The Cleveland State women's basketball team will close out the 2017-18 regular season this week, beginning with a 5:00 p.m. contest at Wright State on Monday, February 19. Entering Monday's contest, the Vikings are 18-9 overall this year and 10-6 in Horizon League play, while the Raiders are 19-8 overall and 10-5 in league action.

 

Put the Vikings back in the win column…Give the Vikings the season sweep over Wright State…Mark Cleveland State's seventh win out of its last nine games…Mark the sixth time under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad that the Vikings have reached the 19-win mark.

 

This will mark the 72nd meeting between the two teams, with Cleveland State owning a 36-35 advantage in the overall series. Although the Vikings picked up a 71-70 overtime victory against the Raiders in the first meeting this season, Wright State has won five of the last six meetings.

 

In the first meeting between the two teams, Cleveland State picked up a thrilling 71-70 overtime victory. Khayla Livingston (25 pts) and Ashanti Abshaw (22 pts) combined for 47 points, while Abshaw converted a deep jumper as time expired in overtime to secure the victory. The Vikings shot 42-percent from the floor, and recorded 15 assists on 26 made field goals throughout the game.

 

Following her 21-point performance against the Phoenix last Thursday, redshirt senior Olivia Voskuhl eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her career, and enters Monday's game with 1,022 points. Voskuhl, who is the 29th Viking all-time to reach the milestone, is the 13th to do so under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad. Voskuhl was playing in her 118th game in a Viking uniform, a mark that is tied for ninth in the CSU Career Record Book.

 

For just the second time in program history, three Vikings on the same roster have recorded 1,000 career points, as the trio of Ashanti Abshaw, Khayla Livingston and Olivia Voskuhl have all achieved the feat. Abshaw, who recorded her 1,000th career point as a redshirt sophomore, ranks seventh on the all-time scoring list with 1,542 points, while Livingston ranks 10th with 1,421 points after reaching the 1,000-point milestone earlier this year. 

 

The Vikings will close out regular season play on the road this week, traveling to Wright State and Youngstown State for their final two #HLWBB games. During the month of February, the Vikings have played four road games, and will play six of their last eight games away from home. Entering Monday's game at Wright State, the Vikings own a 4-3 record on the road against league teams.

 

Last Thursday's 71-60 victory over Green Bay marked Cleveland State's 10th Horizon League win of the season, giving the Vikings double-digit league wins for the sixth time under head coach Kate Peterson Abiad and the first time since the 2014-15 campaign. With two regular season games left to play, the Vikings have a chance to tie the program record for league wins which stands at 12 - which was set during the 2008-09 and 2010-11 seasons.

 

In last week's victory over Green Bay, Khayla Livingston recorded her first-ever double-digit assist game, as she tallied a career-high 10 assists against Green Bay. Livingston, who ranks fifth among league players averaging 4.1 helpers per game, has 111 total assists this year. For her career, Livingston is the only Viking to eclipse 1,400 points and 375 assists, as she ranks 10th in the CSU Career Record Book with 1,421 points and fifth with 385 assists. 

 

Earlier this season, Olivia Voskuhl moved into the top-15 on the CSU Rebounding Chart, and enters Monday's contest ranked 15th with 636 career boards. Voskuhl, who tallied a team-high seven rebounds against Milwaukee last time out, leads the Vikings and ranks seventh among league players averaging 7.1 rebounds per game this year. Voskuhl is the 15th Viking all-time to record 1,000+ career points and 600+ career rebounds, and needs just five more boards to move into 14th place in the CSU Career Record Book.

 

After converting five three-pointers at UIC earlier this season, redshirt senior Khayla Livingston became the program record holder in three-pointers, and enters the final week of regular season play with 227 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 84 total conversions from behind-the-arc on the year - a mark that ranks second in the CSU Single-Season Record Book.

 

Following her 19-point game at IUPUI earlier this month, redshirt junior Ashanti Abshaw surpassed 1,500 points for her career, and enters Monday's game with 1,542 total points. Abshaw, who is one of just two Vikings all-time to reach the 1,500-point mark as a junior (Kailey Klein 2006-10), currently ranks second in the Horizon League averaging 18.9 points per game. With at least three games left to play this season, Abshaw ranks seventh on the CSU Scoring Chart and needs 42 more points to move into sixth place.

 

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).

 

Cleveland State will travel to Youngstown State on Saturday, February 17 for the regular season finale, taking on the Penguins in a 4:15 p.m. contest.