Feb. 18, 2004

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Game #24
UW-Green Bay (17-6, 10-2 HL)
Cleveland State (12-11, 9-3 HL)
Thursday, February 19, 2004
Cleveland, Ohio/Goodman Arena (13,610)
Tip-off: 7:00 p.m.
Live Stats: www.CSUVikings.com
Game Sponsor: Cleveland Clinic

The Opening Tip: Cleveland State opens its final homestand of the year by welcoming league-leading UW-Green Bay to the Convocation Center on Thursday night. The Vikings, who are tied for second with UW-Milwaukee, trail the Phoenix by a game in the league standings. At 6-0, CSU is looking to maintain its perfect home record in conference games.

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.

Noting The Phoenix: Head coach Kevin Borseth is in his sixth season at UW-Green Bay, posting a 131-45 mark in Green Bay and a 356-142 record in 17 years overall. Despite the losing starters Tiffany Mor and Natalie Yudt to knee injuries this year, the Phoenix has won six in a row and 11 of its last 12. Former Viking Abby Scharlow leads UWGB in scoring (15.4), rebounding (5.7) and assists (4.5) and is second in steals (2.1).

The Series With UW-Green Bay: The Phoenix has dominated the all-time series with Cleveland State, winning 33 of the 36 meetings, although the Vikings have won two of the last three contests in Cleveland. CSU has lost to the Phoenix more than any other team in its history, with Youngstown State a distant second (26). UWGB has won the last three meetings by an average of 18.7 ppg.

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 alongside Peterson 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 the University of 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.

A League Of Their Own: With four Horizon League games left on the schedule, Cleveland State has already surpassed its conference win total from each of its previous nine seasons in the league. In addition, the Vikings have exceeded their overall win total from last season and have assured themselves of finishing above .500 in the league for the first time since posting back-to-back 8-6 marks in 1997-98 & 1998-99.

Tournament Musings: With four games left, Cleveland State is close to wrapping up home court advantage in the Horizon League quarterfinals. Butler is the only remaining team that could catch the Vikings, but the Bulldogs trail CSU by three games. The Vikings could clinch a home game on Mar. 4 with a win on Thursday night and Bulldog loss at Loyola.

Apartment 'A' Carries Vikings: Roommates Ashley Schrock and Shannon Sword have carried Cleveland State for much of the season. In the Jan. 5 win at Illinois-Chicago, they combined for 59 points and 20 rebounds - the highest point total by a pair of teammates in a regulation game in school history. The only duo to score more was Dianne Foster (34) and Sue Koziol (28), who tallied 62 in a 103-100 overtime loss to Dayton on Jan. 17, 1984. Together, they are averaging 32.5 ppg on the season - or 50 percent of CSU's scoring output, while grabbing 37 percent of the team's rebounds (14.1 pg). In addition, the two rank first and second in scoring in conference-only games with Schrock at 17.3 and Sword close behind at 17.2. Impressively, the pair has gone 119-for-143 (83 percent) from the charity stripe in the last 12 games.

National Recognition: Schrock and Sword aren't just two of the better players in the Horizon League, they also rank among the nation's leaders as of Feb. 17. Sword stood 31st in free throw percentage (85.2) and 61st in points per game (17.5), while Schrock was 46th in assists per game (5.1).

UW-Milwaukee Recap: UW-Milwaukee's Maria Viall banked in a 10-foot hook shot from the right baseline with one-tenth of a second remaining to propel the Panthers to a 52-51 victory over Cleveland State on Saturday afternoon. With the win, UWM (13-10), which has won 35 of its last 37 home conference games, pulled into a second-place tie with the Vikings (12-11) at 9-3 in the Horizon League.
After trailing 23-18 at the half, CSU found itself up 36-34 on a Keena Rembert jumper at the 9:16 mark. However, the Panthers responded with a 7-0 run over the next 1:32 to go up by five.
The teams traded baskets for the next three minutes before the Vikings began cutting into the lead. Trailing 48-43 with 3:45 remaining, Rembert sandwiched a free throw and a basket around a Shannon Sword three-point play to put CSU up 49-48 with 2:14 left.
After another Viking free throw, UWM's Anne Witte knotted the score at 50-50 with 44 seconds remaining. CSU missed its first attempt to regain the lead, but corralled the offensive rebound. With 21 ticks left, it appeared that Ashley Schrock was fouled while making a 16-foot jumper, but the officials called the foul before the shot, setting up a one-and-one situation. Schrock made the first and missed the second, and the Panthers opted not to call a timeout leading up the game's final play.
Schrock finished with a game-high 20 points and eight rebounds, while Sword tallied 13 points. Woloszynek added six points, seven rebounds, two blocks and three steals.
Viall paced UWM with 17 points and nine rebounds as the Panthers defeated the Vikings for the fifth straight time in the Klotsche Center.

