Jan. 7, 2004

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Wright State (4-8, 1-1 HL) at
Cleveland State (5-7, 2-0 HL)
Thursday, January 8, 2004
Cleveland, Ohio/Goodman Arena (13,610)
Tip-off: 5:00 p.m.
Live Stats: www.CSUVikings.com

The Opening Tip: Cleveland State returns home after a brief two-game road swing to host Wright State on Thursday night. The Vikings will attempt to open league play with three consecutive victories for first time in 16 years of conference affiliation. The contest with the Raiders is the start of a stretch in which CSU will play five of its next six games at home.

Noting The Raiders: Head coach Bridgett Williams is in her third season at Wright State, posting a 21-47 mark. Since getting off to a 1-5 start, the Raiders have won three of their last six, including a 76-62 victory over UW-Green Bay on Monday. Brittney Whiteside leads WSU in scoring (11.1 ppg) and rebounding (4.8 rpg), while Iesha Gray is second in both categories (10.9 ppg, 4.4 rpg).

The Series With Wright State: Cleveland State leads the all-time series with the Raiders by a 24-16 margin. The Vikings have won six of the last eight meetings, although the squads have split each of the last two seasons. This will be the 41st meeting with WSU, more than any other CSU opponent.

Head Coach Kate Peterson: In her first season directing the Cleveland State program, Kate Peterson is the sixth head coach in 31 seasons of Viking women's basketball. Peterson spent the past six years as an assistant at Wisconsin, serving as the recruiting coordinator starting in 1998. Prior to her stint in Madison, she worked at Eastern Illinois (1993-97) and Indiana (1991-93). A 1991 graduate of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, she earned Kodak All-America honors her senior year after setting the NCAA Division III record for three-point field goals per game at 3.85.

A Glance At The Staff: Peterson's staff is currently rounded out by Kyle Rechlicz and Semeka Randall. Rechlicz comes to CSU after serving as a student assistant coach last year at Wisconsin. An excellent long-range shooter, she finished her career as a Badger in 2002 by knocking down at least one triple in every game as a senior, including a school-record seven versus Holy Cross. Randall is currently a guard for the WNBA's San Antonio Silver Stars. Born and raised in Cleveland, she starred at Trinity High in Garfield Heights and at Tennessee. After helping the Lady Vols to a national championship and a perfect 39-0 mark as a freshman, she went on to earn consensus All-America honors the next two seasons. She finished her career in 2001 as the fourth-leading scorer in school history with 1,915 points.

Apartment A Carries Vikings: Roommates Ashley Schrock and Shannon Sword combined for 59 points and 20 rebounds in the Vikings' win at Illinois-Chicago on Monday. As a matter of fact, their point total against the Flames is the highest by a pair of teammates in a regulation game in CSU history. The only duo to score more was Dianne Foster (34) and Sue Koziol (28), who combined for 62 in a 103-100 overtime loss to Dayton on Jan. 17, 1984. Together, they are averaging 33.2 ppg - or just a little over 50 percent of Cleveland State's scoring output. In addition, the duo is grabbing 35 percent of the team's rebounds (13.3 pg).

Illinois-Chicago Recap: Seniors Ashley Schrock and Shannon Sword combined for 59 points as Cleveland State improved to 2-0 in Horizon League play with a 77-62 win at Illinois-Chicago on Monday night. The Vikings opened conference play with a pair of wins for just the third time in 16 years of league affiliation.
Schrock's 12th career double-double proved to be one of the best all-around performances in recent memory. She tallied a career-high 35 points - tied for the seventh highest single game total in school history - to go along with 12 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and four steals. Playing all but one minute, Schrock went 11-for-17 from the field and canned all 11 of her free throw attempts.
After the Flames (5-7, 0-3 HL) scored on the game's opening possession, CSU (5-7) responded by making seven of its first nine shots to take a 15-7 lead six minutes into the contest. Five minutes later, the margin stood at 10, but that's when UIC started to cut into the deficit. When the halftime buzzer sounded, the Vikings found themselves up just 35-33 as the Flames scored eight of the final 10 points of the half.
The teams traded baskets for most of the second half, although CSU managed to maintain a five to 10 point advantage for most of the stanza. The Vikings put the game away by holding UIC to just three field goals in the final 11 minutes while canning 22 of their 25 free throw attempts on the night for a season-high 88.0 percent.
The Vikings shot 44.9 percent from the field while limiting the Flames to just 38.7 percent. In addition, CSU also held a 39-33 advantage on the boards.
Sword, who played 39 minutes, matched her career-high with 24 points and eight rebounds for her league-leading seventh 20-point effort - including five in the last six outings. Sophomore Erin Martin added seven points and a career-high eight assists.
Chrissy Dizon led UIC with 18 points and six assists.

