Jan. 2, 2001

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Vikings Finish Off Road Swing: Cleveland State will finish off its five-game road swing tonight at Bucknell...the Vikings won a thriller last season in Cleveland in the first-ever meeting between the two teams...the Bison are led by Molly Creamer and Desire Almind who are averaging 20.8 and 18.6 ppg, respectively...CSU is 3-4 away from the Convocation Center this season...following tonight's contest, the Vikings have just one remaining non-conference game on this year's slate -- Saturday at home against Belmont.

More About Last Year: Cleveland State won its third game in a row in the closing seconds, this time a 66-64 win over Bucknell. Trailing by four with 1:26 left to play, Kim Brockway hit a shot at the 1:09 mark and Venus Harmeyer scored on a fastbreak to knot the score with 39 ticks left. Following a Bucknell miss, Mahogany Green was fouled with four seconds remaining and calmly swished both free throws despite fighting off leg cramps. Green had one of her best games of the year, finishing with 19 points, seven rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Brockway added a then career-best 18 points, six rebounds and five blocks, while Audra Cook notched 13 points and 13 rebounds. CSU was able to pull out the win despite shooting only 39 percent and being out-rebounded 48-38.

Green Steps Up: There's a saying that goes: It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. Senior forward Mahogany Green is living proof that this is true. Currently, she ranks third in the conference in scoring (15.5), first in assists (4.91) and fifth in steals (2.00). In addition, despite measuring just 5-9, she is second in the MCC in rebounds (8.1) and double-doubles (4), trailing only Butler's Kelly Kuhn who stands 6-3 (9.8 rpg and 6 double-doubles).

On The Rebound: Last year, the Vikings were out-rebounded in 22-of-30 contests. However, that didn't seem to bother CSU too much, as evidenced by its -38 rebound margin in its improbable three-game run to the MCC title tilt. This season, the Vikings have already out-rebounded seven-of-11 foes, going 4-3 in those contests. As a matter of fact, CSU has won the battle of the boards in each if its last five games. After finishing last in the MCC in 1999-00 in rebound margin, the Vikings currently rank second at +0.7.

On Tap: The Vikings next face Belmont on Jan. 6 -- their first appearance in the Convocation Center since Dec. 9. However, CSU can't get too comfortable at home, as it heads to UW-Milwaukee and Green Bay Jan. 11 & 13 to open MCC play.

Vikings Upend Dukes: Cleveland State (6-5) rode the early hot shooting of sophomore guard Erika Roudebush and held on in the second half for a 91-85 victory at Duquesne (6-4). CSU's win -- it first in five tries at the Polumbo Center --dropped the Dukes to 4-1 at home this season. Roudebush scored 15 points in the game's first eight minutes as the Vikings opened up a 20-point first half lead. The Dukes slowly chipped away at a 56-41 halftime deficit, eventually trimming the lead to just two with a little over a minute remaining. However, CSU clamped down on defense and made four free throws to pull out the victory. In all, the Vikings, who went the final 9:31 without a field goal, made 19 free throws in the second half as three Duquesne players fouled out. Senior forward Mahogany Green tallied her fourth double-double of the season with 19 points and a season-high tying 13 rebounds. She also added five assists and matched her career-highs with five steals and two blocks. Junior center Kim Brockway posted 16 points, nine rebounds, three steals and a season-high six blocks, while Roudebush finished with 20 points. Junior center Tonya Crum joined the trio in double-figures with 11 points and six rebounds. Khalihah Este-Shehu paced the Dukes with a game-high 22 points, while Beth Friday added 16 points and a game-best 14 rebounds.

Noting Coach Burns: Cleveland State Head Coach Duffy Burns is now in his sixth year at the helm of the Vikings. CSU has posted a 71-80 (.470) mark under his direction, and last season advanced to the first conference championship game in school history. In addition, in 1998-99 Burns directed CSU to the school's first winning record since 1983-84 when the Vikings went 19-8 under Alice Khol -- a span of 15 years. CSU has led the MCC in three-point shooting all five years Burns has been the head coach, while posting an impressive conference record of 8-6 in both 1997-98 and 1998-99.

A Glance At The Staff: Burns' staff is rounded out by Deb Roof, Erica Floyd and LeAnna Hicks. Roof is in her eighth year at Cleveland State -- and in her third term as the top assistant. She played for CSU from 1987-91 and is 13th all-time with 231 assists. Floyd is in her third year on the staff after spending the previous four seasons at Kent State. She graduated in 1993 from Ohio State and was a two-year letterwinner for the Buckeyes. Hicks, the graduate assistant for the second straight season, completed an outstanding four-year career at Cleveland State in 1999. She finished as the all-time leader in three-point field goals with 162 and is also in the top 15 in points (1,059-12th) and assists (343-4th).

Triple Threat: The Vikings are continuing their torrid pace from behind the three-point arc during Duffy Burns' tenure. After setting the school record last year for triples in a season (231) and game (17 vs. Loyola 2/19), the Vikes are once again atop the conference at 7.73 bombs per game (ninth in the nation as of Dec. 18). The Vikings have led the MCC each of Burns' five years in Cleveland and led the nation in 1996 with 8.5 threes per game. In addition, CSU has made a three-pointer in 227 straight contests -- ranking behind only Louisville's current 275 game run in NCAA annals.

