GAME #22
Cleveland State at UIC
Saturday, February 1 | 3:00 p.m. EST | Chicago, Ill.
Live Stats | Live Video
PDF CLEVELAND STATE GAME NOTES
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will continue Horizon League play on Saturday, February 1, traveling to UIC for a 3:00 p.m. EST contest. The Vikings enter Saturday's game with a 15-6 record on the year, and a 5-5 mark in #HLWBB play, while UIC currently stands at 3-18 overall and 2-8 in league play.
A WIN ON SATURDAY WOULD…
Put the Vikings back in the win column…Snap a two-game losing skid for Cleveland State…Give the Vikings the season sweep over UIC…Give Cleveland State a win to start the month of February.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/UIC SERIES
Saturday's contest will be the 78th meeting between the two teams, with Cleveland State owning a 44-33 edge in the all-time series. The Vikings picked up an 84-44 victory over UIC in the Horizon League opener earlier this season, and have won eight straight against the Flames.
SCOUTING THE FLAMES
UIC enters Saturday's contest with a 3-18 overall record on the season, and stands at 2-8 in Horizon League play…UIC's two #HLWBB victories came against Oakland (70-64 OT) and Youngstown State (59-53), with the YSU win happening last time out…Saturday's game will be the final game of a three-game homestand for the Flames…UIC ranks third among Horizon League teams averaging 7.8 steals and 3.7 blocked shots per game, while Jada Nneji leads the league with 34 total blocks on the season and Abreanna Lake ranks fifth with 31 total steals…Entering the weekend, UIC is 10th in the league standings.
LAST TIME OUT…
Cleveland State opened up the second half of Horizon League play at IUPUI, dropping a 58-48 contest in an early morning Kids Day Game. Mariah Miller and Mariah White combined for 30 points to lead the Viking offense, while Miller and Savanna Crockett each grabbed seven boards on the game. As a team, the Vikings recorded eight steals against IUPUI, including a team-high four from Mariah White.
MILLER RECORDS 1,000TH CAREER POINT
With a three-pointer at the 7:24 mark of the second quarter at IUPUI last time out, Mariah Miller eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her career, finishing the game with 1,009 points as the 30th Viking all-time to reach the milestone. Miller now has 387 points on the season, and has recorded 375+ points in each of the last two years.
…AND MOVING UP THE CSU CAREER RECORD BOOK
Mariah Miller also continues to add to her career rebound total, entering Saturday's game ranked 18th in the CSU Career Record Book with 584 career boards. Miller, who is the 20th Viking all-time to surpass 575 career rebounds, has a team-high 161 boards so far this year. Miller enters Saturday's game ranked sixth among Horizon League players averaging 7.7 rebounds per game this season.
CROCKETT ON BLOCKED SHOTS TOP-10 LIST
After recording two blocked shots against Green Bay last weekend, sophomore Savanna Crockett moved into sole possession of 10th place in the CSU Career Record Book, and enters Saturday's game with 67 career blocks. Crockett, who is the only active Viking with 60+ blocks on their career, owns 21 blocks on the season, and set a CSU freshman class record last year with 46 blocked shots. Entering the second half of #HLWBB play, Crockett is five blocks shy of moving into ninth place on the list.
VIKINGS TRACKING 20-WIN SEASON
With at least nine games left to play this season, Cleveland State is tracking down its first 20-win campaign since 2010-11, entering Saturday's game with a 15-6 record on the year. The Vikings were the first Horizon League team to reach the 15-win mark with the 58-49 victory over Milwaukee last weekend, while also marking the 12th time that they have recorded 15 or more wins in a single season.
BRAXTON FROM BEHIND-THE-ARC
Sophomore JaMiya Braxton has been Cleveland State's top three-point shooter this season, entering Saturday's game with 47 made three-pointers. Braxton leads the league and ranks 44th nationally with a .409 clip from behind-the-arc, while she is tied for first among #HLWBB players averaging 2.4 three-pointers per game. For her career, Braxton needs just four more shots from behind-the-arc to reach the 100 mark.
WHITE RANKS TOP-10 NATIONALLY
Mariah White continues to be a major factor in the strong Cleveland State defense this season, as she enters the weekend ranked eighth nationally with 69 total steals on the year. White leads the Horizon League averaging 3.3 steals per game, and has posted at least one takeaway in all but two games this season.
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, Taylah 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.
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 25-26 record at Cleveland State and a 441-142 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
The Vikings will return home for two games next week, hosting Northern Kentucky on Thursday, February 6 and Wright State on Saturday, February 8.
