Jan. 19, 2007

Contact: Alan Ashby

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Game #20
at UW-Milwaukee (8-10, 4-1 HL)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 20, 2007
Site: Milwaukee, Wis.
Arena: Klotsche Center (5,000)
Tip-off: 2:00 p.m. CST
Series: UWM leads, 17-12
Live Stats: www.CSUVikings.com
Watch: www.HorizonLeague.com
Listen: N/A

The Opening Tip
Cleveland State (5-14, 2-4 HL) wraps up its two-game swing through Wisconsin on Saturday with a 2:00 p.m. CST tip at UW-Milwaukee. The Panthers (8-10) stand in second place in the Horizon League at 4-1, with their lone loss coming last Saturday at undefeated UW-Green Bay.

The Series With UW-Milwaukee
UW-Milwaukee leads the all-time series by a 17-12 advantage thanks to five straight wins over the Vikings and victories in 11 of the last 13 meetings. CSU, which is 4-9 all-time in Milwaukee, has dropped seven in a row in the Klotsche Center dating back to the 1999-00 season.

Noting The Vikings
Cleveland State has dropped three of its last four games following a 82-39 loss at UW-Green Bay on Thursday. CSU employs a three-guard system, with junior Brittany Korth (6.6 ppg, 2.2 apg), and freshmen Kailey Klein (6.9 ppg, 2.8 rpg) and Jessica Roque (9.5 ppg, 3.2 rpg, 2.5 apg) handling the backcourt duties. The Vikings have been led in the post by senior Nicole Thomas, who is averaging 8.3 points and 7.5 rebounds. With freshman Stephaine Crosley (8.0 ppg, 4.8 rpg) out indefinitely with a leg injury and sophomore center Stephanie Youdath (6.4 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 2.2 bpg) out with back problems, senior Chenara Wilson (4.8 ppg, 2.7 rpg) garnered her first start of the season against Detroit. Sophomores Dominique Butler (8.1 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.2 spg) and Natalie Miller (4.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg) and freshman Angel Roque (3.5 ppg, 2.1 apg) give the Vikings solid guard play off of the bench, while junior Robyn Hoying (3.7 ppg, 2.8 rpg) provides depth in the front court.

Depth Takes A Hit
Before the season started, head coach Kate Peterson felt that despite having just 12 players on the roster, the Vikings were as deep as they had ever been in her four seasons at CSU. Talk about jinxing yourself. Since the beginning of the year, five different players have combined to miss a total of 23 games due to various maladies. Stephanie Youdath has missed seven games with a back injury, Dominique Butler (four games) sat out from Nov. 17-25 with a knee injury, Stephaine Crosley has been sidelined the last 10 contests with a leg injury and Kailey Klein and Natalie Miller have both missed a game each. Peterson has had her full compliment of players to work with just three times this year: versus Buffalo (11/28), at Toledo (12/2) and against St. Bonaventure (12/4).

A League Of Her Own
The start of Horizon League play has been just what the doctor ordered for freshman guard Kailey Klein. She leads the Vikings in scoring in league play (12.7 ppg, 11th HL), notching 21 points against Butler (Dec. 28), 18 against Wright State (Dec. 30) and 16 versus Detroit (Jan. 11). However, the Cherry, Ill. native's best performance of the season came on Dec. 7 at Western Michigan, when she erupted for a team season-high 26 points and a career-best eight rebounds. As the owner of a conference record 2,496 points in high school, Klein is no stranger to scoring outbursts.

Thomas Redoubles Efforts
Talk about senior leadership. Forward Nicole Thomas came into this season averaging 3.5 points and 4.7 rebounds in her first two seasons as a Viking. Finally healthy for the first time, the San Antonio native has been a solid presence in the paint for CSU, posting arguably the best game of her career at Loyola on Jan. 6, going 10-for-14 from the floor, with 22 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals. The owner of a team-best five double-doubles (2nd in the league), she ranks third in the league in rebounding (7.5) and 23rd in scoring (8.3) in addition to standing among the leaders in both offensive (2nd - 2.42) and defensive rebounds (3rd - 5.05). The most amazing stat -- considering her past health issues -- is the fact that Thomas is second on the team in minutes played at 26.2 per game.

Streak Climbs Above 400
Cleveland State enters Saturday's contest at UW-Green Bay having extended its NCAA record for consecutive games with a three-pointer to 405 and counting. Junior Brittany Korth sank the record-breaking shot with 2:34 left in the first half against St. Bonaventure on Dec. 4. Louisville, whose 394-game streak came to an end in 2004-05, almost had its place in the record book secured before freshman Jessica Roque knocked down the Vikings' only triple with 6:11 left to play on Nov. 28 against Buffalo to keep the run intact. The last time CSU failed to drain at least one three-pointer in a game was in a 78-55 loss at Cincinnati on Dec. 17, 1992. The Vikings have made 2,358 triples during the streak -- an average of 5.8 per game.