Posted: Jan 03, 2020
GAME #15
Cleveland State at Northern Kentucky
Saturday, January 4 | 2:00 p.m. | Highland Heights, Ky.
Live Stats | Live Video
PDF CLEVELAND STATE GAME NOTES
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will continue its brief roadswing at Northern Kentucky on Saturday, January 4, facing the Norse in a 2:00 p.m. contest. The Vikings enter the weekend with an 11-3 record on the year and a 1-2 mark in #HLWBB play, while Northern Kentucky currently stands at 8-6 overall and owns a 2-1 mark in league play.
A WIN ON SATURDAY WOULD…
Put the Vikings back in the win column…Mark CSU's first win of 2020…Mark CSU's sixth win out of the last seven meetings against Northern Kentucky…Improve the Vikings to 12-3 on the year.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/NORTHERN KENTUCKY SERIES
Saturday's contest will be the 11th meeting between the two teams, with Cleveland State owning a 6-4 advantage in the overall series. Last season, the two teams split their meetings with each team winning on its home court, but the Vikings enter the weekend having won five of the last six matchups.
SCOUTING THE NORSE
Northern Kentucky enters Saturday's game with an 8-6 record on the year, including a 2-1 mark against league opponents…The 2-1 #HLWBB record has the Norse tied for first in the league standings…NKU's league wins have come against Milwaukee (61-49) and Youngstown State (75-56) so far this season, as they enter Saturday's contest on a mini two-game winstreak and have won four out of their last five games…In the league standings, Ally Niece ranks second averaging 3.6 assists per game, while Molly Glick ranks sixth averaging a team-high 14.0 points per game…Earlier this season, the Norse were picked to finish sixth in the #HLWBB Preseason Poll.
LAST TIME OUT…
The Vikings traveled to Wright State for their first #HLWBB road game of the season, dropping a 78-53 contest against the Raiders. Savanna Crockett finished with a team-high 18 points and nine rebounds against Wright State, while Aminata Ly returned from injury and recorded six points and four boards. Mariah White finished with three steals on the game, while Crockett and White both posted two assists each.
MILLER PLAYS IN 100TH CAREER GAME
Thursday's game at Wright State marked the 100th career game for senior Mariah Miller, as she became the first active Viking to reach the 100-game mark in a green & white uniform. Out of her 100 career games played so far, Miller has appeared in the starting lineup 52 times, including all 14 games this season.
…MILLER AMONG DIVISION I PLAYERS
Mariah Miller enters Saturday's game at Northern Kentucky ranked 21st nationally with her 19.4 points per game, and ranks eighth among Division I players with 271 total points so far this season. Through the first 14 games, Miller has recorded 20+ points six times, including a career-high 30-point performance at LIU. The Milwaukee, Wis. native is one of just two #HLWBB players with six 20-point games this year.
BRAXTON FROM BEHIND-THE-ARC
Sophomore JaMiya Braxton has been Cleveland State's top three-point shooter this season, entering Saturday's game with 32 made three-pointers. Braxton is tied for first among league players averaging 2.5 three-pointers per game, and leads the league and ranks 21st nationally with a .457 clip from behind-the-arc. Through 14 games this season, Braxton has converted three or more three-pointers seven times, including a trio of shots from behind-the-arc at Wright State last time out.
CROCKETT IN #HLWBB PLAY
After averaging just 9.0 points per game through non-league play, Savanna Crockett has stepped up her offensive output during the first three Horizon League contests, averaging 13.3 ppg entering Saturday's game at NKU. Last time out, Crockett posted a season-high 18 points at Wright State to lead the Viking offense, marking her second straight double-figure point game. Crockett has also been one of Cleveland State's most efficient shooters during league play, posting a .483 clip from the field (14-for-29).
…CROCKETT CLOSING IN ON BLOCKED SHOTS TOP-10
Savanna Crockett recorded the 60th blocked shot of her career against IUPUI last weekend, becoming the only active Viking with 60+ blocks on their career. Crockett, who has a team-high 14 blocked shots this year, set a CSU freshman class record with 46 blocks during her rookie campaign. Entering Saturday's game against the Norse, Crockett is just four blocks shy of cracking the top-10 list in the CSU Career Record Book in the category.
CLEVELAND STATE IN THE #HLWBB STANDINGS
Entering the second week of Horizon League play, the Vikings are tops in the #HLWBB standings in Scoring (71.6 ppg), Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (.377), Blocked Shots (4.2), and Steals (11.8). Individually, Mariah Miller leads the league averaging 19.4 points per game, while Mariah White is tops in the league in assists (3.6) and steals (3.9).
WHITE & THE VIKING DEFENSE
Throughout the first part of the 2019-20 campaign, Cleveland State has been one of the best defensive teams in the country, ranking 10th nationally with 166 total steals this year. Through 14 games, the Vikings have forced their opponents into 260 turnovers, owning a league-best 3.9 turnover margin. Mariah White has been a major factor in this strong CSU defense, as she ranks third nationally with 54 total takeaways this year. White has posted three or more steals during nine games this year, including last time out against Wright State.
VIKINGS ON THE DEAN'S LIST
With the 2019 Fall Semester in the books, the Vikings posted one of their best semesters in program history, finishing with a 3.08 Team GPA for the term. In addition, four Vikings earned a spot on the Cleveland State University Dean's List - Savanna Crockett, Nadia Dumas, Tayla Levy, and Aminata Ly.
VIKINGS POST RECORD SETTING WINSTREAK
Throughout the first part of the 2019-20 campaign, the Vikings posted an 11-game winstreak, setting a program record for consecutive wins. Cleveland State's winstreak stretched from November 13 through December 28, as the Vikings rattled off a double-digit winstreak for the first time in program history. The 11-game winstreak topped the previous record of nine consecutive wins which was set during the 1982-83 season.
...AND NOTCH BEST START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Cleveland State's 11-1 start to the 2019-20 campaign marked the best start in program history, bettering the previous mark of 7-1 that was set during the 1974-75 campaign. Ten of Cleveland State's 11 wins came during non-league play, which marked the first time that the Vikings had recorded 10+ wins during non-league play since joining the Horizon League in the 1994-95 season.
CLEVELAND STATE MOVES UP MID-MAJOR TOP-25 POLL
For the third straight week the Vikings continued to climb up the College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 poll, entering this weekend's games ranked 21st. Cleveland State first appeared in the top-25 after the 79-66 win at Omaha (Dec. 15), and is the highest ranked Horizon League team as IUPUI, Green Bay and Youngstown State are all receiving votes in this week's poll.
HEAD COACH CHRIS KIELSMEIER
The Vikings are under the direction of second-year head coach Chris Kielsmeier during the 2019-20 campaign, who owns a 21-23 record at Cleveland State and a 437-139 overall record in 20 seasons as a head coach. Kielsmeier, who joined the Vikings as the seventh head coach in program history prior to last season, also had stops at Wayne Sate (NE) and Howard Payne, becoming the all-time winningest coach at both schools. During his time at Howard Payne, Kielsmeier led the program to a Division III National Title.
UP NEXT
The Vikings will return home for a single game next weekend, hosting Youngstown State at 7:00 p.m. on Friday, January 10.
