GAME #13
Cleveland State vs. Mercyhurst
Saturday, February 6 | 4:00 pm | Wolstein Center
Live Stats | Live Video
PDF CLEVELAND STATE GAME NOTES
SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will take a break from Horizon League play this weekend, hosting Mercyhurst in a single game on Saturday, February 6 at 4:00 p.m. Entering the weekend, the Vikings stand at 5-7 on the year, while Mercyhurst owns a 7-3 record this season.
ENTERING SATURDAY'S CONTEST…
Cleveland State will be playing its first non-league contest of the 2020-21 campaign…The Vikings will be trying to win their fourth straight game…Cleveland State will be looking to win the first matchup between the two teams in program history.
THE CLEVELAND STATE/MERCYHURST SERIES
Saturday's game will be the first meeting between the two teams.
SCOUTING THE LAKERS
Mercyhurst enters the weekend with a 7-3 record on the season…Most recently, the Lakers picked up a 64-55 victory over American International College to split its weekend series against the Blue Jackets…Two Lakers enter the weekend averaging double-digit points, as Meghan Komendarek leads the team averaging 12.1 points per game, while Jayde Boyd is currently averaging 12.0 ppg…Komendarek is also averaging a team-best 8.9 rebounds per game…Emily Shopene has been Mercyhurst's top play maker this season, owning a team-best 44 assists.
THE VIKINGS
Cleveland State returns eight letterwinners from last season's squad, including the duo of Mariah White and Nadia Dumas who appeared in the starting lineup in all but one game for the Vikings last year. This duo is joined by Isabelle Gradwell and Taylah Levy who played significant time for the Vikings last year, along with Isabella Geraci, Aminata Ly and Julia Hintz. This experienced group will be joined by five true freshmen and two junior transfers to give head coach Chris Kielsmeier a well-rounded roster for the season.
…HEAD COACH CHRIS KIELSMEIER
The Vikings will be under the direction of third-year head coach Chris Kielsmeier during the 2020-21 campaign. Earlier this season, Kielsmeier notched the 450th win of his head coaching career, becoming just the second active #HLWBB coach with 450 career victories. Kielsmeier's 450th win came in a 60-48 decision against Green Bay, marking just the seventh victory over the Phoenix is program history and the first during his tenure.
LEO NAMED #HLWBB FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK
Earlier this week Destiny Leo was named the Horizon League Freshman of the Week, picking up the first weekly honor for the Vikings this season. In the two wins over Oakland last time out, Leo averaged 19.5 points on a .542 shooting percentage. In the first game Leo posted a season-high 23 points, and followed that up with a 16-point effort in the weekend finale. Leo combined for seven three-pointers on the weekend, and also recorded six rebounds and four assists.
…LEO FROM BEHIND-THE-ARC
Entering the week, Destiny Leo leads all #HLWBB freshmen averaging 2.2 three-pointers per game, and owns a team-high 26 three-pointers on the year. Leo has converted three or more shots from behind-the-arc in each of the last four games, and is shooting 41-percent from three-point range on the season.
VIKINGS NOTCH SERIES SWEEP OVER OAKLAND
Last time out, the Vikings recorded their second series sweep of the season, picking up back-to-back wins against Oakland. Cleveland State's two wins against the Grizzlies extended the Vikings' current winstreak to three straight games, while it also improved them to 3-3 when playing at the Wolstein Center this season. Cleveland State's first series sweep of the year came at Purdue Fort Wayne back in January.
DUMAS NOTCHES DOUBLE-DOUBLE AGAINST GRIZZLIES
In the weekend finale against Oakland, Nadia Dumas recorded her first double-double of the season, finishing with a career-high 19 points and 10 rebounds. Dumas' 19 points marked a team-high for the Vikings and came on a 7-for-10 performance from the floor. For the season, Dumas ranks 13th among #HLWBB players averaging 12.1 points per game as one of three Vikings to average double-digit points.
WHITE RECORDS FOURTH 20-POINT GAME OF THE SEASON
In the first game against Oakland last weekend, senior Mariah White recorded her fourth 20-point game of the season, finishing with a team-high 24 points against the Grizzlies. Through 11 games so far this season White has finished with 10+ points on nine occasions. Entering Saturday's game, White leads the league averaging 19.5 points per game, and is just shy of a spot on the CSU Scoring List with 1,104 total points.
VIKINGS ON THE GLASS
Cleveland State continued its improvement on the glass last time out, averaging 42.5 rebounds per game against Oakland as they outrebounded the Grizzlies in both games. After averaging just 29.6 rebounds per game and outrebounding their opponent just once through the first eight games, the Vikings have been averaging 44.0 boards over the last four games - outrebounding their opponent in all four contests. So far this season, Nadia Dumas leads the team averaging 6.8 boards per game, while Isabelle Gradwell is averaging 5.3 and Barbara Zieniewska is averaging 4.6 rebounds.
STARTING LINEUP
Through the first 12 games of the 2020-21 campaign the Vikings have used five different starting lineups with nine different players appearing in the starting five at least once. So far this season, Levy is the only Viking to appear in all 12 starting lineups, while Mariah White (11) and Nadia Dumas (10) have started every game they have played in so far this season.
2020-21 #HLWBB PLAY
This year's Horizon League schedule will have a different look to it, as the Vikings will face the same opponent in back-to-back games each weekend. Cleveland State is scheduled to host its final #HLWBB series against Purdue Fort Wayne next weekend, while the Vikings will travel to Youngstown State for the final #HLWBB series of the season.
VIKINGS ON THE DEAN'S LIST
With the 2020 Fall Semester in the books, the Vikings posted one of their best semesters in program history, finishing with a 3.50 Team GPA for the term. In addition, 10 Vikings earned a spot on the Cleveland State University Dean's List (Dana DeGraffenreid, Nadia Dumas, Isabella Geraci, Isabelle Gradwell, Meghan Kenefick, Destiny Leo, Elie Smith, Julia Hintz, Mariah White, Barbara Zieniewska), while Taylah Levy was named to the Cleveland State University President's List.
UP NEXT
Cleveland State will return to #HLWBB play next weekend, hosting Purdue Fort Wayne on Friday, February 12 and Saturday, February 13.
