GAME #19
Cleveland State @ Detroit
Sunday, January 22 | 1:00 p.m. | Detroit, Mich.
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Cleveland State @ Detroit
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will close out its three-game roadswing this weekend, traveling to Detroit for a 1:00 p.m. contest on Sunday, January 22. The Vikings will be looking for their second straight victory against the Titans, as they enter the weekend with a 10-8 overall record, including a 5-2 mark in Horizon League play. Detroit enters the contest with 9-9 overall record and a matching 5-2 record in league action.
A WIN SUNDAY WOULD…
Give the Vikings back-to-back wins for the fourth time this season…Improve Cleveland State to 6-2 in Horizon League play…Mark the fourth win for the Vikings out of their last five games and the seventh out of their last nine games.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/DETROIT SERIES
This will be the 56th meeting between the two teams, with Detroit owning a 38-17 advantage in the overall series. Detroit picked up wins in both meetings last season, and has won three straight heading into Sunday's contest. UDM head coach Bernard Scott is a familiar face for the Vikings, as he served as an associate head coach on the Cleveland State sideline from 2010-2015.
SCOUTING THE TITANS
Detroit enters Sunday's game with a 9-9 overall record and a 5-2 mark in Horizon League play...With the 5-2 record, the Titans are currently tied for third in the league standings along with Milwaukee and Cleveland State...Detroit enters the weekend on a two-game winstreak, picking up victories over Youngstown State (80-63) and Northern Kentucky (57-49), while the Titans have also won five out of their last seven outings...Three Titans are averaging double-digit points, led by Rosanna Reynolds who ranks fourth among league players averaging 16.8 points per game...Reynolds also leads the league with 5.8 assists per game, while Nicole Urbanick sits at the top of the league standings averaging 2.6 three-pointers per game.
LAST TIME OUT…
The Vikings got back on the winning track at Oakland, picking up a decisive 74-62 victory over the Grizzlies last Friday. The Vikings held the league's highest-scoring team to just 62 points - including just four points during the fourth quarter. The Vikings outrebounded the Grizzlies 38-33, with a team-high seven boards from Ashanti Abshaw and Olivia Voskuhl, and posted 16 assists, including nine helpers from Khayla Livingston.
VIKINGS ON THE ROAD
Sunday's game at Detroit will be the final game of a three-game roadswing for the Vikings, and will mark the fifth road game out of the last seven for Cleveland State. During the first four weeks of Horizon League play the Vikings will have just three games at the Wolstein Center, compared to five contests that are being played away from home.
LIVINGSTON HAS CAREER-HIGH NIGHT AT OAKLAND
Khayla Livingston had one of the best games of her collegiate career at Oakland last time out, recording career-highs in points, three-pointers, assists, and field goals made. Livingston, who played all 40 minutes against the Grizzlies, finished with 28 points on 10 made field goals - seven of which were three-pointers. Livingston's seven made three-pointers is tied for the second-highest single-game total in program history, while she also added nine assists on the game.
...LIVINGSTON ECLIPSES 700-POINT MARK
With her career-high 28-point performance at Oakland, Khayla Livingston eclipsed the 700-point mark for her career, entering Sunday's game at Detroit with 725 career points. Livingston, who now ranks ninth in the Horizon League averaging 14.2 points per game, has tallied 12 double-digit scoring games so far this season, including eight straight heading into Sunday's game. In league games only, Livingston is averaging 18.4 points per game.
CLEVELAND STATE FOURTH QUARTER DEFENSE
The Vikings had one of their best quarters defensively last time out, limiting Oakland to just four points during the fourth quarter on a .167 clip from the field (2-for-12). Cleveland State recorded two steals and two blocked shots during the final frame last Friday, and forced Oakland into five turnovers as the Vikings outscored the Grizzlies, 18-4 during the final 10 minutes of the contest.
