GAME #30
No. 5 Cleveland State @ No. 4 UIC
8 p.m. EST | Wed., March 12
UIC Pavilion | Chicago, Ill.
GAME LINKS
Live Stats | Live Video
COMPLETE PDF NOTES | 2014 HORIZON LEAGUE BRACKET
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will begin the 2014 Horizon League Tournament as the No. 5 seed, after finishing the regular season with a 9-7 mark in league action. CSU will begin play against fourth-seeded UIC in a quarterfinal contest on Wednesday, March 12. Wednesday's quarterfinal matchup will begin at 8:00 p.m. EST at the UIC Pavilion. Entering the tournament, CSU owns a 14-15 overall record, while UIC stands at 21-8 overall and tallied a 10-6 mark in league games. Cleveland State owns a slight advantage in the all-time series against the Flames (33-31), and has won six of the last eight contests.
A WIN WEDNESDAY WOULD…
Advance CSU to the semifinals of the Horizon League Tournament for the sixth time in program history…Put the Vikings back at .500 for the season (15-15)…Mark CSU's seventh victory out of its last 11 games.
SCOUTING THE FLAMES
UIC enters the Horizon League Tournament as the No. 4 seed, after posting a 10-6 record in regular season action…The Flames have won three out of their last four games, and 10 of their last 14…In the season series against CSU, UIC won the first meeting (83-78) and lost the second meeting (70-78)…Ruvanna Campbell was named to the All-League First Team and All-Defensive Team, while Rachel Story earned a spot on the All-League Second Team, and Terri Bender joined Campbell on the All-Defensive Team…The Flames lead the league averaging 43.0 rebounds per contest, while they rank second in steals (9.4) and blocked shots (3.0), and third in scoring offense (73.7)…Story leads UIC and ranks fourth in the league averaging 17.7 points per game, while Campbell leads the team and the league with 12. 1 rebounds per game…Bender averages a league-best 2.9 steals per game.
CSU IN THE HORIZON LEAGUE TOURNAMENT
Under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad the Vikings own a 10-8 record in the Horizon League Tournament, and have claimed the tournament title twice - 2008 & 2010. CSU has advanced to the semifinals four times under Peterson Abiad, and has advanced to the championship game twice. The 2013-14 season marks the first time that the Vikings will enter tournament play as the No. 5 seed, and the fourth time that they will open the tournament on the road.
…THE REST OF THE FIELD
Along with the No. 5 seed Vikings, the rest of the tournament field looks like this: No. 1 - Green Bay, No. 2 - Wright State, No. 3 - Youngstown State, No. 4 - UIC, No. 6 - Oakland, No. 7 - Milwaukee, No. 8 - Detroit, No. 9 - Valparaiso. CSU recorded season sweeps against Wright State, Detroit, and Valparaiso.
GORDON NAMED TO ALL-LEAGUE FIRST TEAM
Junior Imani Gordon was named to the All-Horizon League First Team on Monday, becoming the eighth Viking to earn First Team accolades. Entering the tournament, Gordon has a team-high 477 points and 275 rebounds, ranking eighth in the league in scoring (16.4 ppg) and third in rebounding (9.5 rpg). Throughout the season, Gordon has tallied career-highs in almost every statistical category, including points (30 @ Wright State), rebounds (20 vs. Oakland), assists (7 vs. IUPUI), and steals (6 @ Detroit).
LIVINGSTON EARNS ALL-FRESHMAN HONORS
Khayla Livingston also earned postseason honors from the Horizon League, as she was named to the All-Freshman Team. Livingston is the eighth Viking to earn a spot on the All-Freshman team, and the first to do so since the 2006-07 season. She has played in all 29 games so far this season, averaging 5.0 points per game, 1.8 rebounds per game, and 1.6 assists per game. Livingston has notched double-digit points in five games this season, including a career-high of 18 against Green Bay.
VIKING OFFENSE ON A ROLL
Through the regular season, Cleveland State averaged 75.3 points per game - a mark that ranks fourth on the CSU single-season record list. The Vikings rank second among Horizon League teams with their 75.3 ppg average, and are just the fourth team to average at least 75 points per game in program history. Under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad, the 2013-14 Vikings are the first team to average better than 70.0 points per game.
…CSU'S JUNIOR TRIO
A large portion of CSU's offense has come from the junior trio of Imani Gordon, Cori Coleman, and Kiersten Green, as they have combined for 1,350 points this season - accounting for 61-percent of Cleveland State's offense. All three of the juniors have notched 400 points on the season - Gordon; 477, Coleman; 449, Green; 424 - one of three league teams with three 400-point scorers. This marks the first time that three Vikings have scored 400 points in the same season during Peterson Abiad's tenure.
GORDON ON THE REBOUNDING CHART
Earlier this season Imani Gordon cracked the top-20 career rebounding list, and enters Wednesday's contest ranked 18th with 531 career boards. Gordon, who has tallied 11 double-digit rebound games this season, ranks third in the league with 275 total rebounds on the year, averaging 9.5 rebounds per game. Gordon's 275 boards also puts her seventh on the single-season rebound chart, needing 25 more rebounds to move into sixth place and to become the sixth Viking all-time to notch 300 rebounds in a single season.
VIKINGS CLOSING IN ON SINGLE SEASON SCORING RECORD
Cleveland State has a chance to break the single-season scoring record on Wednesday, needing just 64 more points to mark a program best. Entering tournament play, the Vikings have 2,183 points on the season which ranks fourth on the single-season chart. CSU is one of of just three league schools to tally at least 2,100 points this season (Wright State & UIC).
VIKINGS SET SEASON 3-POINT RECORD
Earlier this year Cleveland State set a program record with 232 three-pointers on the season, and enters Wednesday's contest with 256 converted shots from behind-the-arc. This year's squad became just the fifth team in program history to knock down 200 three-pointers in a single season, and the second to do so under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad. Throughout the regular season, CSU notched at least 10 three-pointers 13 times, including a program record of 17 against Valparaiso (Feb. 13).
…COLEMAN ON THE 3-POINT TOP-10 LIST
A large portion of CSU's three's have come from Cori Coleman, as she has a team-high 66 on the year. Coleman, who has tallied multiple three-pointers in 13 of the last 15 games, enters Wednesday's contest ranked fifth on the CSU career three-point list with 151, and ranks second on the single-season three-point list. For the year, Coleman ranks fifth among league players averaging 2.3 three-pointers per game, and fourth with a .398 three-point field goal percentage.
GREEN CLOSING IN ON CENTURY ASSIST MARK
Junior Kiersten Green has been CSU's leading assist maker this season, and is just one helper shy of 100 for the season. Green ranks 10th in the league averaging 3.4 assists per contest, and ranks ninth with a 1.3 assist-to-turnover ratio. For her career, she has 227 assists, which is tops among all current Vikings.
UP NEXT
If the Vikings are victorious Wednesday evening, they will play the winner of the Green Bay (No. 1) - Valparaiso (No. 9) quarterfinal in a semifinal contest on Friday, March 14. The semifinals and championship will take place at the highest remaining seed after the quarterfinal round.