CHICAGO, Ill. - Despite four players in double-figures and a strong second half performance, the Cleveland State women's basketball team came up just short at Loyola Saturday afternoon, falling to the Ramblers, 79-78 in the final seconds of action. With the loss, the Vikings are now 11-11 on the season, and 3-6 in league play, while Loyola improves to 8-13 (3-5 HL).
Four players posted double-figures for the Vikings Saturday, led by Shalonda Winton who tallied a game-high 25 points along with 10 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season. Cori Coleman notched 15 points - including a trio of three-pointers - while Imani Gordon added 10 points and Haley Schmitt also chipped in 10. Gordon was just shy of notching her third double-double on the year, posting nine rebounds along with three assists.
During the first half the Vikings were able to string together multiple runs to keep the contest close, heading into halftime down by three, 38-35.
At the 7:32 mark of the first half Winton blocked a Loyola jumper, marking her 100th career block. Winton is now one of just four Vikings to have 100 blocks on their career, ending the contest with 101.
A pair of early three-pointers from Coleman and Kiersten Green to open the second half gave CSU its first lead since the 10:35 mark of the first half at 44-42 and the two teams traded baskets over the next three minutes to even the contest at 51-51 with 14:06 remaining.
The Vikings then went on a 9-1 run that ended with a Green three-pointer to gain an eight-point advantage at 60-52. Green, who played just four minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, posted all nine of her points during the second half, including a pair of three-pointers.
Over the next 2:38 Cleveland State was able to gain a 10-point lead - their largest of the contest - at 66-56 on a Winton three-pointer. Loyola responded with a 6-0 run of its own to close the gap to four points (66-62) with 5:51 remaining, before a Green jumper and a pair of Winton free throws extended CSU's lead once again to eight (70-62) with 4:48 left to play.
The Ramblers then went on an 11-2 run over the next three minutes to gain a 73-72 lead at the 1:28 mark, earning their first advantage in over 15 minutes. Coleman and Winton each converted a pair of free throws on the next two possessions to give the Vikings back a one-point lead at 76-75, before Loyola's Taylor Johnson went two-for-two from the free throw line on the next trip down the floor to give the advantage back to Loyola with just 17-seconds remaining.
On the ensuing inbounds play, Winton drove to the basket and put in a jumper - marking her game-high 24th and 25th points - which put the Vikings up, 78-77 with eight seconds left to play. The Ramblers then drove to their own end of the court and as time was expiring, got a foul against CSU and successfully converted both free throw attempts to escape with the one-point victory.
As a team, CSU shot 45-percent from the floor (27-60), including a .476 clip (10-21) from three-point. The Vikings notched 17 assists on their 27 made field goals, and outrebounded the Ramblers 38-37.
Next up for Cleveland State will be a 7:00 p.m. contest against UIC on Monday (Feb. 11) in the Wolstein Center.
