Contact: Renee Adam
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SETTING THE SCENE
The Vikings will open a four-game homestand this Saturday (Jan. 12), as they are set to host Detroit at 2:00 p.m. Saturday's contest will be the first home Horizon League contest of the season for CSU and will be a doubleheader with the men's team, as they will also host the Titans following the women's contest. Entering the weekend, Cleveland State has won eight of its last nine contests - including the Horizon League opener at UIC (73-69 (OT)) last Wednesday (Jan. 9).
LAST TIME OUT
Cleveland State opened Horizon League play with a 73-69 overtime victory at UIC, improving its record to 9-5 on the season. The win marked CSU's eighth out of the last nine contests and marked the first overtime game of the season.
SCOUTING THE TITANS
Detroit enters Saturday's contest standing at 7-6 overall and 0-1 in league play after falling to Green Bay in its Horizon League opener last Tuesday (62-31)...The Titans have won three of their last five contests and own a 3-4 record in road games this season...Detroit was picked to finish second in the league this year, and was represented by Shareta Brown on the Preseason All-League First Team...As a team the Titans lead the league in three categories: Scoring Offense (70.2 ppg), Field Goal Percentage (.455) and Rebounding (41.2 rpg), while Shareta Brown leads the league in Scoring (24.6 ppg) and Field Goal Percentage (.622).
VIKINGS VICTORIOUS IN HL OPENER
For the first time in the past five seasons CSU opened league play with a victory, earning a 73-69 overtime win at UIC. Under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad the Vikings have won four league openers, also doing so during the 2007-08, 2005-06 & 2003-04 seasons.
...FIRST OVERTIME GAME OF THE SEASON
Wednesday also marked the first overtime game of the season for the Vikings and the 34th in program history. CSU has a 19-15 record during overtime contests, with the last overtime game coming against Murray State last season.
GREEN RECORDS DOUBLE-DOUBLE AT UIC
Kiersten Green recorded the first double-double of her career at UIC on Wednesday (Jan. 9), posting 11 points and a career-high 11 rebounds. The game marked the ninth double-digit scoring game of the season for Green and her first-ever double-digit rebounding game.
...AND JUST SHY OF A TRIPLE-DOUBLE
Along with her 11 points and 11 rebounds, Kiersten Green was just short of notching a triple-double - also adding a career-high eight assists to the stat sheet. Green, who also tied her career-best with five steals, is one of just two Vikings to record eight or more assists in a game this season, and one of three Vikings with at least five steals in a game this year.
COLEMAN HOT FROM BEHIND THE ARC
Cori Coleman recorded a career-high five three-pointers at UIC, including a 4-for-4 performance during the first half. Coleman's fifth three-pointer of the game came with just 11-seconds left in regulation, forcing the overtime period. So far this season, Coleman has a team-high 30 three-pointers - 17 of which have come during the second half.
VIKINGS FROM THREE-POINT
For just the second time this season CSU notched at least 10 three-pointers in a contest - recording 10 at UIC on Wednesday. The Vikings shot 35.7-percent from behind the arc (10-28), marking the eighth time this year that they have shot at least 35-percent from three-point.
VIKING STARTING FIVE
One of the factors that has led CSU to a 9-5 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 14 games this season - compared to last year when CSU had eight different starting lineups throughout the first 14 contests. CSU joins league-leader Green Bay as the only teams to use the same starting lineup throughout the first part of the season.
WINTON ON THE REBOUNDING CHARTS
Shalonda Winton, who is only the third Viking all-time to reach 900 career rebounds, posted 15 at UIC improving her career total to 919. Winton enters Saturday's contest ranked third all-time at CSU and second in the league this season averaging 11.1 rebounds per game. She is now 23 boards shy of moving into second place on the career list and 112 rebounds shy of becoming the all-time leader at Cleveland State. With at least 15 games left in the 2012-13 season, Winton needs to average 7.5 rebounds per contest to become the all-time leader at CSU.
UP NEXT
The Vikings will continue their four-game homestand on Thursday (Jan. 17), hosting league leading Green Bay at 7:00 p.m. CSU will also host Milwaukee (Jan. 19) and Youngstown State (Jan. 24) during this homestand.