SETTING THE SCENE
The Cleveland State women's basketball team will open up the month of December by hosting a pair of Horizon League contests this weekend, beginning with a 7:00 p.m. matchup against Oakland on Friday, December 2. Entering #HLWBB play, the Vikings stand at 5-1 on the season, while Oakland owns a 3-3 record after the first three weeks of play.

T-SHIRT GIVEAWAY
The first 200 fans at Friday's #HLWBB opener will get a FREE T-Shirt courtesy of Viking Athletics. Make sure you are at the Wolstein Center when doors open at 6:00 p.m.!

A WIN ON FRIDAY WOULD…
Extend Cleveland State's current win streak to six straight games…Put the Vikings at 1-0 to start #HLWBB play for the fourth time under head coach Chris Kielsmeier…Mark the sixth straight win for the Vikings inside the Wolstein Center dating back to March 3 of last season.

THE CLEVELAND STATE/OAKLAND SERIES
Friday's game will mark the 19th meeting between the two teams in program history, with Cleveland State owning a 13-5 advantage in the all-time series. The Vikings have won nine straight against the Grizzlies, including an 85-65 victory last season. 

SCOUTING THE GRIZZLIES
Oakland enters Friday's game standing at 3-3 on the young season, picking up wins against Akron, Central Michigan and Stonehill…Friday's game will be part of a seven-game roadswing for the Grizzlies…Earlier this season, Oakland was selected to finish seventh in the #HLWBB Preseason Poll, with Breanne Beatty earning a spot on the Preseason Second Team…Among league players, Beatty ranks second with a .938 free throw percentage, while Linda Van Schaik ranks fourth averaging 2.2 steals per game.

LAST TIME OUT…
Cleveland State went 3-0 at the Hampton Inn Cleveland Downtown Viking Invitational, picking up wins against Georgia State, Bellarmine and St. Bonaventure. With the wins, the Vikings extended their current win streak to five straight games, marking the fourth straight season that Cleveland State has tallied a win streak of 5+ games. 

VIKINGS SET TO BEGIN #HLWBB PLAY
Friday's game against Oakland will mark the #HLWBB opener for both teams, with Cleveland State owning an 8-2 record in league openers over the last 10 seasons. Under head coach Chris Kielsmeier, the Vikings own a 36-34 record in #HLWBB regular season play, including a 12-6 mark last season, which marked the first time in four years that Cleveland State recorded double-digit league wins. 

CLEVELAND STATE TABBED THIRD IN PRESEASON POLL
Earlier this season the Vikings were tabbed to finish third in the Horizon League Preseason Poll – picking up 102 points and one first-place vote. Last season, the Vikings finished fourth in the league standings with a 14-6 #HLWBB record, and advanced to the championship game of the Horizon League Tournament for the first time since 2010. Youngstown State was picked as the preseason favorite, while Green Bay was selected second. 

LEO NAMED #HLWBB PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR
As a two-time All-League honoree, junior Destiny Leo was named the #HLWBB Preseason Player of the Year, becoming the fourth Viking to be selected as the league's preseason player of the year and the first since Kailey Klein (2009-10). Leo returns as Cleveland State's leading scorer from a season ago, as she averaged 18.7 points per game to lead all league players and rank 38th nationally. In addition, Leo led the Vikings with 73 total three-pointers on a .390 three-point field goal percentage – both of which were tops in the league and top-50 among Division I players.

HOME SWEET HOME
During the 2022-23 season the Vikings will play 14 of their 31 regular season games in the friendly confines of the Wolstein Center - with this week's pair of #HLWBB games marking the first of 10 league contests inside the Wolstein Center this season. Under Chris Kielsmeier, the Vikings have combined for a 39-17 record when playing inside the Wolstein Center.

…VIKINGS EXTEND WOLSTEIN CENTER WIN STREAK
With their trio of wins at the Viking Invitational last week, the Vikings extended their current win streak inside the Wolstein Center to five straight games. This run dates back to March 3 of last season, and includes wins over five different teams. 

VIKINGS MOVE UP MID-MAJOR RANKINGS
Entering the weekend, Cleveland State is ranked 14th in the College Insider Women's Mid-Major Top-25 poll, moving up 10 spots after going 3-0 at the Viking Invitational. The Vikings are the only #HLWBB team to be ranked in the top-25, while Green Bay, Youngstown State and Northern Kentucky are all receiving votes.

LEO NAMED #HLWBB PLAYER OF THE WEEK
After leading Cleveland State to a 3-0 week, junior Destiny Leo was named the #HLWBB Player of the Week on Monday, November 28. Leo averaged 16.7 points per game on a .400 field goal percentage for the week - pacing the Viking offense in all three games. In addition, Leo converted 11 three-point field goals, including six against Georgia State which is tied for the highest single-game total so far this season among #HLWBB players.

…LEO IN THE CSU RECORD BOOK
Entering #HLWBB play, Destiny Leo currently ranks in the top-10 in three CSU Career Record Book categories; Three-Point Field Goal Percentage (.384), Free Throw Percentage (.901) and Three-Point Field Goals Made (140). Leo is currently first in three-point field goal percentage and free throw percentage, while she moved into 10th place on the three-point field goals made list after converting 11 shots from behind-the-arc in the three games last week. 

FINDING THE RIGHT COMBINATION
After using the same starting rotation for the first four games of the season, head coach Chris Kielsmeier changed up his starting lineup for the last two games, trying to find the right rotation on an extremely deep team. The quartet of Destiny Leo, Brittni Moore, Gabriella Smith, and Amele Ngwafang have appeared in the starting five during all six games this year, while Carmen Villalobos, Barbara Zieniewska and Sara Guerreiro have also earned a spot in the starting lineup at least once. 

MOORE FINDING HER RHYTHM
In her second season as a Viking, senior Brittni Moore is starting to find her rhythm on the court, entering #HLWBB play averaging 11.7 points and 6.8 rebounds per game - leading the team with 41 total boards and ranking second in scoring. Through the first six games, Moore has tallied double-digit points four times, while also notching the first double-double of her career against Hofstra (11 pts, 12 rbs). In addition, Moore has also tallied nine assists and seven steals on the season.

CLEVELAND STATE WITH THE BLOCK
Over the first three weeks of the 2022-23 campaign Cleveland State has been one of the best shot blocking teams in the country, entering this weekend's games averaging 6.17 blocks per game to rank seventh among Division I schools. The Vikings have notched 3+ blocks in all six games so far this season, including a season-high nine at DePaul (11/15). Individually, Jordana Reisma has a team-best 11 blocked shots to rank second among #HLWBB players, and has recorded at least one block in five of the first six games.

HEAD COACH CHRIS KIELSMEIER
The Vikings will be under the direction of fifth-year head coach Chris Kielsmeier during the 2022-23 campaign, who owns a 71-50 record at Cleveland State and a 487-166 overall record in 23 seasons as a head coach. Kielsmeier, who joined the Vikings as the seventh head coach in program history prior to the 2018-19 season, is one of just two active #HLWBB coaches to reach the 450-win milestone.

UP NEXT
The Vikings will close out the first week of #HLWBB play on Sunday, December 4, hosting Detroit Mercy at 2:00 p.m.