Feb. 17, 2001

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Vikings Look To Hold On To Third: Cleveland State is in a three-way tie for third place in the conference along with Detroit and Illinois-Chicago...the Vikings get the services of senior guard Bridget Oberer after she missed Thursday's game due to student teaching obligations...CSU won the first meeting this season, and leads the all-time series by a 12-1 margin...the Ramblers only win in the series came in the first meeting in 1986...Tracy Hoffman and Lauren Sirus lead Loyola in scoring at 12.4 and 12.2 ppg, respectively...Sirus also paces the Ramblers with 7.0 rpg...Loyola's 107 points against Detroit Thursday night were the second-most in school history and the highest total in the MCC this season...a win this afternoon would equal CSU's regular season victory total from last year.

The First Time Around: Freshman guard Abby Scharlow shot 7-of-8 from the field en route to scoring a career-high 20 points as Cleveland State defeated Loyola 91-85 on Jan. 18 in Goodman Arena. The win was the Vikings' (8-8, 1-2 MCC) 12th consecutive against Loyola and improved CSU to 5-1 at home this season. Senior forward Mahogany Green led all players with 22 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists for her fifth double-double of the year. Junior guard Tonya Crum added 11 points and 11 rebounds for her first double-double of the season, while senior guard Venus Harmeyer posted 11 points. The Ramblers (8-8, 2-1 MCC) were paced by Tracy Hoffman's 17 points and seven assists, while Beth Dilling added 15 points and seven rebounds.

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 third in the conference in scoring (16.0), first in assists (4.39) and tied for sixth in steals (1.96). In addition, despite measuring just 5-9, she is second in the MCC in both rebounds (7.8) and double-doubles (seven), trailing only Butler's Kelly Kuhn who stands 6-3 (9.5 rpg and eight double-doubles).

On Tap: Following today's contest, the Vikings return home to host Wright State on Thursday and Butler on Saturday. Before the contest against the Bulldogs, seniors Mahogany Green, Kate Harker, Venus Harmeyer and Bridget Oberer will be recognized.

Vikings Blitzed By Flames: Cleveland State (12-11, 5-5 MCC) absorbed its worst loss of the season, falling 92-71 at Illinois-Chicago (8-15, 5-5 MCC) Thursday night. The Flames out-shot the Vikings .508-.348 from the field, while holding a massive 40-16 scoring advantage in the paint. With the loss, CSU remains in a third-place tie with Detroit and UIC. The Flames' 92 points were a season-high. UIC jumped out to a quick 8-0 lead in the opening two minutes, only to watch CSU respond with nine unanswered of its own over the next two minutes. The game remained close until the Flames went on a 19-5 run over the final seven minutes of the first half to take a 44-29 lead into the locker room. CSU senior forward Mahogany Green (Toledo, Ohio/Bowsher) played just two minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls. The second half was all UIC, as the Flames built a 20-point lead midway through the stanza and never looked back. Junior Tonya Crum (Lodi, Wis./Sun Prairie) paced the Vikings with 12 points, while junior center Kim Brockway (Marine City, Mich./Marine City) and senior guard Venus Harmeyer (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) both added 10 points. UIC sophomore center Jaysie Chambers led all players with a career-high 21 points and 14 rebounds, while Melea Clark added 15 points and five assists.

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 77-86 (.472) 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 14th 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).

Charitable Donations: The Vikings shot a solid .718 from the free throw line in their non-conference action -- much better than the school-record .696 set last year. However, since MCC play started, CSU has been almost automatic, knocking down freebies at a .766 clip. As a matter of fact, over the last six contests, the Vikings are 131-for-165 (.794).

Triple Threat: After setting the school record last year for three-pointers in a season (231) and game (17 vs. Loyola 2/19), the Vikes are once again atop the conference at 7.91 bombs per game (3rd in the nation as of Feb. 12). The Vikings have led the MCC each of Duffy 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 239 straight contests -- ranking behind only Louisville's current 287-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 45 times in 163 games (28%). Of those 45 contests, CSU has been victorious on 41 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 7-0 this season when topping 80 points.

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 out-rebounded 10-of-23 foes, going 7-3 in those contests. After finishing last in the MCC in 1999-00 in rebound margin, the Vikings currently rank fifth.

Ramblin' Woman: Junior forward Tonya Crum is playing her first season in a CSU 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 scoring (7.9-27th), rebounding (6.4-6th) and field goal pct. (.478-8th). In addition, she has posted four double-doubles in CSU's last eight contests. In 10 MCC contests she is averaging 9.4 ppg and 8.2 rpg, which rank 23rd and 2nd, respectively.

Harmeyer Heats Up: In 13 non-conference contests, Venus Harmeyer scored in double-digits just four times and averaged just 7.5 ppg. However, the conference leader in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.63) has scored in double-digits in seven of CSU's 10 MCC games, including a season-high 17 at Butler. In conference play, she is averaging 10.6 ppg, 3.50 apg and has knocked down 21 three-pointers.

Taylor Goes Into Hall: On Jan. 20, Deb Taylor joined former cagers Laura Englehart, Sue Hlavacek and Sue Koziol in the CSU Athletic Hall of Fame. Taylor played for the Vikings from 1987-91, finishing with 1,748 points and 893 rebounds -- both of which rank third all-time at CSU.

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 15-of-23 games have been double-digit margins of victory. CSU's 12 wins have come by an average of 16.1 points a game, while the Vikings' nine losses have been by an average of 11.9 points a game. CSU's defense is the big reason for the discrepancy, as its opponents are shooting just 38 percent in Viking wins, but 45 percent in losses.

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 64 blocks -- more than every other team in the MCC but Butler (80) and Loyola (70). In her third season, Brockway ranks second at Cleveland State with 147 career blocks. Her total of 73 swats last season equaled the school record set by Jessica Toth in 1995-96.

Injury Equals Opportunity: Erika Roudebush's sprained ankle on Jan. 2 has given freshman Abby Scharlow the opportunity to see more playing time in the 12 games since, including eight starts. She has responded by averaging 10.8 ppg and 2.92 spg, while committing just 17 turnovers. She has scored double-digits in six of the games and broke out for a career-best 20 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the floor in CSU's win over Loyola.

Green Breaks Loose: Senior forward Mahogany Green etched her name into the Cleveland State record books in the Feb. 3 win against Detroit, to earn MCC Player of the week honors for the first time in her career. She connected on 13-of-25 field goals en route to scoring a career-high 37 points - the highest total in the MCC this season and tied for the third-highest output in CSU history. In addition, Green matched her own school record with seven three-pointers on 14 attempts. She also added eight rebounds, three assists and a career-high tying two blocks. When Detroit cut CSU's lead to just five at the 17:35 mark of the second half, Green scored 13 consecutive points for the Vikings over the next four minutes to push the lead back to double-digits.

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 started the first 11 contests this season (before spraining her ankle) as the two guard and 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 scoring (19th), field goal pct. (14th), three-point field goal pct. (T7th) and three-pointers (T12th).

Center Of Attention: On Dec. 11, junior center Kim Brockway earned MCC Player of the Week honors for the second time in her career (Jan. 3, 2000). 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.

Baptiste Leaves Team: Sophomore center Nicole Baptiste (Beavercreek, Ohio/Beavercreek) has decided to transfer from Cleveland State. She left the basketball team on Jan. 17, but will remain enrolled in classes through the end of the spring semester.