Jan. 13, 2001

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Vikings Visit Phoenix: Having lost five of its last seven contests, Cleveland State faces UW-Green Bay this afternoon...today's game marks the Vikings' first appearance in Brown County Arena...the Phoenix have won the last nine meetings and 28-of-29 overall...CSU's lone win came in 1997 in Green Bay...UWGB has ended the Vikings' season each of the last three years...CSU has played eight of its last 10 contests on the road...the only UWGB player averaging in double-figures, junior forward Mandy Stowe leads the Phoenix with 15.3 ppg and 5.7 rpg...the two schools have a pair of common opponents this season -- both have defeated IUPUI and lost to Ohio State.

The Last Meeting: CSU's bid for its first-ever NCAA Tournament bid fell just short, as UW-Green Bay ended the Vikings' season, 79-72, in the MCC title game. CSU led for the first 25 minutes of the contest, but a 12-0 run gave the Phoenix its first lead of the game at the 14:58 mark of the second half. It was an advantage UWGB would not relinquish. Mahogany Green led the Vikings with a game-high 27 points and six assists, while Juli Grant added 12 points and five helpers. Chandra Johnson paced the Phoenix with a career-high 24 points (12-of-13 from the line), while Trisha Ebel added 19.

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 eight-of-14 foes, going 5-3 in those contests. After finishing last in the MCC in 1999-00 in rebound margin, the Vikings currently rank second at +0.1.

On Tap: The Vikings return home next week to host Loyola and Illinois-Chicago next Thursday and Saturday, respectively.

Vikings Drop MCC Opener: A bad start and poor shooting doomed Cleveland State (7-7, 0-1 MCC) in its MCC opener, as the Vikings fell 80-66 at UW-Milwaukee (5-7, 1-0 MCC). CSU scored just four points in the first seven minutes and were out-shot 35-48 percent for the game. Trailing 42-28 at halftime, the Vikings slowly cut into the Panthers' lead. A 12-3 spurt trimmed UWM's margin to just three points with five minutes left to play. However, the Panthers immediately followed with a 9-2 run to put the game out of reach. Junior center Kim Brockway paced the Vikings with 15 points and five rebounds. Senior guard Venus Harmeyer finished with 14 points, while senior forward Mahogany Green tallied 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Sophomore guard Jessica Wilhite led four Panthers in double-figures with a game-high 18 points. Freshman center Maria Viall added 15 points and seven rebounds. "We gave them a lot of open looks and they knocked them down," noted CSU head coach Duffy Burns. "We never got in sync offensively."

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 72-82 (.468) 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 8.00 bombs per game (tied for 3rd in the nation as of Jan. 9). 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 230 straight contests -- ranking behind only Louisville's current 277 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 43 times in 154 games (28%). Of those 43 contests, CSU has been victorious on 39 occasions (91%). 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 6-0 this season when topping 80 points.

She Takes Charity: Sophomore shooting guard Erika Roudebush is having a fantastic year shooting the ball. Not only is she shooting .496 from the floor and .407 from the three-point line, but she leads the MCC at a .935 (29-for-31) clip from the free throw line. Since missing her first two at the charity stripe against Prairie View A & M on Nov. 25, Roudebush has canned 21 freebies in a row, including a 6-for-6 effort last Saturday on a sprained ankle. The school record of 26 was set by April Cunningham in 1996-97.

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. She currently ranks fourth in the conference in scoring (14.9), first in assists (4.50) and fifth in steals (2.14). In addition, despite measuring just 5-9, she is second in the MCC in rebounds (7.9) and double-doubles (4), trailing only Butler's Kelly Kuhn who stands 6-3 (9.0 rpg and 6 double-doubles).

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 44 blocks -- more than every other team in the MCC but Butler (50). In her third season, Brockway ranks second at Cleveland State with 131 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 seven per contest.

Century Club: Cleveland State's 101-point outburst against Belmont marked the fourth time under Duffy Burns that the Vikings have topped the century mark and the sixth time in school history. CSU last scored 100 points on Nov. 16, 1998 when it defeated Chicago State 106-58.

Injury Equals Opportunity: Erika Roudebush's sprained ankle has given freshman Abby Scharlow the opportunity to start the last three games at shooting guard. She has responded with 35 points, six rebounds, five assists, 12 steals and just three turnovers in the three contests.

Just Like Butter: Against Belmont, the Vikings ended a six-game streak in which they committed an average of 23.8 turnovers a game, including a season-high 26 at Youngstown State. CSU dished out a season-best 26 assists versus the Bruins while turning the ball over 15 times.

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 10-of-14 games have been double-digit margins of victory. CSU's seven wins have come by an average of 20 points a game, while the Vikings' seven losses have been by an average of 13 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 45 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 (6.9-29th), rebounding (5.4-9th) and field goal pct. (.483-7th).

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 (7th), field goal pct. (5th), three-point field goal pct. (5th) and three-pointers (8th).

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.

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 CSU 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. Her performance against the Panthers helped earn her a spot on the All-Tournament team. Then on Jan. 6 she pulled down her 500th rebound, to become the ninth Viking with 1,000 points and 500 boards.

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.