The Cleveland State women's basketball team will begin postseason play this week, hosting Youngstown State on Tuesday, March 3 in a First Round game in the 2020 Horizon League Basketball Championship. Entering Tuesday's game, CSU stands at 19-10 overall this season and finished the regular season with a 9-9 record in Horizon League play, while Youngstown State is currently 13-16 on the year and notched a 6-12 record against league opponents during the regular season.

 

Put the Vikings into the Quarterfinals of the 2020 Horizon League Basketball Championship…Give head coach Chris Kielsmeier his first #HLWBB Tournament win…Mark the first 20-win campaign for the Vikings since the 2010-11 season.

 

Tuesday's contest will be the 76th meeting between the two teams, with Youngstown State owning a 43-32 advantage in the all-time series. YSU has won six of the last seven matchups, with Cleveland State's first win against the Penguins in three seasons coming earlier this year. 

 

In the first meeting, Cleveland State picked up a 60-52 victory at the Wolstein Center behind a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds from Mariah Miller. In the second meeting, Youngstown State picked up an 84-72 win at the Beeghly Center despite a career-high 33-point performance from Mariah White. 

 

 

This year's #HLWBB Tournament will begin with four First Round games on Tuesday, March 3 and two Quarterfinal contests on Thursday, March 5 - with both rounds being hosted at campus sites. The league's top two seeds earned byes into the semifinals, allowing the No. 3, No. 4, No. 5, and No. 6 seeds to host First Round games. The Semifinals are slated for Monday, March 9 and the Championship will be held on Tuesday, March 10 - with both the semifinals and championship game being held at the Indiana Farmers Colesium in Indianapolis, Ind. All games will be carried on the ESPN Network.

 

Cleveland State enters the #HLWBB Tournament as the No. 6 seed after finishing the regular season with a 9-9 mark against league opponents. CSU's league wins came as season sweeps against UIC, Northern Kentucky and Oakland, while they also split season series against Youngstown State, Detroit Mercy and Milwaukee.

 

Under head coach Chris Kielsmeier the Vikings own a 0-1 record in the Horizon League Tournament, and stand at 10-10 over the last 12 years. Cleveland State has advanced to the semifinals six times and has earned an appearance in the championship game twice. The Vikings won the Horizon League Tournament title in both of their championship appearances, capturing the crown during the 2007-08 and 2009-10 seasons.

 

With at least one game left to play this season, Cleveland State is tracking down its first 20-win campaign since 2010-11, entering tournament play with a 19-10 record on the year. This marks the third time over the last six seasons that the Vikings have reached the 19-win mark, while it is the first time under head coach Chris Kielsmeier. 

 

After the first 29 games of the season, redshirt sophomore Nadia Dumas is the only Viking to have appeared in the starting lineup during all 29 games. Dumas, who became part of the starting five for the first time in her career this season, is one of 15 Horizon League players to appear in the starting lineup during every game. For the season, Dumas is averaging 3.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game, while she is the team's most efficient shooter with a .500 clip from the floor (45-for-90).

 

Entering the #HLWBB Tournament, Cleveland State ranks 24th nationally with 290 total steals as one of the best defensive teams in Division I. So far this season, the Vikings have recorded 10+ takeaways during 11 games. Through 29 regular season games, the Vikings have forced their opponents into 506 turnovers, owning a league-best 3.24 turnover margin.

 

Mariah White continues to be a major factor in the strong Cleveland State defense this season, as she enters Tuesday's game ranked 10th nationally with 89 total steals on the year. White leads the Horizon League averaging 3.1 steals per game, and is just two steals shy of moving into the top-10 in the CSU Single-Season Record Book with her 89 takeaways on the year. 

 

Sophomore JaMiya Braxton has been Cleveland State's top three-point shooter this season, entering Tuesday's game with 65 made three-pointers.Braxton leads the league and ranks 34th nationally with a .414 clip from behind-the-arc, while she also leads #HLWBB players averaging 2.3 three-pointers per game. Entering #HLWBB Tournament play, Braxton is tied for sixth in the CSU Single-Season Record Book with her 65 three-pointers on the year.

 

Senior Mariah Miller continues to move up the CSU Career Rebounding Charts, as she enters Tuesday's game tied for 15th with 641 total rebounds and eighth with 447 defensive boards. Miller, who is one of just 18 Vikings all-time to eclipse 600 rebounds, is now just 17 boards shy of moving into 14th place on the list.

 

Sophomore Savanna Crockett also continues to climb the CSU Career Record Book, as she moved into a tie for ninth place earlier this season with 72 career blocks. Crockett now has 26 blocked shots on the season, and is the only active Viking with 70+ blocks on their career. 

 

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.

 

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.

 

The Vikings are under the direction of second-year head coach Chris Kielsmeier during the 2019-20 campaign, who owns a 29-30 record at Cleveland State and a 445-146 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.