By Jaela Johnson | @Msbasketball_13
Sports Capital Journalism Program
INDIANAPOLIS — “Make me a parabola,” a Cleveland State fan behind the Vikings’ bench screamed toward the court in the third quarter of the Horizon League semifinal against Wright State on Monday afternoon. Shot after imperfect Wright State shot was going up and coming down as the Raiders made just 21% in the third quarter and 31% in the fourth. From Cleveland State’s relentless start to its purposeful finish, the Vikings advanced to a third consecutive championship game with a 83-50 victory.
Cleveland State (29-4) will meet Green Bay in the championship game for the second straight season with a chance to win its second consecutive league title and a fourth in school history. Another championship would give the Vikings the second-highest total among current league members, behind Green Bay’s 16. The 33-point margin was the second-largest in a women’s semifinal game in the 36 seasons of the tournament, the most in 27 years since Detroit Mercy’s 98-63 victory over Milwaukee.
Senior guard Mickayla Perdue, one of five double-figure scorers for Cleveland State, led the Vikings with 18 points on 8-of-13 shooting. Sophomore forward Jordana Reisma added 10 points with a game-high 10 rebounds. Senior guard Sara Guerreiro, who scored 11 points, added a game-high six assists. Graduate student Brooklynn Fort-Davis came off the bench to score 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
Wright State graduate student Alexis Hutchison scored 22 points with seven rebounds. Junior Kacee Baumhower scored 15 but was held to 5-of-15 shooting. Wright State (18-15) was outscored 42-18 in the paint and allowed 24 Cleveland State points off turnovers.
“We’re a confident group and we believe that we can play at a high level,” Cleveland State coach Chris Kielsmeier said, “and we needed to make a statement right at 12:00 o’clock and we did that.”
Cleveland State dominated the game in every way. As a team the Vikings shot 48.5% from the field, 37.5% from the 3-point-line, and 81.3% from the free throw line. They finished with a plus-minus of 33 and had four fewer turnovers than their opponent. The Vikings led by 20 points at halftime and by as many as 38 with 43 seconds to go in the third quarter.
A mentality of confidence, dominance and togetherness created a massive victory.
“This team doesn’t have nerves,” Kielsmeier said. “If they do it’s nerves of steel.”
