Posted: Jan 17, 2020
GAME #18
Cleveland State at Oakland
Saturday, January 18 | 3:00 p.m. | Rochester, Mich.
Live Stats | Live Video
PDF CLEVELAND STATE GAME NOTES
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will close out its brief two-game roadswing on Saturday, January 18, traveling to Oakland for a 3:00 p.m. Horizon League contest. The Vikings enter the game with a 13-4 record on the year and an even 3-3 mark in #HLWBB play, while Oakland currently stands at 8-9 overall and has a matching 3-3 record in league play.
A WIN ON SATURDAY WOULD…
Put the Vikings back in the win column…Mark CSU's fifth straight win over the Grizzlies…Improve the Vikings to 14-4 on the year.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/OAKLAND SERIES
Saturday's contest will be the 14th meeting between the two teams, with Cleveland State owning an 8-5 advantage in the all-time series. The Vikings picked up wins in both meetings last year, and have won four straight and six of the last seven, entering Saturday's contest.
SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES
Oakland enters Saturday's game with an 8-9 overall record this season and an even 3-3 mark in Horizon League play…Last time out, the Grizzlies dropped a 79-74 decision to Youngstown State…Oakland's three #HLWBB wins have come against Milwaukee, Green Bay and Detroit Mercy so far this season…Oakland is one of the best free throw shooting teams in the league, ranking second with a .756 free throw percentage…Individually, Jalisha Terry ranks eighth averaging 12.5 points per game, while Terry also ranks second with a .875 clip from the free throw line…Earlier this season, Oakland was selected to finish eighth in the #HLWBB Preseason Poll.
LAST TIME OUT…
The Vikings dropped a 70-59 contest at Detroit Mercy, bringing their league record to 3-3 over the first six games of the #HLWBB slate. Mariah Miller led the Vikings with 16 points and 16 rebounds, while Savanna Crockett added 17 points and JaMiya Braxton posted 13. As a team, the Vikings recorded 15 assists on 24 made field goals, and posted 14 steals, including five from Savanna Crockett and Mariah White.
MILLER NOTCHES DOUBLE-DOUBLE…AGAIN
Last time out, senior Mariah Miller recorded her fourth double-double of the season, finishing with 16 points and a season-high 16 rebounds at Detroit Mercy. Miller, who leads the team with her four double-doubles, enters the week averaging 19.1 points and 7.7 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 four occasions.
…MILLER AMONG DIVISION I PLAYERS
Mariah Miller enters Saturday's game at Detroit Mercy ranked 27th nationally with her 19.1 points per game, and ranks 19th among Division I players with 325 total points so far this season. Through the first 17 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.
…AND IN THE CSU CAREER RECORD BOOK
With her season-high 16 rebounds at Detroit Mercy on Thursday, Mariah Miller now ranks 19th in the CSU Career Record Book with 554 career boards. Miller, who is the 20th Viking all-time to surpass 550 career rebounds, has a team-high 131 boards so far this year. Miller enters Saturday's game needing 12 more rebounds to move into 18th place in the CSU Career Record Book.
BRAXTON FROM BEHIND-THE-ARC
Sophomore JaMiya Braxton has been Cleveland State's top three-point shooter this season, entering Saturday's game with 40 made three-pointers. Braxton leads the league and ranks 25th nationally with a .430 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 nine times this season, including last time out in the game at Detroit Mercy.
CROCKETT CLOSING IN ON BLOCKED SHOTS TOP-10
Entering Saturday's game at Oakland, 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 17 blocks on the season, and set a CSU freshman class record last year with 46 blocked shots.
CLEVELAND STATE IN THE #HLWBB STANDINGS
In the fourth week of Horizon League play, the Vikings are tops in the #HLWBB standings in Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (.358), Blocked Shots (4.0), and Steals (11.2). Individually, Mariah Miller leads the league averaging 19.1 points per game, Mariah White is tops in the league in steals (3.7) 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 15th nationally with 191 total steals this year. Through 17 games, the Vikings have forced their opponents into 304 turnovers, owning a league-best 3.8 turnover margin. Mariah White has been a major factor in this strong CSU defense, as she ranks sixth nationally with 63 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 23-24 record at Cleveland State and a 439-140 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 return home for a pair of league games next weekend, hosting Milwaukee on Friday, January 24 and Green Bay on Sunday, January 26.