Sword Sharp As Ever: Including the final nine games of last season, senior forward Shannon Sword has scored in double-digits in 21 consecutive games, averaging 18.0 ppg over that span. She leads the Horizon League and is 36th in the nation at 18.9 ppg and has a league-high seven 20-point outbursts. Included in the impressive start was a double-double against Iowa State (16P, 10R) and a then career-high 23 points in CSU's win over Western Illinois. The Miamisburg, Ohio native then capped off an all-tournament performance at the Lady Pirate Invitational by torching Eastern Washington for a career-best 24 points on 10-for-14 shooting. She has been especially effective in the past six games, posting five 20-point efforts and a 20.2 ppg average to lead the Vikings to four victories.

Forward-Thinking Point Guard: On the year, senior Ashley Schrock ranks among the league leaders in scoring (5th - 14.3), rebounding (5th - 7.8) and assists (3rd - 4.67) - the only player in the conference to rank in the top 10 in all three categories.A natural forward, she filled in admirably the first five games at point guard, averaging 10.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg and 5.2 apg. However, since Erin Martin took over at point guard seven games ago and Schrock shifted back to small forward, her numbers have improved noticeably, jumping to 17.3 ppg, 8.9 rpg and 4.3 apg.

Charitable Contributions: Cleveland State has converted its free throws at a .729 clip this season, good for 44th in the nation. The Vikings have made 183 freebies so far this year, only 27 fewer than their opponents have attempted.

Point Person: The Dec. 7 game at Akron marked the debut of sophomore Erin Martin at point guard. After fielding the same starting line-up for the first five contests, Kate Peterson inserted Martin - who was finally fully recovered from an ankle sprain suffered during the preseason - and sat Kim Neidermeyer. The move also allowed senior Ashley Schrock to slide over to her natural small forward spot. Martin has responded by averaging 9.1 ppg and 3.4 apg while swiping 18 steals in the seven games. On the year, she has a team-leading 28 steals and is third in the league with 2.50 spg.

"I'll Take 'S' Words For $1,000": With apologies to Saturday Night Live for the headline, senior Shannon Sword is solidifying her spot as one of the top sharpshooters in school history. She currently has the top career three-point percentage (.374) - 24 points ahead of her closest challenger. In addition, she is sixth in field goal percentage (.463) and ranks third in free throw percentage (.789). Her .548 field goal percentage this year is second in the Horizon League.

Schrock Recognized: Senior Ashley Schrock, along with UW-Green Bay's Abby Scharlow, was named Horizon League Women's Basketball Co-Players of the Week on Dec. 22. Schrock averaged a double-double (17.7 ppg, 11.0 rpg) as she helped CSU to a pair of wins in three tries. At Robert Morris, she tallied 14 points, 11 rebounds and four assists as the Vikings snapped their four-game losing streak. Two days later, in CSU's first home game in four weeks, she notched 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists to lead the Vikings past Louisville. Schrock then capped off her week with a season-best 20 points and a career high-tying 15 rebounds against Ohio for her 10th career double-double. This marks the second time in her career that the league has recognized Schrock, with the other coming on Feb. 17, 2003. Scharlow was Schrock's teammate at CSU in 2000-01, before transferring to Green Bay.

Rickards In The Zone: Junior Maria Rickards' Horizon League season-best 33-point explosion at Niagara was unexpected, to say the least. She had scored just 14 points in CSU's first four games and entered the contest with a career-high of 12. However, the New Albany, Ind. native topped that with 13 points in the first half alone, adding 20 more in the second stanza to tie for 12th on the CSU single-game scoring charts, just seven points shy of the school record. She knocked down 14 of her 20 shots from the field, including 5-of-8 three-pointers on her way to becoming the first player to score 30 or more since Erika Roudebush tallied 30 against Detroit on Feb. 9, 2002.

Triple Threat: Cleveland State heads into Thursday's contest with Wright State having made a three-point field goal in 313 consecutive contests - ranking behind only Louisville's current 364-game run in NCAA annals. The last time the Vikings failed to drain at least one three-pointer was in a 78-55 loss at Cincinnati on Dec. 17, 1992.

Opponents Finally Solve Free Throw Defense: Through the first 10 games of the season, Cleveland State stymied its opponents at the free throw line, as the Vikings' opponents shot just .624 from the charity stripe. However, Bowling Green (13-14) and Illinois-Chicago (12-15) combined to knock down 86.2 percent of their freebies. The Falcons were the first CSU opponent to shoot over 70 percent.

Fiftysomething: In the process of picking up her first victory as a head coach, Kate Peterson accomplished something that hadn't been done in nearly six years. The 52 points the Vikings posted against Western Illinois were the fewest CSU has scored in a win since a 51-41 decision at Wright State on Jan. 2, 1997.

