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GAME #12
Lake Erie (2-6) at Cleveland State (7-4)
Date: Sunday, December 30, 2012
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Site: Wolstein Center - Cleveland, Ohio
Series: CSU Leads, 3-0
SETTING THE SCENE
After taking a seven-day break from competition for the Holidays, the Vikings will return to the court this Sunday (Dec. 30), hosting Lake Erie College at 2:00 p.m. Sunday will mark the third contest of a four-game homestand for Cleveland State, with the Vikings entering the weekend on a six-game win streak. Standing at 7-4 on the season, CSU has not lost since November 24, and will be trying for a perfect record in the month of December for the first time since the 1980-81 season (3-0).
LAST TIME OUT
The Vikings extended their win streak to six games last Saturday (Dec. 22), defeating New Hampshire, 58-47. The win gave CSU its first-ever victory over the Wildcats, and improved the Vikings to 7-4 on the season.
SCOUTING THE STORM
Lake Erie enters Sunday's contest standing at 2-6 on the season, and currently on a five-game losing skid. The Storm's last victory came on November 26 against Ursuline (82-41), with their first win coming in the season opener against Seton Hill (67-61). Senior Ashar Harris is the lone player to average double-digits for the storm (16.0 ppg), while she also leads Lake Erie in rebounding (13.9 rpg). The quartet of Harris, Jackie Murray, Shelby Carpenter and Kaeding Skelton has started all eight games so far for the Storm, while Karleigh Weichler has started seven of the eight contests.
CSU LOOKS TO KEEP HOME RECORD PERFECT DURING 2012-13
Entering Sunday's contest Cleveland State is undefeated at home this season, topping South Dakota, VCU, Miami (Ohio), Ole Miss and New Hampshire earlier this year. Under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad the Vikings are 76-59 (10 seasons) at home, including a 47-19 mark over the past five seasons. CSU is one of five Horizon League teams to be undefeated at home this year, and will play six of its next seven games with home court advantage.
GORDON SETS CAREER-HIGH AGAINST UNH
Imani Gordon recorded a career-high three blocked shots against New Hampshire last Saturday (Dec. 22), becoming the second Viking to post at least three blocks in a single game this season. Prior to the UNH game, Gordon only had one block on the season (vs. Ole Miss) and 11 on her career.
COLEMAN FROM BEHIND THE ARC
For the sixth straight game, Cori Coleman knocked down multiple three-pointers, converting two shots from behind the arc against New Hampshire (Dec. 22). Coleman, who has a team-high 23 three-pointers on the season, ranks third in the leauge with a .426 three-point field goal percentage and ranks sixth averaging 2.1 three-pointers per contest.
VIKING STARTING FIVE
One of the factors that has led CSU to a 7-4 record so far this season is consistency in the starting lineup. The Vikings have had the same starting five (Gordon, Winton, Coleman, Green, King) through all 11 games this season - compared to last year when CSU had six different starting lineups throughout the first 11 contests.
WINTON ON THE REBOUNDING CHARTS
With nine rebounds against New Hampshire last Saturday (Dec. 22), Shalonda Winton moved into fourth place on the all-time career rebound list, entering the Lake Erie contest with 882. Winton, who ranks second in the league averaging 10.8 rebounds per game, is just 12 boards shy of moving into third place on the list and 149 rebounds shy of becoming the all-time leader at Cleveland State. With at least 18 games left in the 2012-13 season, Winton needs to average 8.3 rebounds per contest to become the all-time leader at CSU.
GREEN BECOMES THIRD VIKING WITH 100 POINTS THIS SEASON
With 10 points against Ole Miss (Dec. 18), Kiersten Green became the third Viking to record 100 points this season, entering Sunday's contest with 106. This season Green has recorded seven double-digit scoring games, including a career-high 17 against Miami (Ohio) (Dec. 8). Cleveland State is one of five teams in the league that has three players with 100 points or more - joining Green Bay, Detroit, Loyola and Milwaukee.
KING REACHES 100 CAREER THREE-POINTERS
With a pair of three-pointers in the second half against Ole Miss (Dec. 18), Honesty King became the 16th Viking all-time to reach 100 career three-pointers. King has 14 three-pointers on the season - entering the weekend with 101 on her career - and has made at least one shot from the behind the arc in eight games this year.
WINTON MOVES UP ALL-TIME FREE THROW LIST
After converting eight of 11 free throws against New Hampshire, Shalonda Winton now ranks second all-time at CSU with 396 career free throws made. Winton, who ranks sixth in the league with a .748 free throw percentage, is four free throws shy of becoming just the second Viking all-time to notch 400 made free throws. She would join Kailey Klein (2006-10), who recorded a program-best 605 free throws during her CSU career.
UP NEXT
The Vikings will close out their four-game homestand on Thursday (Jan. 3), hosting Butler at 6:00 p.m. Thursday's contest will be the 40th meeting between the two schools, and the first as a non-league matchup.