Jan. 15, 2004

Box Score

CLEVELAND - Cleveland State took a 15-point lead into the final nine minutes and held on for a 59-57 win over league-leading UW-Milwaukee on Thursday night. With the victory, the Vikings snapped an eight-game regular season losing streak against the Panthers and improved to 7-8 overall and 4-1 in the Horizon League -- their best start ever in 16 years of conference play. CSU senior Shannon Sword (Miamisburg, Ohio/Miamisburg) led all players with 18 points.

Despite dominating play in the first half, the Vikings found themselves up just 31-20 heading into the break. UWM (6-8, 3-1 HL) shot 23.1 percent (6-26) from the floor in the opening stanza, while league Preseason Player of the Year Maria Viall was limited to two points.

CSU kept the lead in double-digits for much of the second half, claiming its largest margin of the game at 50-35 with 8:53 remaining. However, that's when the Panthers started chipping away at the lead. The Vikings proceeded to go without a basket for the next six minutes as UWM closed to within 52-48 on a Kimberly Becker jumper at the 3:05 mark.

Sophomore Erin Martin (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield) ended the drought with a huge three-pointer on Cleveland State's next possession to push the lead back to seven. Sword answered a Panther three-pointer with a jumper in the lane, before UWM's Nichole Drummond hit back-to-back driving lay-ups to cut the gap to 57-55 with 58 seconds left. Both teams misfired on their next possessions forcing the Panthers to foul Ashley Schrock (Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon) with eight seconds remaining. The senior calmly stepped to the line and sank both free throws to ice the game.

"This was our best defensive effort of the season," CSU head coach Kate Peterson said. "The team executed exactly like we asked them to and adjusted well to what Milwaukee was doing. We struggled a little down the stretch, but Erin, Shannon and Ashley all made big plays to hold off Milwaukee's last run."

CSU shot just 39.7 percent from the field, but limited UWM to only 34.5 percent. The Vikings also committed a season-low 11 turnovers, while scoring 19 points off of 14 Panther miscues.

Schrock recorded her fourth double-double in the last five games with 13 points and 11 rebounds -- finishing just two assists shy of her third career triple-double. Martin tallied 11 points, while Sword added eight rebounds.

Drummond led UWM with 14 points off the bench, while Viall finished with 11 points (eight below her league-leading average) and a game-high 15 rebounds.

Cleveland State is off for a week before continuing its four-game homestand on Thursday, Jan. 22 against Loyola Chicago at 5:00 p.m. in the first game of a doubleheader with the Viking men's team.