On The Rebound: The Vikings were out-rebounded six times in their first nine games, posting a 3-6 record during that span. As part of its midseason turnaround, Cleveland State has only been beaten on the boards four times in the last 14 contests, going 9-5. On the year, the Vikings are 9-4 when they out-rebound their opponents. CSU's +5.0 rebound margin is third in league games, as the Vikings have been out-rebounded just three times in 12 conference contests.

Fiftysomething: Before to this season, Cleveland State had not won a game scoring in the 50s since defeating Illinois-Chicago 57-51 on Jan. 23, 1999. However, with a new focus on defense, the Vikings have accomplished the feat four times this year, most recently in a 56-51 victory at Youngstown State. Prior to the Feb. 5 win over the Penguins, CSU turned the trick twice in a three-game span, defeating UW-Milwaukee 59-57 on Jan. 15 and Illinois-Chicago 57-55 a week later. As a matter of fact, Kate Peterson earned her first victory as a head coach with a 52-50 decision against Western Illinois on Nov. 25. In addition to that quartet of wins, the Vikings also held Robert Morris (Dec. 16), Youngstown State (Dec. 30), Loyola (Feb. 11) and the Panthers (Feb. 14) under 60 points, four more examples of their much-improved defense. Impressively, CSU has held 12 opponents below 40 percent shooting from the field, including three under 30 percent.

Double Your Pleasure: Senior Ashley Schrock has posted nine of Cleveland State's 10 double-doubles this season to tie for the league lead. The owner of 17 career double-doubles, she has twice turned the trick in three consecutive games (Feb. 5-11 & Jan. 3-8). The Vikings are 7-2 when Schrock records a double-double.

Forward Gets The Point: Senior Ashley Schrock ranks among the league leaders in scoring (4th - 15.0), rebounding (2nd - 8.1) and assists (2nd - 5.13) - on of only two players 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 5.3 apg. However, since Erin Martin took over at point guard 18 games ago and Schrock shifted back to small forward, her numbers have improved noticeably, jumping to 16.4 ppg, 8.6 rpg and 5.1 apg.

Sword Says Goodbye To Spasms: Senior forward Shannon Sword had her string of consecutive games in double-digit scoring snapped at 27 on Feb. 2 at UW-Green Bay as back spasms limited her to just 28 minutes of action. She then followed that effort with nine points in 24 minutes at Youngstown State as she wasn't in the starting line-up for the first time all season. Including the final nine games of last season, she averaged 18.1 ppg during her run of double-figure games. Sword appeared to be fully recovered though in the Feb. 7 win over Butler, scoring 21 points. She is second in the Horizon League in scoring (17.5 ppg) and was 61st in the nation (as of Feb. 17), while also topping the conference in 20-point games (11).

Woloszynek Steps Up: Senior center Karyn Woloszynek has raised her level of play in Cleveland State's league contests. In the Vikings' 11-game non-conference slate in which they went 3-8, the Garfield Heights native averaged 4.0 ppg and 5.1 rpg. Since league play started, she has upped her averages to 5.8 ppg and 6.3 rpg to help CSU to a 9-3 mark. In addition, her field goal percentage has jumped from .404 (17-42) to .564 (31-55).

Seven Points...And A Ring: Junior Maria Rickards got more than just a win on Feb. 7. After helping Cleveland State beat Butler with seven points, she was surprised at half court by her boyfriend. He proceeded to get down on one knee and asked Rickards to marry him. She said yes, of course.

My Favorite Martin: After fielding the same starting line-up for the first five contests, Kate Peterson inserted Erin Martin - who was finally fully recovered from an ankle sprain suffered during the preseason - at point guard and sat Kim Neidermeyer. Martin has responded by averaging 10.1 ppg and 2.7 apg while swiping 39 steals in the 18 games. Since a one-game adjustment to the switch, the Vikings have won 11 of 17. Martin leads the team with 51 steals, and is third in the league with 2.22 spg.

More On Martin: It appears that as Erin Martin goes, so go the Vikings. In Cleveland State's 12 wins, she is averaging 11.3 ppg, 3.0 apg and 2.6 spg, as compared to 6.5 ppg, 1.9 apg and 1.8 spg in the 11 losses. As a matter of fact, when she scores in double-digits, CSU is a solid 7-2.

Ramblin' Woman: Erin Martin wishes the Vikings could play Loyola every game. In the first meeting on Jan. 22, the Canfield, Ohio native erupted for 19 points in the first 12 minutes of the game on her way to a career-high 25 points. For good measure, she tied the school record with seven three-pointers, pulled down a career-best seven rebounds, led all players with four steals and still found time to dish out four assists. In Thursday's win over the Ramblers in Chicago, she scored 15 first half points, knocking down all three of her three-point attempts, before finishing with team-highs of 18 points and six steals.

