Lady Vikings a Win Away From NCAA Tournament

Cheer CSU On ESPNU Tomorrow at 1 pm When They Take On Butler

The Cleveland State women’s basketball team is a just a win away from their second NCAA Tournament berth in three years after upsetting the the Green Bay Phoenix last night in the Horzion League Tournament last night. The Vikings needed overtime to prevail 83-75.. Senior standout Kailey Klein led the way with 28 points five rebounds, five assists and five steals. Shawnita Garland chipped in with 21 points and Angel Roque added 12.

The Vikings were favored to win the Horizon League this season but only earned the fourth seed after an up-and-down season within the conference. It seems that CSU is peaking at the right season, and that makes the head coach very happy.

“This is such a wonderful feeling,” head coach Kate Peterson Abiad told CSUVikings.com . “I feel like we played two of our best games and we have been building to get to this point all season. We are playing better than we have all season and it’s a tribute to our seniors who do not want to let our season end.

“I thought we executed our game plan to perfection, hit big shots and didn’t get frustrated when things didn’t go our way. This is the right time of year to be playing like this. I am going to enjoy this for a few moments and then get ready for Butler.”

The Vikings will try to punch their ticket to the Big Dance on Sunday when they travel to Indianapolis to face Butler. The game will be televised live at 1 pm on ESPNU. If the Vikings triumph, it would be the 3rd straight year that either then men or the women’s team were represented in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.