Women's Basketball Set To Close Out Non-League Play Against Lake Erie Athletics

Posted: Dec 19, 2019

GAME #11
Cleveland State vs. Lake Erie
Friday, December 20 | 7:00 p.m. | Cleveland, Ohio
Live Stats | Live Video

SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will close out its non-league slate Friday evening, hosting Lake Erie College in a 7:00 p.m. contest. The Vikings enter the weekend with a 9-1 record on the year - and on a nine-game winstreak - while Lake Erie stands at 5-9 on the season.

A WIN ON FRIDAY WOULD…
Put the Vikings on a 10-game winstreak, marking the longest winstreak in program history…Put the overall record against Lake Erie at 8-0…Keep Cleveland State perfect during the month of December and at the Wolstein Center this year…Improve the Vikings to 10-1 on the year.

THE CLEVELAND STATE/LAKE ERIE SERIES
Friday's contest will mark the eighth meeting between the two teams, with Cleveland State owning a 7-0 advantage in the overall series. The two teams faced off last season, with Cleveland State picking up a 79-49 victory over the Storm.

SCOUTING THE STORM
Lake Erie enters Friday's game with a 5-9 record on the season, and will be playing its third game over the last five days…Last time out, the Storm dropped an 83-48 contest at Youngstown State, as Friday's game will be their second straight contest against a Division I opponent…Prior to the YSU game, Lake Erie picked up back-to-back wins against Ohio Valley (76-60) and Alderson Broaddus (70-66), improving to 2-2 in G-MAC play…Lake Erie, who is under the direction of first-year head coach Mackenzie Perttu, was selected to finish 11th in the Preseason G-MAC poll earlier this year.

LAST TIME OUT…
Cleveland State picked up its ninth straight win, posting a 79-66 victory at Omaha. Four Vikings finished the game with double-digit points; Mariah Miller (18), Mariah White (17), Savanna Crockett (15), and JaMiya Braxton (15), while CSU posted a .508 clip from the field on the game (32-for-63). As a team, the Vikings recorded 15 assists, 12 steals and five blocked shots against the Mavs.

...VIKINGS EXTEND WINSTREAK
Sunday's 79-66 win against the Mavs marked Cleveland State's ninth straight win, tying the program record for most consecutive wins which was set during the 1982-83 campaign. The Vikings, who are tied for sixth among Division I teams with their nine-game winstreak, haven't lost a game since the season-opener at Bowling Green last month. With a win against Lake Erie on Friday, the Vikings would set a program record for consecutive games won, and would also mark a program-best for non-league wins since joining the Horizon League.

...AND OFF TO BEST START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Cleveland State's 9-1 start to the 2019-20 campaign marks the best start in program history, bettering the previous mark of 7-1 that was set during the 1974-75 campaign. This also marks the first time that the Vikings have recorded nine wins during non-league play since joining the Horizon League in the 1994-95 season.

CLEVELAND STATE CRACKS MID-MAJOR TOP-25 POLL
Earlier this week, the Vikings earned a spot in the College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 poll, entering Week #7 ranked 25th. Cleveland State, who was receiving votes last week, is one of two Horizon League teams to earn a spot in this week's poll joining Wright State who ranks 21st.

VIKINGS AT THE WOLSTEIN CENTER
Friday's game against Lake Erie will mark just the third home game for the Vikings this year, as Cleveland State will be looking to remain perfect at home following wins against Davis & Elkins and Akron in the Wolstein Center earlier this season. Last weekend, Cleveland State closed out its non-league road schedule, which featured eight true road games - the most among Horizon League teams this year - and had the Vikings visiting six different states and traveling over 5,200 miles during the first two months of the season.

MILLER NAMED #HLWBB PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Earlier this week, senior Mariah Miller was named the Horizon League Player of the Week, earning the second weekly accolade of her career. Miller, who finished with 18 points and five rebounds at Omaha, helped the Vikings extend their winstreak and improve to 9-1 on the season. The 18-point performance against the Mavs marked the ninth 15+ point game of the year for Miller, as she is averaging a team-high 21.9 points per game this season.

…MILLER AMONG DIVISION I PLAYERS
Mariah Miller enters the final non-league game of the season ranked eighth nationally with her 21.9 points per game, and ranks 12th with 219 total points so far this season. Through the first 10 games, Miller has recorded 20+ points six times, including a career-high 30-point performance at LIU. The Milwaukee, Wis. native leads the Horizon League in scoring, while she is also the only #HLWBB player with six 20-point games this year.

…WHITE ALSO AMONG NATIONS BEST
Junior Mariah White also ranks among the nations best entering Friday's game against Lake Erie, as she ranks fourth with 41 total steals this year and 4.1 steals per game. White, who tallied six takeaways at Omaha last time out, has posted five or more steals during four games this year, and leads all current Vikings with 116 steals on her career. White has been a major part of a Viking defense that is averaging 11.3 steals per game this season, and is forcing their opponents into 182 turnovers through the first 10 games - both of which lead the Horizon League.

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 19-21 record at Cleveland State and a 435-137 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.

VIKINGS ECLIPSE CENTURY MARK
Cleveland State recorded the 12th 100-point game in program history earlier this season, finishing with 110 points against Davis & Elkins in the 2019-20 home opener. The 110 points marked the fourth highest single-game total, while it was also the second straight season that the Vikings have scored 100 or more points in their home opener (113 vs. Salem last year). Cleveland State is now 10-2 all-time when scoring 100+ points.

…AND SET PROGRAM RECORD
The Vikings posted a program record 31 assists against Davis & Elkins in the home opener last month, breaking the 30-assist plateau for the sixth time in program history. Cleveland State's 31 assists came on 39 made field goals, and included eight from freshman Julia Hintz and seven from sophomore Savanna Crockett. Hintz and Crockett were two of eight Vikings to record at least one assist on the game.

UP NEXT
Cleveland State will begin Horizon League play next weekend, starting off its 18-game #HLWBB slate at home with a pair of games against UIC (Saturday, December 28) and IUPUI (Monday, December 30).