Not-So Free Throws: While Cleveland State is draining free throws at a near-record pace (.727), its opponents haven't been so lucky, knocking down just 65.0 percent of their attempts at the charity stripe. Most recently, Youngstown State (8-18) and Butler (15-36) combined to hit just 42.6 percent of their freebies. On the season, the Vikings have made 343 free throws - just 57 fewer than their opponents have attempted.

Charitable Contributions: Cleveland State has converted its free throws at a .727 clip this season, good for 58th in the nation (as of Feb. 17), giving the Vikings on a chance to break the school record of .728 set by the 2000-01 team. CSU has shot above 70 percent 13 times and was especially sharp in the five games from Jan. 5 - Jan. 22 - canning 76 of their 91 attempts (83.5 percent).

Charitable Contributions, Part II: Senior Shannon Sword is second the league at the free throw line, shooting 85.2 percent (92-108). She had her school-record streak of 30 consecutive made freebies snapped late in the second half on Feb. 5 at Youngstown State. Since Christmas, she is an impressive 62-for-68 from the charity stripe (91.2 percent) and is first in league games only at 90.3 percent (56-62), while teammate Ashley Schrock is fourth at .824 (70-85). The school season record for free throw pct. is .855, set by Deb Taylor in 1989-90.

"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 (.392) - 42 points ahead of her closest challenger. In addition, she is eighth in field goal percentage (.456) and ranks second in free throw percentage (.816). This year, she leads the Horizon League in three-point percentage (.490), is second in free throw percentage (.852), and is fifth in field goal percentage. (.491).

Conference Honors Sword: Senior forward Shannon Sword was named Horizon League Player of the Week for Jan. 19-25 after leading the Vikings to pair of conference victories with back-to-back 21-point games. On Jan. 22 against Loyola, she knocked down six of 10 shots and grabbed seven rebounds in 37 minutes of action. Playing all 40 minutes two days later against Illinois-Chicago, she scored 15 second-half points to help the Vikings rally from an eight-point deficit. She also pulled down nine rebounds and knocked down three three-pointers. The league honor is the first of her career.

Schrock Double-Dips: For the second time in four weeks, and the third time in her career, senior Ashley Schrock was named Horizon League Women's Basketball Player of the Week on Jan. 12 - one of only three players to be recognized twice this year. In helping the Vikings to a pair of conference wins in three tries, she averaged 24.7 ppg, 10.0 rpg and 4.3 apg while playing 114 of a possible 120 minutes. She posted a pair of double-doubles and in the Jan. 5 victory at Illinois-Chicago, she erupted for a career and league season-high 35 points (tied for the seventh-highest total ever at CSU), shooting 11-for-17 from the field and 11-for-11 from the line. Her first honor came on Dec. 22 when she earned co-honors with UW-Green Bay's Abby Scharlow. She averaged a double-double (17.7 ppg, 11.0 rpg) in helping CSU to a pair of wins in three tries. Scharlow was Schrock's teammate at CSU in 2000-01, before transferring to Green Bay.

Triple Threat: Cleveland State heads into Thursday's contest with UW-Green Bay having made a three-point field goal in 324 consecutive contests - ranking behind only current runs by Louisville (375 games) and Appalachian State (348) in the all-time 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.

Former Duke Joins Vikings: Indianapolis native Omega Harrington has joined the Cleveland State women's basketball team after spending the last year-and-a-half at Duquesne. A 5-7 point guard, she will be eligible to play for the Vikings at the completion of the 2004 fall semester.
Harrington played in all 36 games as a reserve for the Dukes, scoring 69 points with 27 assists while averaging 8.8 minutes of action. In seven contests this year, she averaged 5.4 points per game and converted 46.4 percent of her field goal attempts.
As a senior at North Central High School, she averaged 13.5 ppg, 5.0 apg and 4.0 rpg to lead the team to a 16-5 record and the 2002 IHSAA sectional championship.

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.

A Reminder...: 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 in late March. The very next year, CSU and the MAC will team up once again to host the NCAA Division I Women's Final Four at Gund on April 1 & 3.

Up Next: Cleveland State closes out its final homestand of the year when the Vikings host Detroit on Saturday, Feb. 21 at 3:00 p.m. A ceremony will be held prior to the game recognizing seniors Ashley Schrock, Shannon Sword and Karyn Woloszynek. CSU then finishes the regular season next week with road games at Butler (Feb. 26) and Wright State (Feb. 28).