIVES SPARK OFF THE BENCH: Jessica Roque has played her best basketball of the season over the last three weeks to give CSU a solid offensive threat off the bench. During the last six games, Roque is averaging 9.8 points per game, while shooting 9-for-20 (.450) from three-point. Roque posted a season-high 15 points in the quarterfinal win over Butler (March 12) and came back with 14 points in Friday's victory at Green Bay in the semifinals.

RECORD SETTER: Kailey Klein set a school-record and tied another with her 17-for-21 performance at the free throw line at UIC on March 6. The 17 free throws made are a school-record, breaking the old mark of 15 held by Klein (earlier this season) and Deb Taylor, who made 15 free throws at Valparaiso on Jan. 11, 1990. The 21 attempts tied the school-record set by Lanette Taylor versus St. Bonaventure on Jan. 4, 1992.

SCORE AND BOARD: Kailey Klein enters the Wright State game leading the team in scoring (19.6) and ranking second in rebounding (5.9). Klein has gabbed 182 rebounds this season and trailsDominique Butler by two rebounds in the race for the team lead. If Klein finishes the season as the leader in both categories, she would become the 15th player in school-history to lead the team in both scoring and rebounding in the same season. Erin Martin last accomplished the feat in 2004-05 when she averaged 13.1 points and 4.9 rebounds per game.

ON THE MARK: Dominique Butler has connected on .506 (130-257) from the field this season to rankeighth in the league. That percentage ranks as the ninth best for a single season in CSU history as Butler is attempting to become just the ninth player in school-history to shoot better than .500 (minimum of 150 field goal attempts) from the field in a season and the first since Mandy Sichting shot .531 (85-160) in 2004-05.

WHO NEEDS BATMAN: When you have Robyn, as in CSU senior Robyn Hoying. The Minster, Ohio native apparently does not want her career to end as she has averaged 18.3 points per game in the last three contests. She started the streak with 18 points at Loyola (March 8) and followed it with 15 points against Butler in the league quarterfinals (March 12) and a career-high 22 points at Green Bay (March 14) in the semifinals. During the streak, Hoying has 20-of-28 (.714) from the field, including 12-of-17 (.706) from three-point.

ON THE HORIZON: The March 8 win at Loyola was the 10th in league play this season, which set the school-record for most league wins in a season. This year's squad broke the old mark of nine league wins that was held by the 2003-04 team, which was Kate Peterson Abiad's first season at the helm.

ALMOST TO 600: With an 18-point effort on Friday night at Green Bay, Kailey Klein became just the second player in CSU history to score 600 points in a season. Klein, who now has 609 points this season, is 27 points shy of the CSU single-season record of 635 points by Dianne Foster (1982-83).

AND CLOSING IN ON 1,000: By scoring 609 points this season, Kailey Klein is well on her way to 1,000 career points as the sophomore guard has totaled 927 points in her two years at CSU. Klein would be the 20th player in school-history to reach the 1,000 point mark.

SAME `OLE ROUTINE: Head coach Kate Peterson Abiad has had the luxury of using the same starting lineup for 30 of the 31 contests this season with Dominique Butler and Robyn Hoying in the frontcourt and Angel Roque, Brittany Korth and Kailey Klein in the backcourt. That has allowed Peterson Abiad 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 during the season.

... BUT IT WAS AN ACCIDENTAL MISHAP: Which led to a change in the starting lineup for the March 8 game at Loyola as Jessica Roque (#50) was accidentally penciled into the official book as a starter for Robyn Hoying (#52). Roque, who started all 30 games a season ago, played the first 14 seconds before Hoying entered at the first deadball opportunity.

HOYING OFF THE BENCH: The March 8 game at Loyola was officially the first one that Robyn Hoying didn't start this season, but it appears the senior did not mind coming off the bench. Hoying finished with 18 points in just 20 minutes of work, hitting 7-of-9 from the field, including 4-of-5 from three-point. The 18 points were just two shy of equaling her career-high of 20 set earlier this season at Green Bay.

NO REST FOR THE WEARY: Over the last six games, Brittany Korth has played 311 out of a possible 320 minutes to raise her season total to 1,085 minutes, the second most for a single season in CSU history. Korth is the fourth player in school-history to play 1,000 minutes in a season and the since Audra Cook (1,090) and Mahogany Green (1,000) reached the mark in 1999-00. In addition, Kailey Klein supassed the 1,000-minute mark on Friday and has logged 1,026 minutes this season.

SUNDAY, SUNDAY: The league title game will be the first time that CSU has played on a Sunday this season, the only day of the week that the Vikings have not played on this season. CSU was 0-2 on Sunday's last season.

WE SHOWED YOU: Cleveland State's fourth place finish in the Horizon League showed that the preseason predictions do indeed not mean much. After all, the Vikings were picked to finish eighth in the Horizon League in the annual preseason poll of coaches, SID's and media. The Vikings earned 102 points to finish two points behind seventh place Wright State, which finished second in the regular season and is CSU's opponent in the league championship game.

A RECORD 32: Sunday's game against Wright State will be CSU's 32nd of the season, setting a school-record for most games played in a season. The 1999-00 and 2006-07 squads played 30 games apiece and shared the old record.

CAREER DAY FOR BUTLER: Dominique Butler had a career day at Youngstown State on Feb. 23, finishing with a career-high 25 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. Butler also had eight rebounds, four steals and hit all seven of her free throws. Her previous career scoring high was 21 points on 9-of-10 shooting from the field at Miami (OH) on Dec. 1, 2007.

