Posted: Jan 15, 2020
GAME #17
Cleveland State at Detroit Mercy
Thursday, January 16| 7:00 p.m. | Detroit, Mich.
Live Stats | Live Video
PDF CLEVELAND STATE GAME NOTES
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will hit the road to continue Horizon League play this week, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. contest at Detroit Mercy on Thursday, January 16. The Vikings enter the weekend with 13-3 record on the year and a 3-2 mark in #HLWBB play, while the Titans currently stand at 1-15 overall and 1-4 in league play.
A WIN ON THURSDAY WOULD…
Put the Vikings on a three-game winstreak…Mark CSU's fifth straight win over the Titans…Improve the Vikings to 14-3 on the year.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/DETROIT MERCY SERIES
Thursday's contest will be the 63rd meeting between the two teams, with Detroit Mercy owning a 40-22 advantage in the all-time series. Despite the Titans owning the overall edge in the series, the Vikings have won four straight matchups heading into Thursday's game.
SCOUTING THE TITANS
Detroit Mercy enters Thursday's contest with a 1-15 overall record this season, and stands at 1-4 in Horizon League play…UDM's lone #HLWBB victory came in a 70-62 decision over UIC during the second week of the league schedule…The Titans are in the midst of a four-game homestand, hosting Green Bay and Milwaukee last weekend…Zoey Oatis ranks second among league players averaging 2.0 steals per game this season, and has posted 32 total takeaways through the first 16 games…Detroit Mercy's top offensive threat Sylare Starks leads all #HLWBB freshmen averaging 9.4 points per game.
LAST TIME OUT…
The Vikings picked up a 60-52 win over Youngstown State, improving to 5-1 at the Wolstein Center this season. Mariah Miller led the Vikings with 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Mariah White added 13 points and Savanna Crockett grabbed 13 boards. As a team, the Vikings recorded five blocked shots on the game, including two each from Savanna Crockett and Nadia Dumas.
MILLER NOTCHES DOUBLE-DOUBLE AGAINST YSU
Last time out, senior Mariah Miller recorded her third double-double of the season, finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds against Youngstown State. Miller, who leads the team with her three double-doubles, enters the week averaging 19.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this season. Miller has posted double-digit points in all but one game so far this year, while she has grabbed double-digit rebounds on three occasions.
…MILLER AMONG DIVISION I PLAYERS
Mariah Miller enters Thursday's game at Detroit Mercy ranked 26th nationally with her 19.3 points per game, and ranks 20th among Division I players with 309 total points so far this season. Through the first 16 games, Miller has recorded 20+ points seven times, including a career-high 30-point performance at LIU. The Milwaukee, Wis. native is the only #HLWBB player with seven 20-point games this year.
BRAXTON FROM BEHIND-THE-ARC
Sophomore JaMiya Braxton has been Cleveland State's top three-point shooter this season, entering Thursday's game with 37 made three-pointers. Braxton leads the league and ranks 17th nationally with a .446 clip from behind-the-arc, while she also leads all #HLWBB players averaging 2.5 three-pointers per game. Braxton has converted three or more three-pointers eight times this season, including last time out in the win over Youngstown State.
CROCKETT CLOSING IN ON BLOCKED SHOTS TOP-10
Entering Thursday's game at Detroit Mercy, sophomore Savanna Crockett is just one blocked shot shy of earning a spot in the top-10 in the CSU Career Record Book in the category. Crockett, who is the only active Viking with 60+ blocks on their career, owns a team-best 17 blocks on the season after recording two in the win over YSU. Last year as a rookie, Crockett set a CSU freshman class record with 46 blocked shots.
CLEVELAND STATE IN THE #HLWBB STANDINGS
Entering the fourth week of Horizon League play, the Vikings are tops in the #HLWBB standings in Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (.371), Blocked Shots (4.2), and Steals (11.0). Individually, Mariah Miller leads the league averaging 19.3 points per game, Mariah White is tops in the league in steals (3.6) and JaMiya Braxton is averaging a league-best 2.5 three-pointers per game.
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 18th nationally with 177 total steals this year. Through 16 games, the Vikings have forced their opponents into 283 turnovers, owning a league-best 3.6 turnover margin. Mariah White has been a major factor in this strong CSU defense, as she ranks seventh nationally with 58 total takeaways this 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.
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 IN THE MID-MAJOR TOP-25 POLL
For the fifth straight week the Vikings have been ranked or receiving votes in the College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 poll, entering the weekend as one of three Horizon League teams to appear in the standings. Following its win against Youngstown State last time out, Cleveland State is now receiving votes (43).
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 23-23 record at Cleveland State and a 439-139 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 continue Horizon League play at Oakland on Saturday, January 18, with tipoff set for 3:00 p.m.
