SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will close out regular season play this week, beginning with a 6:30 p.m. EST contest at Green Bay on Thursday, February 23. Entering Thursday's game, Cleveland State has won nine straight games and stands at 26-3 overall this season and 16-2 in Horizon League play, while Green Bay is currently 23-4 overall and has a matching 16-2 record in league action. 

A WIN ON THURSDAY WOULD…
Give the Vikings 10 straight wins...Keep Cleveland State perfect during the second half of #HLWBB play...Give the Vikings an 8-0 record during the month of February…Put the Vikings at the top of the #HLWBB standings with one game left to play.

THE CLEVELAND STATE/GREEN BAY SERIES
Thursday's game will mark the 80th meeting between the two teams, with Green Bay owning a 70-9 advantage in the all-time series. Earlier this season, the Phoenix picked up an 82-65 victory over Cleveland State in the first matchup of the year. Despite the advantage for Green Bay, the Vikings have picked up wins in three of the last six meetings, including a convincing 69-42 victory in the 2022 #HLWBB Semifinals last year.

SCOUTING THE PHOENIX
Green Bay enters Thursday's game with a 23-4 overall record this season, including a 16-2 record in Horizon League play to be tied at the top of the standings with Cleveland State…The Phoenix are currently on a nine-game win streak, and own an 11-1 record when playing at home this season…Green Bay has been holding its opponents to a league-low 52.6 points per game this season, while also leading the league with a .785 free throw percentage and a 1.29 turnover/assist ratio…Individually, Bailey Butler has a team-best 2.1 assist/turnover ratio, while ranking second with 3.9 assists per game…Sydney Levy ranks 15th in scoring with 11.4 points per game, while Cassie Schiltz ranks 14th averaging 5.2 rebounds per game.

LAST TIME OUT…
Cleveland State closed out its regular season home slate with a convincing 87-49 victory over Wright State, putting the Vikings at 14-1 when playing at home this season. Amele Ngwafang led four Vikings in double-figures with 25 points, while Brittni Moore tallied a double-double with 15 points and a team-best 12 rebounds. Cleveland State combined for 18 assists while shooting 53-percent from the floor on the game, while the Viking defense recorded 12 steals and four blocked shots. 

VIKINGS TIED FOR FIRST PLACE IN #HLWBB STANDINGS
Entering the final week of regular season play, Cleveland State is currently tied for first place in the #HLWBB standings, as both the Vikings and Green Bay own a 16-2 record against league opponents. Cleveland State's 16 league wins through the first 18 games marks a program record for #HLWBB wins, while the Vikings are at the top of the league standings entering the final week of regular season play for the first time in program history.

ROAD WARRIORS
Cleveland State will close out regular season play with its final two games on the road, beginning with Thursday's contest at Green Bay. So far this season, Cleveland State owns a 12-2 record when playing away from home, entering Thursday's contest with a current four-game win streak on the road.

VIKINGS IN THE MID-MAJOR RANKINGS
Entering the week, Cleveland State is ranked seventh in the lastest College Insider Women's Mid-Major Top-25 Poll. The Vikings are one of two Horizon League teams to be ranked in the top-25, as Green Bay entered the week ranked 10th, while Youngstown State is receiving votes. 

…AND RECEIVING VOTES IN TOP-25 POLLS
Cleveland State also enters this week's games receiving votes in the most recent Associated Press Top-25 Poll and WBCA Top-25 Coaches Poll, marking the fourth time this season that the Vikings have appeared in one of the national top-25 polls. The Vikings are one of 17 teams to be receiving votes in this week's AP poll, while they are one of 14 teams to be receiving votes in this week's WBCA poll.

VIKINGS IMPROVE PROGRAM RECORD WITH 26TH WIN OF THE SEASON
Saturday's 87-49 victory over Wright State marked the 26th win of the 2022-23 season for the Vikings, improving the program record for wins in a single-season. Cleveland State set the program record with 24 wins last week, as a 73-63 victory at Purdue Fort Wayne eclipsed the previous record of 23 wins which was set back during the 1982-83 campaign. Cleveland State is now one of just four Division I teams with 26+ wins on the year.