Brown Departs: First-year assistant coach Al Brown left the Viking staff on Friday, Jan. 2 to take a similar position at South Carolina under head coach Susan Walvius. Brown was on the sidelines the following day in Minneapolis when the Gamecocks suffered a 63-53 loss at No. 6 Minnesota.

Peterson Signs First Recruit: When the signed national letter of intent came across the fax machine on Nov. 12, Clinton, Wis. native Brittany Korth officially became the first recruit of the Kate Peterson era.
A 5-10 point guard, Korth led Clinton High School to a 24-4 record and their first-ever Division 3 state championship as a junior. She averaged 14.8 points per game, 4.3 assists per game and 2.3 rebounds per game last year en route to earning fourth team all-state and conference player of the year accolades. A three-time all-conference selection, she is rated the 180th-best senior and the 56th-best point guard in the nation by All-Star Girls Report.
Korth also starred on the Clinton volleyball team, earning conference player of the year honors as a junior and honorable mention all-conference the year before. In addition, she lettered three years on the track team, competing in the 100, 4x100, high jump and long jump. The school record-holder in the long jump (16-11), she was named the athlete of the meet at the 2003 conference championships.

Vikings Picked Fourth: Cleveland State was picked fourth in the Horizon League preseason poll, marking the fourth year in a row that the Vikings have been tabbed to finish either fourth or fifth. 2003 regular season and tournament champion UW-Green Bay (219) and UW-Milwaukee (212) both garnered 13 place votes, but the Phoenix was picked to win its fifth consecutive regular season league title by a scant seven points. Loyola was slated to finish third with 158 points, followed by the Vikings (127), Illinois-Chicago (125) and Detroit (122). Butler and Youngstown State tied for seventh with 82 votes while Wright State brought up the rear with 45 points.

Schrock Recognized By League: Viking senior forward Ashley Schrock was one of five players named to the All-Horizon League preseason first team. Last year she averaged 13.2 ppg, 8.2 rpg and 5.1 apg en route to earning second team all-league accolades. She and UW-Milwaukee senior center Maria Viall are the only two returning all-league players.

Lights, Camera, Action: As part of the Horizon League's four-game women's television package, Cleveland State's game at Loyola on Feb. 11 will be broadcast on Fox Sports. The contest will mark the Vikings' first-ever regular season appearance on TV. To accommodate the broadcast, the game was moved up one day to Wednesday.

Don't Feel "Left" Out: The saying goes that left-handers are the only people in their right minds. If that's the case, then Cleveland State should be in good shape this year. Senior Ashley Schrock, sophomores Kim Neidermeyer and Anetra Williams and freshman Keena Rembert are all southpaws. If Kate Peterson wanted to go small, she could field a line-up with a lefty at every spot but center.

Newcomers See First Action: Sophomore Kim Neidermeyer and freshman Keena Rembert saw their first action against Iowa State. Neidermeyer started at guard and scored 10 points on 4-of-6 shooting, while Rembert came off the bench and recorded two points, two rebounds and two steals in 16 minutes. CSU's other newcomer, Betsy Bowser, saw her first collegiate action against Western Illinois, logging five minutes as a reserve.

Double Your Pleasure: Cleveland State is scheduled to play six doubleheaders with the men's team this season, twice the number as last year. The women's team will play mid-week twin-bills starting at 5:00 p.m. with the men's game tipping at 7:30 p.m. Saturday doubleheaders start earlier with the women jumping center at 3:00 p.m. followed by the men at 5:30 p.m.

New-Look Tournament: The Horizon League coaches voted over the summer to scrap the one-site format for the league's championship tournament. Starting this year, the eight seed will host the nine seed in a first round contest on March 2. Seeds 1-4 will host quarterfinal action two days later. The four winners will then head to UW-Milwaukee for the semifinals and championship, March 7 & 8. However, if the Panthers have been eliminated, the highest remaining seed will host the final two rounds.

Don't Forget...: To mark your calendars for 2006 and 2007. That's when the best women's basketball in the country comes to Cleveland. In 2006, Cleveland State, in conjunction with the Mid-American Conference, is hosting the NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Mideast Regional at Gund Arena. The very next year, CSU and the MAC will host the NCAA Division I Women's Final Four.

CSU Teams Up With Habitat: On Oct. 21, Cleveland State used its day off to lend a helping hand in the community. The Vikings headed out to the Greater Cleveland Habitat for Humanity headquarters where, after receiving a brief introduction to the program, they jumped right in and helped with the ongoing site clean-up. The coaches and players spent the better part of the afternoon straightening up building supplies and hauling away discarded materials. CSU also donated the proceeds from their exhibition game on Nov. 9 to Habitat.

Up Next: Cleveland State plays its final road game in the month of January when the Vikings travel to Detroit on Saturday, Jan. 10 for a 1:30 p.m. tilt. CSU then returns home for four consecutive home contests - it's longest homestand since a four-game stint during the 1996-97 campaign.