Posted: Feb 09, 2018
GAME #25
Cleveland State @ IUPUI
Saturday, February 10 | 7:00 p.m. | Indianapolis, Ind.
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CLEVELAND STATE @ IUPUI GAME NOTES
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will close out its current four-game roadswing this weekend, traveling to IUPUI for a 7:00 p.m. contest on Saturday, February 10. The Vikings enter Saturday's game on a five-match winstreak, standing at 17-7 overall and 9-4 in Horizon League play. The Jaguars enter the weekend with a 17-6 overall record and a 9-3 mark against league opponents.
A WIN SATURDAY WOULD…
Put the Vikings on a six-game winstreak - marking the longest winstreak of the season…Give Cleveland State a 4-0 start to the month of February…Mark the Vikings' seventh win out of their last eight games…Give Cleveland State 18 wins for just the second time over the last seven seasons.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/IUPUI SERIES
This will mark the eighth meeting between the two teams, with Cleveland State holding a 6-2 advantage in the overall series. Although IUPUI picked up a 77-64 victory in the first matchup of the season, the Vikings have won five of the last six meetings.
…THE FIRST TIME AROUND
In the first meeting between the two teams, Cleveland State dropped a 77-64 decision, its first Horizon League loss of the season. Four Vikings finished in double-figures, led by Ashanti Abshaw with 21 points. Cleveland State held the advantage at the halftime mark, but IUPUI outscored the Vikings 45-29 during the second half to pull away with the victory.
SCOUTING THE JAGUARS
IUPUI enters Saturday's game with a 17-6 overall record and a 9-3 mark against league opponents…The Jaguars have lost two out of their last three contests, including a 70-67 decision to Youngstown State last time out…Saturday's game will be the third and final game of a three-game homestand for the Jaguars, as they stand at 5-3 at home this season…IUPUI enters the weekend ranked second in the Horizon League standings…As a team, the Jaguars lead the league with a .453 field goal percentage, while Macee Williams leads the individual category with a .665 clip from the floor.
LAST TIME OUT...
Cleveland State completed its fourth sweep of the season, earning a 64-42 victory at UIC. The Vikings had a balanced offensive attack against the Flames, led by Ashanti Abshaw with 19 points and Khayla Livingston with 17. Cleveland State shot 41-percent from the floor, while the Vikings held UIC to a .250 clip from the field. The Vikings recorded 18 points off of 20 UIC turnovers.
LIVINGSTON SETS CSU THREE-POINT RECORD
After converting five three-pointers at UIC last time out, redshirt senior Khayla Livingston became the program record holder in three-pointers, finishing the game with 218 shots from behind-the-arc. Livingston, who is one of just two Vikings all-time to eclipse 200 three-pointers, broke the previous record of 217 set by Cori Coleman in 2015. So far this season, Livingston is averaging a league-best 3.1 three-pointers per game and has 75 total conversions from behind-the-arc on the year - a mark that ranks second in the CSU Single-Season Record Book.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Cleveland State will spend the majority of its time on the road during the second half of Horizon League play this season, including this weekend's roadtrip to UIC and IUPUI. The Vikings, who will play six of their last eight games on the road, own a 7-3 record on the road this season and will be playing their fourth and final game of a four-game roadswing on Saturday evening.
VIKINGS REACH 17-WIN MARK
Thursday's victory at UIC marked the 17th win of the season for the Vikings, marking just the sixth time under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad that Cleveland State has recorded at least 17 wins in a season. With five regular season games left to play, this is the earliest that the Vikings have ever reached the 17-win mark.
…AND EXTEND WINSTREAK TO FIVE
Thursday's 64-42 win over the Flames also extended Cleveland State's current winstreak to five straight games - marking the longest winstreak of the season for the Vikings. Under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad, the Vikings have rattled off five straight wins on eight different occasions, with this current winstreak marking the first time since the 2013-14 season.
HIGH-POWERED OFFENSE
In Horizon League games only, Cleveland State is tops in the league averaging 69.2 points per game. The Vikings, who have a +4.7 scoring margin against league opponents, have scored 70 or more points in four of their last five contests. A large part of the Cleveland State offense has come from the duo of Ashanti Abshaw (19.1 ppg) and Khayla Livingston (19.0 ppg), who rank second and third, respectively, among league players in scoring. Livingston and Abshaw have accounted for 476 points in league play - over half of Cleveland State's total point total.
ABSHAW CHASING DOWN THE 1,500-POINT MARK
Entering the final stretch of regular season play, Ashanti Abshaw is chasing down the 1,500-point mark, entering Saturday's contest at IUPUI ranked seventh on the CSU Scoring Chart with 1,498 career points. Abshaw, who ranks second among league players averaging 19.4 points per game this season, would become the second current Horizon League player to reach the milestone, and just the second Viking all-time to eclipse the 1,500-point mark as a junior (Kailey Klein 2006-10).
VOSKUHL CLOSING IN ON 1,000 CAREER POINTS
After averaging a career-best 12.3 points per game so far this season, redshirt senior Olivia Voskuhl is closing in on joining the 1,000-point club, entering Saturday's contest with 984 career points. Voskuhl, who has tallied double-digit points in all but five games this season, would become the 29th Viking all-time and the third current Viking to join the exclusive club (Ashanti Abshaw & Khayla Livingston).
BOSLEY WITH THE BLOCK
Senior Shadae Bosley enters Saturday's contest with a league-best 53 total blocked shots on the year, a mark that ranks fifth in the CSU Single-Season Record Book. For her career, Bosley has 140 total blocks, ranking third in the CSU Career Record Book as one of just three Vikings all-time with 140+ blocked shots. Bosley is currently at the top of the league standings averaging 2.2 blocked shots per game.
HEAD COACH KATE PETERSON ABIAD
With the 71-70 overtime victory against Wright State earlier this year, Kate Peterson Abiad picked up the 200th win of her career, eclipsing the coaching milestone on her birthday. Peterson Abiad, who is in her 15th season at the helm of the Vikings, became the fourth active Horizon League coach to record 200 career wins, and just the second to eclipse the milestone at their current school (Kevin Borseth, Green Bay).
UP NEXT
Cleveland State will return home for the final time during the 2017-18 season next week, hosting Green Bay (Thursday, February 15) and Milwaukee (Saturday, February 17) in its final homestand of the year.