…AND EXTEND CURRENT WIN STREAK
The victory over Wright State also extended Cleveland State's current win streak to nine straight games, marking the second time this season that the Vikings have won nine consecutive games (set a program record with a 16-game win streak earlier this year). Cleveland State's nine-game win streak is tied for the current league-best, as Green Bay also enters Thursday's game on a nine-game win streak.

MOORE NAMED #HLWBB PLAYER OF THE WEEK
For the second time this season senior Brittni Moore was named the Horizon League Player of the Week, earning the honor earlier this week after leading Cleveland State to a trio of wins last time out. Moore averaged a double-double with 13.3 points and 13.7 rebounds per game on the week, notching three straight double-doubles against Purdue Fort Wayne, Northern Kentucky and Wright State. Against the Norse, Moore finished with a career-high tying 16 rebounds, while also combining for eight assists, four steals and three blocked shots on the week. 

CLEVELAND STATE ON THE OFFENSIVE END
The Vikings had one of their better offensive performances last time out, shooting 53-percent from the floor in the win over Wright State, marking the sixth time this season that they have posted a .500+ clip. Cleveland State combined for 87 points in the wins, marking the 12th time this season that the Vikings have eclipsed the 80-point mark. Entering Thursday's game at Green Bay the Vikings lead the league in Field Goal % (.437), Scoring (76.6) and Scoring Margin (19.3), with the +19.3 scoring margin also ranking sixth among Division I teams. 

…AND ON THE DEFENSIVE END
Twenty-nine games into the 2022-23 campaign Cleveland State leads the Horizon League in rebounding (42.8), blocked shots (3.97) and steals (9.24), serving as one of the best defensive teams in the league. Through the first 14 weeks, the Vikings have recorded double-digit steals 11 times and four+ blocked shots 12 times, including 12 takeaways and four blocks against Wright State last time out. 

NGWAFANG ON THE BOARDS
Over the last eight games Amele Ngwafang has been Cleveland State's leading rebounder, averaging 10.8 boards per game during this stretch. Ngwafang has tallied 10+ boards in five of the last eight games, including a career-high 19 rebounds in the win at Purdue Fort Wayne. For the season, Ngwafang is averaging 7.9 rebounds per game, leading the team and ranking fifth among #HLWBB players.

LEO ON THE OFFENSIVE END
Through 29 games played so far this season, Destiny Leo continues to lead the team and the Horizon League averaging 18.3 points per game. Last time out, Leo notched 12 points against Wright State, marking her 26th double-digit scoring game of the year. So far this season, Leo leads all #HLWBB players with 12 20+ point performances and also has a league-best four 30+ outings. With her 12 points against the Raiders, Leo moved into sole possession of 12th place on the CSU Scoring List, entering Thursday's game with 1,335 career points. 

…LEO FROM THE FREE THROW LINE
Entering Thursday's game at Green Bay, Destiny Leo continues to be the top free throw shooter in the Horizon League, owning a .913 clip (137-for-150) from the line on the season. Nationally, Leo ranks fifth among Division I players in free throw percentage (with 50+ more attempts than the three players ahead of her), while she also ranks in the top-15 for free throws made. So far this season, Leo has been perfect from the free throw line in 17 games, including a season-high 13-for-13 effort at RMU earlier this season.

VIKINGS SET PROGRAM RECORD WITH 16-GAME WIN STREAK
Earlier this season, Cleveland State set a program record with a 16-game win streak, dating from November 12, 2022 through January 12, 2023. The Vikings, who set the previous record with 11 straight wins during the 2019-20 campaign, were one of just four Division I teams with a win streak of 16+ games at the time (South Carolina, Ohio State, LSU).

HEAD COACH CHRIS KIELSMEIER
The Vikings will be under the direction of fifth-year head coach Chris Kielsmeier during the 2022-23 campaign, who owns a 92-52 record at Cleveland State and a 508-168 overall record in 23 seasons as a head coach. Kielsmeier, who joined the Vikings as the seventh head coach in program history prior to the 2018-19 season, recorded his 500th career head coaching win in a 107-65 decision at Detroit Mercy earlier this season.