The Cleveland State women's basketball team will begin postseason play this weekend, participating in the 2021 Women's Basketball Invitational. Cleveland State will face Manhattan in the WBI First Round on Friday, March 19, with the Semifinals and Championship games taking place on Saturday, March 20 and Sunday, March 21. The Vikings, who earned their first bid to a postseason tournament in six seasons, currently stand at 11-9 overall this season. 

 

The Vikings will be making their fifth postseason appearance in program history, and first since the 2014-15 season…Cleveland State will be making its second trip to the WBI, as the Vikings also participated in the tournament during the 2010-11 campaign…The Vikings will be one of three Horizon League teams competing in the postseason.

 

This year's adjusted 2021 Women's Basketball Invitational features an eight-team field, that will compete in a three-day tournament on the campus of Kentucky State University. This year's field features Manhattan, Loyola Chicago, Stetson, Portland, Abilene Christian, FIU, Northern Arizona, and the Vikings. Four First Round games will take place on Friday, March 19, followed by two Semifinals on Saturday, March 20 and the Championship game on Sunday, March 21. There will also be two rounds of consolation games on Saturday and Sunday. 

 

Out of the seven other teams in the 2021 WBI field, Cleveland State has only faced two of them in program history. The Vikings own a 26-14 overall record against Loyola Chicago - with many of these games coming as Horizon League foes - while the Vikings also stand at 2-3 against FIU. Manhattan, Stetson, Portland, Abilene Christian, and Northern Arizona will all be first time opponents for Cleveland State. 

 

Friday's game against Manhattan will mark the sixth postseason game for the Vikings in program history, as they stand at 1-4 all-time in postseason play. Cleveland State's previous postseason appearances came during the 2014-15 (WNIT), 2010-11 (WBI), 2009-10 (NCAA), and 2007-08 (NCAA) seasons. The Vikings own a 1-1 record in WBI play, as the Vikings picked up a win over IPFW in the 2011 First Round, before falling to Chicago State in the 2011 Second Round. 

 

Chris Kielsmeier is in his third season at the helm of the Vikings, and owns a 458-156 (.745) career record, including a 42-40 mark at Cleveland State. Kielsmeier has helped the Vikings to back-to-back winning seasons, including a 21-11 record last  year that marked just the third 20-win season in program history. Earlier this year, 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 (January 23), marking just the seventh victory over the Phoenix is program history at the time and the first during his tenure.

 

After using four different starting lineups through the first eight games of the year, the Vikings have settled on the same starting five of Isabelle Gradwell, Nadia Dumas, Barbara Zieniewska, Taylah Levy, and Mariah White over the last 11 contests. Levy is the only Viking to start in all 20 games this season, while White (19) and Dumas (18) have started every game that they have played in. 

 

Last time out, the Vikings made their second straight appearance in the Horizon League Semifinals, earning their spot in Indianapolis after posting a 69-43 First Round win over UIC and a 69-63 Quarterfinal win at Green Bay. In the Semifinals, Cleveland State dropped a 73-62 contest against eventual champions and top-seeded Wright State. This marked the second time in program history that the Vikings were making back-to-back trips to the #HLWBB Semifinals, as they also made a run of four straight Semifinal appearances from 2007-2011.

 

After posting three straight 20-point games in Horizon League Tournament play, Cleveland State senior Mariah White earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team, becoming the first Viking to earn the honor since 2010. During #HLWBB Tournament play, White averaged 22.3 points, 4.3 assists and 2.0 steals per game, playing 112 of a possible 120 minutes. 

 

Over the last three games, junior Isabelle Gradwell is averaging 11.6 points per game, as one of just two Vikings to post double-digit points in all three #HLWBB Tournament games. Gradwell, who posted a perfect 14-for-14 effort from the free throw line during this span, also combined for a team-best five three-pointers. On the season, Gradwell is averaging 5.1 points per game, while she is shooting 79-percent from the free throw line (31-for-39).

 

Earlier this season the Vikings posted a seven-game winstreak - dating from January 23 through February 19 - which is tied for the fourth longest winstreak in program history. During this span, the Vikings posted wins over Green Bay, Oakland, Mercyhurst, Purdue Fort Wayne, and Youngstown State. Last year, Cleveland State notched the longest winstreak in program history, recording 11 straight wins throughout the first part of the 2019-20 campaign.

 

At the end of regular season play, senior Mariah White was honored with #HLWBB postseason awards, as she was named the Defensive Player of the Year along with earning a spot on the All-League First Team and All-Defensive Team. White, who picked up Defensive Player of the Year accolades for the second straight season, leads the Horizon League averaging 2.3 steals per game, while she also leads the league averaging 19.8 points per game. So far this season, White has posted double-digit points in 17 of 19 games, including nine 20-point efforts, while she has also recorded two or more steals in all but three games.

 

Entering the 2021 WBI, Mariah White is ranked in the CSU Career Record Book in three categories - scoring, steals and free throws made. After posting her third straight 20-point game with 24 points against Wright State last time out, White moved into 14th place on the All-Time Scoring List with 1,266 points. White also ranks eighth on the career steals list with 215 total takeaways on her career, while she ranks 10th with 297 free throws made. 

 

At the end of regular season play, freshman Destiny Leo was also honored with #HLWBB postseason awards, as she was named the Sixth Player of the Year along with earning a spot on the All-Freshman Team. Leo, who is the first Viking to be named Sixth Player of the Year, is averaging 10.7 points off the bench as Cleveland State's second leading scorer. Leo currently ranks 14th among Horizon League players in scoring, while she leads all #HLWBB freshmen averaging 2.0 three-pointers per game and has a team-high 40 total three-pointers on the year. 

 

So far this season, Nadia Dumas has been one of Cleveland State's top scorers averaging 10.1 points per game, while she is CSU's top rebounder averaging 6.0 boards per game. Dumas, who averaged just 3.8 points per game last year, has finished with 10+ points in 11 games this year, including a career-high 19 against Oakland earlier this year. Through 18 games so far this season, Dumas is shooting a team-best 57-percent from the floor (75-for-131).

 

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.

 

Last month, senior Mariah White was named one of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award for her accomplishments in the four C's of Community, Classroom, Character, and Competition. After being named a top-30 candidate for the award earlier this season, White was selected by a committee as a finalist and will now be eligible to be the Senior CLASS Award winner - which will be determined by a nationwide fan vote and media/Division I head coach selection. 

 

Mariah White was also named a top-10 finalist for the Diverse: Issues in Higher Education's Arthur Ashe Jr. Sports Scholars earlier this week. The top-10 finalists will be narrowed down to two semifinalists later this year, with a 2021 Sports Scholar eventually being named. White has played in over 100 games during her time at Cleveland State, and is an active member of the CSU SAAC Board and the CSU Athletics Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Committee.