BUTLER MAKES MOST OF FIRST COLLEGIATE START
Senior Chrishna Butler appeared in the starting lineup for the first time in her collegiate career at Oakland last time out, and definitely made the most of the opportunity. Butler, who played a career-high 32 minutes at Oakland, finished with six points and a career-high four rebounds. Butler was a perfect 2-for-2 from the field - with both shots coming from behind-the-arc - while she also added one assist and committed zero turnovers.
VOSKUHL PICKS UP OFFENSIVE PLAY
Ever since regaining her starting spot against Valparaiso (Jan. 12), Olivia Voskuhl has stepped up her offensive play, averaging 13.0 points per game over the last four contests. Voskuhl, who is averaging just 8.2 points per game this season, has recorded double-digit performances in three of the last four games. Voskuhl recorded a season-high 17 points against UIC (Jan. 14) during this stretch, while she recorded 16 points on a 6-for-11 effort from the field at Oakland last time out.
ABSHAW CLOSING IN ON 850-POINT PLATEAU
Redshirt sophomore Ashanti Abshaw continues to add to her career point total, entering Sunday's contest at Detroit just two points shy of the 850-point mark for her career. Abshaw, who has recorded 16 double-digit performances this season, including seven 20-point games, leads all current Vikings with her 848 career points and is on track to become one of the fastest Cleveland State players to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
BOSLEY ON CSU CAREER BLOCKED SHOTS LIST
Entering Sunday's game at Detroit junior Shadae Bosley ranks ninth in the CSU Career Record book with 69 blocked shots. Bosley, who became just the 10th Viking to record 60 career blocks earlier this season, has tallied 23 total blocked shots this year and ranks second in the Horizon League averaging 1.4 blocks per game. Bosley enters Sunday's game just three blocked shots shy of moving into eighth place on the list.
VIKING STARTING FIVE
Cleveland State used its eighth lineup of the season at Oakland last time out, as Ashanti Abshaw, Chrishna Butler, Khayla Livingston, Jade Ely, and Olivia Voskuhl were on the court for the starting tip. This also marked the fourth starting lineup for the Vikings during Horizon League play, with Butler earning a starting spot for the first time in her collegiate career.
…ABSHAW IN THE STARTING LINEUP
Redshirt sophomore Ashanti Abshaw is the only Viking to be a part of the starting five during every game this season, and marked her 47th consecutive start for the Vikings at Oakland last time out. Abshaw, who played just six games as a freshman before tearing her ACL, returned to start all 29 games as a redshirt freshman and has started 18 games this year. Abshaw's 47 career starts leads all current Vikings.
LIVINGSTON FROM BEHIND-THE-ARC
Junior Khayla Livingston returns as one of the top three-point shooters in the Horizon League, as she led all players with a .420 clip from behind-the-arc last season (60-for-143). Livingston, who has tallied a team-high 35 three-pointers so far this season, ranks fourth among league players averaging 2.1 three-pointers per game. Last time out, Livingston converted a career-high seven shots from behind-the-arc at Oakland, and continues to sit at the top of the CSU Career Record book with a .392 clip from three-point for her career (119-for-303).
HORIZON LEAGUE WEEKLY HONORS
So far this season the Vikings have been honored by the Horizon League with three weekly accolades, with Ashanti Abshaw earning Player of the Week honors (12/19) and Jade Ely earning Freshman of the Week honors twice (12/26 & 1/2). Abshaw picked up her weekly accolade after a 28-point performance at Bucknell, a game that put Abshaw over the 700-point mark for her career. Ely's weekly honors came after she moved into the starting lineup, posting 17 points and 10 rebounds for her first collegiate double-double against Bowling Green and then following that up with a 15-point, 15-rebound effort against Youngstown State the next week.
UP NEXT
Cleveland State will return home for a pair of Horizon League contests next week, hosting Milwaukee on Thursday, January 26 and Green Bay on Saturday, January 28. Thursday's contest against the Panthers will be Cleveland State's annual Kids Day Game, with tip set for 11:00 a.m. from the Wolstein Center.
