GAME #14
Cleveland State vs. IUPUI
Thursday, January 4 | 4:00 p.m. | Wolstein Center
Live Stats | Live Video
CLEVELAND STATE vs. IUPUI GAME NOTES
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will continue its current four-game homestand - and Horizon League play - on Thursday, January 4, hosting IUPUI at 4:00 p.m. Thursday's game will be the first contest in a doubleheader with the Cleveland State men's team, with the Vikings trying to stay undefeated in league action. Entering Thursday's game, the Vikings stand at 10-3 overall and 2-0 in #HLWBB play, while IUPUI is 9-3 and 1-0 in league action.
A WIN THURSDAY WOULD…
Put the Vikings on a five-game winstreak, marking their longest winstreak of the season…Mark the ninth win out of the last 10 games for Cleveland State…Give the Vikings a 3-0 start to #HLWBB play…Bring head coach Kate Peterson Abiad within two wins of her 200th career victory.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/IUPUI SERIES
This will mark the eighth meeting between the two teams, but the first as Horizon League opponents. Cleveland State owns a 6-1 lead in the overall series, and has won five straight matchups. The last meeting came during the 2013-14 season, with the Vikings picking up a 63-56 overtime victory at the ECU Pirate Thanksgiving Classic.
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
IUPUI enters Thursday's game with a 9-3 overall record this season and a 1-0 mark in Horizon League action after picking up an 82-46 victory over its travel partner UIC last weekend… After the first week of league play, the Jaguars and the Vikings are the only two undefeated teams in the standings…IUPUI is playing in its first season as a member of the Horizon League, after a 19-year stint in the Summit League where the Jaguars recorded four top-two finishes, including three over the last five years…IUPUI is under the direction of eighth year head coach Austin Parkinson, and was picked to finish seventh in the Horizon League preseason poll.
LAST TIME OUT...
Cleveland State improved to 2-0 in league play, picking up its largest victory of the season in a 75-50 decision over Detroit Mercy. Olivia Voskuhl and Khayla Livingston combined for 47 points - Voskuhl with 21 and Livingston with 26 - while Rachel Slaney added a career-high 11 points. The Vikings recorded 15 steals on the game, and forced UDM into 21 turnovers - turning those into 19 points.
VIKINGS IN THE WOLSTEIN CENTER
So far this season Cleveland State has enjoyed playing in the friendly confines of the Wolstein Center, owning a 6-1 record when playing at home. Cleveland State's lone loss at home this season came to Ball State in the home-opener, but since then the Vikings have rattled off six straight wins in the Wolstein Center.
CLEVELAND STATE TRYING TO REMAIN PERFECT IN #HLWBB PLAY
The Vikings will be trying to stay undefeated in Horizon League action Thursday afternoon, as Cleveland State enters the game with a perfect 2-0 mark in league play. During the opening week of #HLWBB action, Cleveland State picked up wins against Oakland and Detroit Mercy - the only league team to go 2-0 during the first weekend. This marks the sixth time under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad that the Vikings are 2-0 to start league play, while a win on Thursday would put the Vikings at 3-0 in #HLWBB action for just the third time over the last 15 seasons.
DOUBLE THE FUN
Thursday will mark the first of three home doubleheaders for the Cleveland State men's and women's basketball teams this season, as the men will take on Green Bay following the women's game against IUPUI. The two teams will also play twinbills on Saturday, January 6 (women vs. UIC/men vs. Milwaukee) and Saturday, January 20 (women vs. Youngstown State/men vs. UIC).
VIKINGS OFF TO BEST START UNDER KPA
After the first eight weeks of the 2017-18 season, Cleveland State is off to its best start under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad, owning a 10-3 record heading into the new calendar year. This is the first time over the last 15 seasons that Cleveland State has recorded 10 wins before the month of January, and just the second time in program history. During non-league action, the Vikings posted an 8-3 record, tying the most non-league wins under Peterson Abiad and setting a record with the .727 winning percentage.
OFFENSIVE POWER
Entering the week's #HLWBB slate, Cleveland State has three individuals ranked in the top-10 in scoring in the league standings - the only team to put three players in the top-10. Ashanti Abshaw currently ranks second with 19.3 points per game, while Khayla Livingston (8th - 14.8) and Olivia Voskuhl (10th - 13.6) are also two of the top offensive threats in the league. So far this season, this trio has accounted for 70-percent of Cleveland State's offense, and have combined for 13 20-point games.
BOSLEY WITH THE BLOCK
After the first week of Horizon League action, senior Shadae Bosley continues to lead the league in blocked shots, currently sitting at the top of the standings averaging 2.4 blocks per game. In the two #HLWBB contests last week, Bosley combined for six blocked shots - moving into fourth place in the CSU Career Record Book with 118 career blocks. For the season Bosley has 31 blocks, just 10 blocks shy of cracking the top-10 CSU single-season list with at least 17 games left to play this year.
ABSHAW CONTINUES CLIMB UP CSU CAREER RECORD BOOK
After combining for 33 points against Oakland and Detroit Mercy last week, redshirt junior Ashanti Abshaw eclipsed the 1,300-point mark for her career, and currently ranks 11th in the CSU Career Record Book with 1,302 career points. Abshaw, who became the third fastest Viking to reach 1,000 career points last season as a redshirt sophomore, needs just 21 more points to move into the top-10 in the career scoring chart.
VOSKUHL NAMED #HLWBB PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Redshirt senior Olivia Voskuhl picked up Cleveland State's first weekly honor of the season on Monday, earning Horizon League Player of the Week accolades after averaging 20.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in last week's two #HLWBB victories. Voskuhl posted 19 points against Oakland in the league-opener, and then followed that up with a career-high 21 points against Detroit Mercy. For the week, Voskuhl shot 69-percent from the floor, including a 10-for-13 performance against the Titans (.769).
…AND EARNS SPOT ON CAREER REBOUNDING CHART
With six rebounds against Detroit Mercy last time out, Olivia Voskuhl cracked the top-20 in the CSU Career Record Book in rebounding, entering Thursday's game ranked 19th with 546 total boards. Voskuhl, who also ranks eighth with 422 defensive rebounds, is averaging a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game this season, and ranks fifth among league players.
VIKING STARTING FIVE
So far this season, Cleveland State has used the same starting lineup throughout the entire non-league slate and first two #HLWBB contests, with Ashanti Abshaw, Khayla Livingston, Olivia Voskuhl, Jade Ely, and Shadae Bosley all earning a spot in the starting five. Abshaw leads this group with 72 career starts, while Livingston (69) and Voskuhl (66) are right behind her.
DAVIDSON APPOINTED TO CSU BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Junior forward Sierra Davidson is currently serving a two-year term as a student member of the Cleveland State University Board of Trustees after being appointed to the position at the beginning of the 2016-17 academic year. Davidson, who was a three-year class president in high school, carries a 3.93 GPA while pursuing a degree in psychology and is on track to graduate in three years. Davidson is also an active member of the CSU Student-Athlete Advisory Council, serving as the Community Service chair.
2018 HORIZON LEAGUE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
For the second straight season, the Horizon League men's and women's championships will run concurrently, with 'Motor City Madness' running from March 2 through March 6 at the brand new Little Caesers Arena in downtown Detroit, Mich. The five-day tournament will again feature two first round games, four second round games, two semifinals, and a championship contest. All nine games will be carried on the ESPN network.
UP NEXT
Cleveland State will close out its current four-game homestand on Saturday (January 6), hosting UIC at 1:00 p.m.