GAME #20
Cleveland State vs. Milwaukee
Thursday, January 26 | 11:00 a.m. | Wolstein Center
Live Stats | Live Video
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Cleveland State vs. Milwaukee
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team returns for a brief two-game homestand this week, beginning with an 11:00 a.m. contest on Thursday, January 26 against the Milwaukee Panthers. Entering Thursday's contest, Cleveland State stands at 10-9 overall this season and 5-3 in Horizon League action, while Milwaukee owns a 13-6 overall record and a matching 5-3 mark in league play.
A WIN THURSDAY WOULD…
Put the Vikings back on the winning track…Improve Cleveland State to 6-3 in Horizon League play…Keep the Vikings perfect in Horizon League play at the Wolstein Center this season…Mark the fourth win for Cleveland State out of its last six games.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/MILWAUKEE SERIES
This will be the 51st meeting between the two teams, with Milwaukee owning a slight 27-23 advantage in the overall series. Milwaukee swept both meetings last season, and has won three straight entering Thursday's matchup. Cleveland State's last victory against the Panthers came as a 67-58 decision back during the 2014-15 season.
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
Milwaukee enters Thursday's game with a 13-6 overall record, including a 5-3 mark against Horizon League opponents…Milwaukee's 5-3 league record puts them in a tie with the Vikings for fourth place in the league standings…Milwaukee has won five of its last seven games…The Panthers are the second highest scoring team in the Horizon League, avearging 74.9 points per game…Individually, three Panthers are averaging double-digit points, led by Steph Kostowicz who ranks sixth among league players averaging 15.5 points per game…Jenny Lindner ranks eighth in the Horizon League averaging 14.9 points per game, while she leads the league with a .928 free throw percentage.
LAST TIME OUT…
The Vikings closed out a three-game roadswing at Detroit last Sunday, falling to the Titans, 66-54. Cleveland State had three players finish in double-figures, led by Chrishna Butler who tallied 17 points - the first double-digit game of her career. Ashanti Abshaw and Khayla Livingston led the rebounding efforts, each grabbing seven boards, while Livingston also dished out a team-high four assists.
THURSDAY MARKS ANNUAL KIDS DAY GAME
Thursday's contest against Milwaukee will serve as Cleveland State's annual Kids Day Game, with over 1,300 Cleveland area grade school kids in attendance. Throughout the game, the Cleveland State Athletic Department along with the Cleveland State University Washkewicz College of Engineering, will provide interactive STEM activities for the kids in attendance to learn about science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and how the concepts relate to the basketball game.
VIKINGS RETURN TO WOLSTEIN
Thursday's game against Milwaukee will mark the first home contest for Cleveland State over the last three weeks, and will be one of just two home games during a nine-game stretch. The Vikings, who have just four home games during the month of January, are happy to be home, as they own a perfect 3-0 record in Horizon League action when playing in the Wolstein Center this season.
LIVINGSTON IN HORIZON LEAGUE PLAY
Over the first eight Horizon League contests of the season Khayla Livingston has really stepped up her offensive performance, averaging 17.1 points per game against league opponents, compared to her 10.1 point per game average that she had during non-league play. Livingston, who enters Thursday's game as one of just two current Vikings to have 700+ points on their careers, has tallied double-digit points in all but one league game this season, including a career-high 28-point performance at Oakland last weekend.
BOSLEY ON CSU CAREER BLOCKED SHOTS LIST
Entering Thursday's game against Milwaukee, 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 Thursday's game just three blocked shots shy of moving into eighth place on the list.
…VOSKUHL CLOSING IN ON 50 CAREER BLOCKED SHOTS
Entering Thursday's contest against the Panthers, Olivia Voskuhl is closing in on becoming the seventh player under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad to record 50 blocked shots, entering the game with 46 career blocks. Voskuhl, who has 14 total blocks this season, ranks 10th among Horizon League players averaging 0.7 blocks per contest, and notched two blocked shots at Detroit last time out.
BUTLER MAKES MOST OF STARTING LINEUP SPOT
After earning just her second career start at Detroit last time out, senior Chrishna Butler had the best offensive game of her collegiate career, finishing with a team-high 17 points against the Titans. Butler went 5-for-6 from the field, including a 3-for-4 effort from behind-the-arc, and posted a perfect 4-for-4 performance from the free throw line. In the two games that Butler has earned a spot in the starting lineup, she is averaging 11.5 points in 34.0 minutes played, and has 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 12.4 points per game over the last five contests. Voskuhl, who is averaging just 8.3 points per game this season, has recorded double-digit performances in four of the last five 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 weekend.
ABSHAW CLOSING IN ON 900-POINT PLATEAU
Redshirt sophomore Ashanti Abshaw continues to add to her career point total, entering Thursday's contest against the Panthers with 862 career points. Abshaw, who has recorded 17 double-digit performances this season, including seven 20-point games, is now 38 points shy of reaching the 900-point plateau. Abshaw leads all current Vikings with her 862 career points and is on track to become one of the fastest Cleveland State players to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
VIKING STARTING FIVE
Throughout the first part of the 2016-17 season the Vikings have used eight different starting lineups, including four different lineups during Horizon League play. Last time out, Ashanti Abshaw, Chrishna Butler, Khayla Livingston, Jade Ely, and Olivia Voskuhl made up the Viking starting five, with Chrishna Butler earning just the second start 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 48th consecutive start for the Vikings at Detroit 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 19 games this year. Abshaw's 48 career starts leads all current Vikings.
UP NEXT
Cleveland State will close out its brief two-game homestand on Saturday (January 28), hosting nationally ranked Green Bay in a 1:00 p.m. contest.
