Season Ends as Mastodons Fall in Postseason Opener

Wednesday, March 16

Fort Wayne, Ind.

7:30 PM

Purdue Fort Wayne

20-11

Cleveland State

21-11

Cleveland State

IPFW

Stephanie Rosado scored a team-high 16 points while pulling down six rebounds for IPFW

Season Ends as Mastodons Fall in Postseason Opener

3/16/2011 10:05:56 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

BOX SCORE | POSTGAME NOTES | PHOTO GALLERY (coming soon)

Fort Wayne, IN - IPFW closed its 2010-11 season in the opening round of the Women's Basketball Invitational (WBI), as Cleveland State used a run of 10-2 sandwiched around halftime, and a 10-0 run in the second half to pull away from the Mastodons in a 73-62 battle at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center.

With its win, Cleveland State advances to the second round of the WBI, and will face off against Chicago State on either Saturday or Sunday.

The loss finishes the 2010-11 season for IPFW with a 20-11 record, the program's highest win total since the 1995-96 team won 23 games.

Stephanie Rosado scored 16 points for IPFW, as Sydney Weinert scored a dozen and Jordan Zuppe 11. Chelsey Jackson and Amanda Hyde added eight and seven, respectively in the losing effort. Weinert grabbed a team-best eight rebounds, while Rosado pulled down six, with Zuppe dishing out a team-high four assists.

The game was a tight battle that saw eight ties and seven lead changes through the first 15 minutes of the game, with the largest lead by either team coming when IPFW took a three-point advantage after a three-pointer by Kayla Drake with 10:46 to play in the first half.

With the teams tied at 22, the eighth tie of the game, IPFW ran off a 10-3 run to lead by seven after a Weinert lay-up with 1:39 to play in the second half, and nearly went up by double digits when a Zuppe three-pointer from the baseline rimmed out 45 seconds later, before Cleveland State got lay-ups from Janelle Adams and Takima Keane to cut the deficit to three at 32-29 heading into the locker room at halftime.

Paced by the 4-0 run to end the first half, the Vikings started the second period on a 6-2 run to take a one-point, 35-34 lead four minutes into the period. IPFW quickly rebounded with a long range basket from Zuppe, a Zuppe coast-to-coast lay-up, and a Jackson steal and lay-up to push the Mastodon lead to six at 41-35 with 15:07 to play in the game.

The IPFW offense, after that 7-0 outburst, went cold, scoring just two points over the next three minutes, while Cleveland State started to click with the ball, as the Vikings ran off a 13-2 run to take a five-point, 48-43 lead, one that the team would not give up for the remainder of the game.

The Mastodons cut the deficit to two on three separate occasions in the second half, the last coming on a made free throw by Kayla Drake with 4:26 to play; however, CSU closed out a 10-2 run over the next three minutes to push the Mastodon deficit to double-digits, as the Vikings iced the game by making 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch in the win.

The Vikings were led by a 27-point effort from Shawnita Garland, her eighth straight game with at least 20 points, while three others reached double-figures in the scoring column. Takima Keane dished out a game-high 10 assists, while Shalonda Winton grabbed 11 rebounds for her double-double.

~Dons~