Posted: Jan 01, 2020
GAME #14
Cleveland State at Wright State
Thursday, January 2 | 7:00 p.m. | Fairborn, Ohio
Live Stats | Live Video
PDF CLEVELAND STATE GAME NOTES
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will open the New Year on the road this weekend, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Wright State on Thursday, January 2. The Vikings enter the weekend with an 11-2 record on the year and a 1-1 mark in #HLWBB play, while Wright State currently stands at 6-7 overall and owns a matching 1-1 mark in league play.
A WIN ON THURSDAY WOULD…
Put the Vikings back in the win column…Give Cleveland State a win to start the month for the second straight month…Mark CSU's first win of 2020…Improve the Vikings to 12-2 on the year.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/WRIGHT STATE SERIES
Thursday's contest will be the 76th meeting between the two teams, with Wright State owning a slight 38-37 edge in the all-time series. The Raiders have won three straight matchups against the Vikings, with Cleveland State's last win coming in a 70-63 decision during the 2017-18 campaign.
SCOUTING THE RAIDERS
Wright State enters Thursday's contest with a 6-7 record this season, and owns an even 1-1 mark against league opponents…Last weekend, the Raiders picked up a 70-58 win at Green Bay and dropped a 60-58 contest at Milwaukee to begin #HLWBB play…The win against the Phoenix snapped a four-game losing skid for the Raiders…Wright State has been the top rebounding team in the league this season, averaging 41.6 boards per game, including 15.9 offensive rebounds per contest…Individually, Tyler Frierson ranks third among league players averaging 8.2 rebounds per game, while Angel Baker ranks second in scoring (18.0) and Frierson also ranks second in blocks (1.6).
LAST TIME OUT…
The Vikings had their record setting 11-game winstreak snapped on Monday, dropping a 78-53 contest against IUPUI. Mariah White led the Viking offense with 20 points against the Jaguars, while Savanna Crockett recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. The Vikings struggled offensively, posting just a .356 clip from the field, while they recorded just nine assists on 21 made field goals. Nadia Dumas recorded a career-high with four blocked shots.
CROCKETT NOTCHES DOUBLE-DOUBLE AGAINST IUPUI
Against IUPUI last time out, sophomore Savanna Crockett recorded a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, marking her second double-double this season and the 13th of her career. Crockett led the Vikings with her 11 boards and was one of just two Vikings to finish with double-figure points as she was 6-for-10 from the field. For the season, Crockett is averaging 9.4 points and a team-high 7.9 rebounds per game, and is one of seven Horizon League players with multiple double-doubles this season.
…CROCKETT CLOSING IN ON BLOCKED SHOTS TOP-10
Savanna Crockett also recorded a blocked shot against IUPUI last time out, notching the 60th block of her 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 Thursday's game against the Raiders, Crockett is just four blocks shy of cracking the top-10 list in the CSU Career Record Book in the category.
WHITE LEADING THE WAY IN #HLWBB PLAY
After the first week of Horizon League play, junior Mariah White has been Cleveland State's top offensive threat, averaging 17.5 points per game against league opponents. White opened #HLWBB play with 15 points against UIC and then followed that up with 20 points against IUPUI, marking her second 20-point game of the season. Overall this season, White is averaging 15.6 ppg as one of two Vikings to average double-digit points.
MILLER SET FOR 100TH CAREER GAME
Thursday's game at Wright State will mark the 100th career game for senior Mariah Miller, as she will become the first active Viking to reach the 100-game mark in a green & white uniform. Out of her 99 career games played so far, Miller has appeared in the starting lineup 51 times, including all 13 games this season.
CLEVELAND STATE IN THE #HLWBB STANDINGS
Entering the second week of Horizon League play, the Vikings are tops in the #HLWBB standings in Scoring (72.4 ppg), Field Goal Percentage (.441), Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (.374), Blocked Shots (4.3), and Steals (12.3). Individually, Mariah Miller leads the league averaging 19.9 points per game, while Mariah White is tops in the league in assists (3.8) and steals (3.9).
MILLER AMONG DIVISION I PLAYERS
Mariah Miller enters Thursday's game at Wright State ranked 15th nationally with her 19.9 points per game, and ranks ninth among Division I players with 259 total points so far this season. Through the first 13 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 (Angel Baker, WSU).
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 ninth nationally with 161 total steals this year. Through 13 games, the Vikings have forced their opponents into 248 turnovers, owning a league-best 4.5 turnover margin. Mariah White has been a major factor in this strong CSU defense, as she ranks third nationally with 51 total takeaways this year. White has posted four or more steals during seven games this year, including a career-high nine against Davis & Elkins earlier this season.
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Although Thursday's game at Wright State will mark Cleveland State's first road game of the #HLWBB slate, it will be the ninth road game overall for the Vikings this season. During non-league play, CSU played eight true road games and traveled over 5,200 miles throughout the first two months of the season. Entering Thursday's matchup against the Raiders, the Vikings have won seven straight road games.
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 21-22 record at Cleveland State and a 437-138 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 close out the weekend at Northern Kentucky on Saturday, January 4, facing the Norse in a 2:00 p.m. contest.