THE DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Cleveland State enters the league title game with an 18-13 overall record, including a 10-8 mark in league play, giving CSU 10 more overall and five more league wins than all of last season. The Vikings went 8-22 overall and 5-11 in league play last season. The 18 wins are the third most in school history and the most for a CSU team since the 1983-84 team won 19.

BIG IMPROVEMENT: The Vikings have won 10 more games than all of last season, marking the biggest improvement from one season to the next in school-history. The old record was a nine-game improvement from the 1981-82 (14-15) season to the 1982-83 (23-6) season.

SPECIAL "K": Kailey Klein is attempting to join an elite group of company in CSU history. After leading the team in scoring as a freshman (11.0), Klein is on track to lead the team in scoring for the second straight season as she is averaging 19.6 points. She would be the third player in school history to lead the team in scoring in her first two seasons, joining Sue Hlavacek (1974-75, 1975-76) and Deb Taylor (1987-88, 1988-89).

ROAD SWEET ROAD: CSU 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 gone 9-8 away from Cleveland this season.

WINNING SEASON CLINCHED: The March 8 win at Loyola assured the Vikings of finishing above .500 as CSU enters the league championship with an 18-13 overall record. It is the first time that the Vikings will finish above .500 since the 1998-99 team went 15-13.

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, marking the first time 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.

... BUT CAN'T EXTEND STREAK : CSU could not clinch a third straight winning month, finishing 3-4 in February after Thursday's (Feb. 28) loss to Valparaiso. The Vikings won their first two games in February, but three straight losses put the streak in serious jeopardy before CSU won at Youngstown State on Feb. 23 to get back to .500 setting up the make or break game with the Crusaders.

VIKINGS GET BACK ON TRACK IN MARCH: After losing the first two games in March, CSU has come back to win three straight to assure itself of finishing no worse than .500 for the month of March.

HOME SWEET HOME: CSU finished season with a 9-5 mark at home, including 6-3 in league play. The nine wins are the second most in school-history with the record of 11 shared by the 1982-83 and 1998-99 squads. The record was within reach as the Vikings were 8-2 at home following a win over Milwaukee on Feb. 7, but CSU dropped its next three games in the Wolstein Center.

MOVING ON UP: Brittany Korth continues to move up the all-time list for career three-pointers made and attempted. Korth is second in school-history with 165 career makes and 586 attempts, just two shy of the record. Korth is also sixth on the all-time assist list with 342, needing two assists to take over fifth place.

THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE FREE: CSU is the best free throw shooting team in the league, hitting 462-of-573 attempts for an .806 percentage, a far cry from last season's .684 (425-621) percentage from the line. In fact, the Vikings, who are ranked fourth in the nation in free throw percentage, are shooting better from the free throw line than all but two NBA teams, Dallas and Toronto. CSU is on pace to shatter the school-record for free throw percentage in a season, held by the 2000-01 squad which shot .728 (480-659). The league record is .801 set by Green Bay last season.

.700: 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 eight players are shooting better than .700 from the line. However, only Kailey Klein ranks among the league leaders in free throw percentage, ranking fifth at .846 (203-240). 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 56 made free throws, and would be ranked first in the league (.862) if she had the required amount of makes.

A DEEPER LOOK AT FREE THROWS: Kailey Klein has been the only Viking to get to the free throw line on a consistent basis. In 31 games, she has taken 42-percent (240-of-573) of CSU's free throws, including 45-percent (136-of-305) of the Vikings free throws in 18 league games.

CRYING FOUL: The Vikings have been whistled for 547 fouls compared to 529 for their opponents. However, when delving deeper into the subject, you find that CSU has had 22 disqualifications this season, compared to zero for its opponents. The 22 disqualifications are the second most in school-history with the record of 28 being held by the 1991-92 squad.

THE BIG THREE: 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 17 wins, the Vikings own a +1.8 rebounding advantage, while holding opponents to 56.5 points and .372 shooting from the field. On the other hand, CSU has a -5.8 deficit in rebounding and gives up 73.7 points on .451 shooting in 13 losses this season.

NOT PLAYING NICELY: CSU ranks third in the Horizon League, averaging 10.13 steals per game. In addition, CSU boasts three of the top 12 individual leaders in steals with Dominique Butler ranking second (2.65), Brittany Korth fifth (1.94) and Kailey Klein 12th (1.71). The Vikings have swiped double-digit steals in 18 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.

FROM THE FIELD: The Vikings have shot well from the field this season, hitting .424 (707-1,668), which would be the fourth best in school-history. CSU has not shot better than .400 from the field since 2003-04 when they hit .405.

FROM THREE: CSU is also shooting .345 (193-560) from three-point this season, which is the best percentage for a single season in program history. The current record is .328 (117-357) held by the 1992-93 team. CSU shot just .272 (123-453) from three-point last season.

NO SUSPENSE: Twenty-four of CSU's 31 games have been decided by 10 points or more with the 18 wins coming by an average of 14.2 points. CSU's 13 losses have been by an average of 13.3 points.

AND WE TEND TO KNOW BY HALFTIME ...: Whether CSU will win or not. After all, the Vikings are 16-2 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 2-11 when trailing or tied at the half.

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.

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. The streak was extended to 22 straight makes before Stephaine Crosley missed a free throw late against Milwaukee (Feb. 7).

UP NEXT: Should Cleveland State defeat Wright State on Sunday, the Vikings would clinch the Horizon League's automatic berth to the NCAA Championship. The selection show is scheduled for Monday, March 17, at 7:00 p.m. on ESPN.