GAME #13
Cleveland State vs. IUPUI
Monday, December 30 | 7:00 p.m. | Cleveland, Ohio
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PDF CLEVELAND STATE GAME NOTES

SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will continue the opening weekend of Horizon League play on Monday, December 30, hosting IUPUI in a 7:00 p.m. contest. The Vikings enter the contest with an 11-1 record on the year and a 1-0 mark in #HLWBB play, while IUPUI currently stands at 6-6 overall and 0-1 in league play.

A WIN ON MONDAY WOULD…
Put the Vikings on a 12-game winstreak, marking the longest winstreak in program history…Mark a 2-0 start to #HLWBB play for the Vikings…Give Cleveland State a perfect 7-0 record during the month of December and improve the Vikings to 5-0 at the Wolstein Center this season…Improve the Vikings to 12-1 on the year.

THE CLEVELAND STATE/IUPUI SERIES
Monday's contest will be the 12th meeting between the two teams, with Cleveland State owning a slight 6-5 advantage in the overall series. Although CSU leads the all-time series, IUPUI has won the last four matchups, with Cleveland State's last victory coming in a 63-56 decision during the 2013-14 campaign (before the Jaguars joined the Horizon Leauge).

LAST TIME OUT…
Cleveland State picked up its 11th straight win, posting an 84-44 victory against UIC to begin Horizon League play. The Viking offense was led once again by the duo of Mariah Miller (17 pts) and Mariah White (15 pts), as they helped CSU post a .492 clip from the field. As a team, the Vikings recorded 21 assists on 29 made field goals, and grabbed 20 steals against the Flames. Miller posted a team-high five assists, while Jade Ely notched six steals on the game.

...VIKINGS EXTEND WINSTREAK
Saturday's 84-44 win against the Flames marked Cleveland State's 11th straight victory, improving on the program record for consecutive wins. The Vikings, who are one of just eight Division I teams with an active winstreak of 11+ games, haven't lost a game since the season-opener at Bowling Green last month. Cleveland State's current 11-game winstreak surpasses the previous record of nine games which was set during the 1982-83 campaign.

...AND OFF TO BEST START IN PROGRAM HISTORY
Cleveland State's 11-1 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. Ten of Cleveland State's 11 wins came during non-league play, which marks the first time that the Vikings have recorded 10+ wins during non-league play since joining the Horizon League in the 1994-95 season.

VIKINGS LOOKING TO GO 2-0 IN #HLWBB PLAY
With a win against the Jaguars on Monday, the Vikings would improve to 2-0 to start #HLWBB play for the fourth straight year and the sixth time over the last eight seasons. Over the last eight years, CSU has played UIC once during opening weekend play, while Monday will mark the first time that the Vikings are facing IUPUI during the first two league games.

…CLEVELAND STATE TABBED SEVENTH IN PRESEASON POLL
Earlier this season the Vikings were tabbed to finish seventh in the Horizon League Preseason Poll - picking up 37 points. Last season, the Vikings finished seventh in the league standings with a 7-11 #HLWBB record, falling in the quarterfinals of the Horizon League Tournament. Defending champion Wright State and Green Bay were tied at the top of the preseason standings, while IUPUI also earned first-place votes to finish third in the poll. Youngstown State (4th), Milwaukee (5th), Northern Kentucky (6th), Oakland (8th), Detroit Mercy (9th), and UIC (10th) rounded out the 2019-20 poll.

CLEVELAND STATE MOVES UP MID-MAJOR TOP-25 POLL
After earning a spot in the College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 poll last week, the Vikings moved up two spots in this week's rankings and enter the weekend ranked 23rd. Cleveland State is the highest ranked Horizon League team in this week's poll, as IUPUI ranks 24th and Wright State and Green Bay are receiving votes.

VIKINGS AT THE WOLSTEIN CENTER
Monday's game against IUPUI will mark just the fifth home game for the Vikings this year, as Cleveland State will be looking to remain perfect at home following wins against Davis & Elkins, Akron, Lake Erie, and UIC in the Wolstein Center earlier this season. During the non-league slate, Cleveland State played eight true road games - the most among Horizon League teams this year - visiting six different states and traveling over 5,200 miles during the two months of the season.

CLEVELAND STATE IN THE #HLWBB STANDINGS
Closing out the first weekend of Horizon League play, the Vikings are tops in the #HLWBB standings in Scoring (74.0 ppg), Field Goal Percentage (.448), Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (.387), Blocked Shots (4.3), and Steals (12.8). Individually, Mariah Miller leads the league averaging 21.0 points per game as the only #HLWBB player to average 20+ points this season, JaMiya Braxton has a league-best .460 three-point field goal percentage and Mariah White is tops in the league in assists (4.0) and steals (4.1).

…MILLER AMONG DIVISION I PLAYERS
Mariah Miller enters Monday's game against IUPUI ranked 11th nationally with her 21.0 points per game, and ranks fourth with 252 total points so far this season. Through the first 12 games, Miller has recorded 20+ points six times, including a career-high 30-point performance at LIU. The Milwaukee, Wis. native is 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 Monday's game, as she ranks third with 49 total steals this year. White, who tallied three takeaways against UIC last time out, has posted three or more steals during eight games this year, and leads all current Vikings with 124 steals on her career. White has been a major part of a Viking defense that is averaging 12.8 steals per game this season, ranking ninth nationally with 154 total takeaways on the year.

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.

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 21-21 record at Cleveland State and a 437-137 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.

UP NEXT
Cleveland State will hit the road for the first time during #HLWBB play next weekend, traveling to Wright State (Thursday, January 2) and Northern Kentucky (Saturday, January 4).