80's Enough: In the six seasons since Duffy Burns arrived in Cleveland, the Vikings have hit his self-proclaimed "magic number" of 80 points 42 times in 151 games (28%). Of those 42 contests, CSU has been victorious on 38 occasions (90%). All four losses were to conference opponents: UW-Milwaukee (2/17/96), Butler (2/24/96) and Detroit (1/30/97 & 2/5/00). The Vikings are already 5-0 this season when topping 80 points.

Twin Towers: Kim Brockway (6-4) and Karyn Woloszynek (6-3) are doing their best to make life in the paint miserable for CSU's opponents. The pair has combined for 35 blocks -- more than every other team in the MCC but Butler (43). In her third season, Brockway ranks third at Cleveland State with 122 career blocks. Her total of 73 swats last season equaled the school record set by Jessica Toth in 1995-96.

In A Minute: Last year Audra Cook, Juli Grant and Mahogany Green each averaged over 30 minutes per game, with only eight players seeing at least 10 minutes of action a contest. This season, the bench is a little deeper, as Green is playing a team-leading 28 minutes per game. In addition, nine other players are getting at least 11 minutes and the remaining two freshman are logging at least eight per contest.

Just Like Butter: Unfortunately for the Vikings, the ball has gotten a little slippery the last five contests. Since recording a season-low 10 giveaways Dec. 5 at Akron, CSU has committed an average of 24 turnovers a game, including a season-high 26 at Youngstown State.

Viking Quickies: The recent signing of five high school seniors means that CSU will have 11 freshman and sophomores and just four upperclassmen on the 2001-02 roster...after setting the school record for free throw percentage last season (.696), the Vikings have stepped it up even more in 2000-01, entering today's contest at a .720 clip from the charity stripe (although their opponents are shooting an equally impressive .717)...CSU was 19th in the nation at 80.3 points per game as of Dec. 18.

No Barnburners Here: In 1999-2000, 18 of CSU's games were decided by less than 10 points (with the Vikings winning eight). However, so far this season 8-of-11 games have been double-digit margins of victory. CSU's six wins have come by an average of 19.2 points a game, while the Vikings' five losses have been by an average of nearly 14 points a game. CSU's defense is the big reason for the discrepancy, as its opponents are shooting just 35 percent in Viking wins, but 43 percent in losses.

Ramblin' Woman: Junior forward Tonya Crum is playing her first season in a Cleveland State uniform since transferring from Loyola Chicago following the 1998-99 campaign. Crum's redshirt season was a rough one, as she had to deal with mononucleosis and tearing the ACL in her left knee. As a sophomore, she was named first team All-MCC after finishing sixth in the conference in scoring (12.6 ppg) and second in rebounding (8.4). Currently, she is ranks among the MCC leaders in both scoring (7.0-26th) and rebounding (5.2-13th).

Shooting Guard Gets Rowdy: Sophomore guard Erika Roudebush is going to have a tough time topping her opening weekend. After coming off the bench all of last season, Roudebush has started all eight contests this season as the two guard and has responded with a pair of career-highs. In the season-opener against Ohio State, she torched the nets for a career-best 21 points and followed that two days later with a game-high 22 against Niagara. She currently ranks among the conference leaders in free throw pct. (1st), scoring (T6th), field goal pct. (7th), three-point field goal pct. (T6rd) and three-pointers (T7th).

No. 23 Becomes No. 15: On Nov. 25 against Prairie View A & M, senior forward Mahogany Green became the 15th player in the 27-year history of Cleveland State women's basketball to score 1,000 career points. Green scored the historic point with a free throw at the 5:44 mark of the first half. She recently moved into the top 10 all-time at CSU.

Center Of Attention: On Dec. 11, Junior center Kim Brockway earned MCC Player of the Week honors for the second time in her career. Brockway helped direct the Vikings to a pair of wins during the week. At Akron, she tallied 11 points, three rebounds and a pair of blocks in just 17 minutes as CSU blew out the Zips. She followed that up three days later by going 7-of-10 both from the field and the free throw line en route to 21 points (just one shy of her career-high), as the Vikings edged IUPUI. Brockway also added four rebounds and two blocks against the Jaguars.

Green Makes History: It's hard to imagine, but senior forward Mahogany Green accomplished something against Niagara on Nov. 19 that only one other player had done in a combined 97 seasons of men's and women's basketball at Cleveland State. Green posted a triple-double against the Purple Eagles, tallying 16 points, 13 rebounds and a career-best 10 assists. Sue Koziol is the only other player to have notched a triple-double, pulling off the feat twice in 1983.

Indiana Quintet: On Nov. 14 Duffy Burns announced the signing of five recruits to National Letters of Intent -- Indiana natives Jill Barnbrook (South Bend, Ind/John Adams), Kate Doll (Granger, Ind./Penn), Nikki Perkins (Lafayette, Ind./Jefferson), Maria Rickards (New Albany, Ind./New Albany) and Mandy Sichting (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) all inked with the Vikings during the early signing period. All five were slated as preseason All-State picks by Hoosier Basketball Magazine and Barnbrook, Doll, Rickards and Sichting were each listed among the top 750 players in the nation by All-Star Girls Report.