Horizon League Tournament: Cleveland State v. Wright State

Who will WIN this matchup?

Cleveland State Vikings (11-8)

Wright State Raiders (16-7)

Current odds:

Cleveland State Vikings: (TBD)

Wright State Raiders: (TBD)

• The line for this game is Wright State by 6.5 points.

• This will be the third meeting between the Vikings and Raiders during the 2020-21 campaign, with Wright State picking up wins in both regular season matchups.  During the regular season, the Raiders completed the weekend sweep of the Vikings (64-54 Friday and 64-46 Saturday) on the road in Cleveland back on January 8 and 9.

• Wright State entered the Horizon League Tournament as the No. 1 seed, after finishing as Horizon League Regular Season Co-Champions with a 15-5 #HLWBB record…After finishing as one of the top-five teams in the #HLWBB standings, the Raiders received a bye into the Quarterfinals, where they picked up a 74-56 victory over No. 8 Northern Kentucky…Wright State enters Monday’s game having won seven of its last nine contests…Four Raiders picked up #HLWBB Postseason honors; Angel Baker (First Team), Tyler Frierson (Third Team, All-Defensive), Emani Jefferson (All-Freshman), Katrina Merriweather (Coach of the Year).

• Cleveland State entered the #HLWBB Tournament as the No. 6 seed after finishing the regular season with an 8-8 mark against league opponents. CSU’s league wins came as series sweeps over Purdue Fort Wayne and Oakland, while they also split weekend matchups against Green Bay and Youngstown State.

• For the second straight season the Vikings were able to knock out the No. 3 seed in the Quarterfinals, as Cleveland State held on for a 69-63 victory at Green Bay last time out, ending a streak of 26 straight semifinal appearances for the Phoenix. Offensively, the Vikings were led by Mariah White with 22 points, while Isabelle Gradwell and Nadia Dumas combined for 15 of Cleveland State’s 38 rebounds. As a team, the Vikings recorded 10 steals, marking the ninth time that the Vikings have recorded double-digit takeaways this season.

• The Raiders are coming off a 74-56 victory in the Horizon League Championship quarterfinals over No. 8 Northern Kentucky on Tuesday afternoon inside the Nutter Center.

• In a contest that saw two different lead changes and the contest tied 11-all, Wright State used a 12-0 run over the final two minutes of the first quarter and start of the second to find the advantage. The Raiders held NKU to just 7.7 percent shooting (1-for-13) for the second quarter (nine points total), while shooting 57.1 percent themselves. Wright State found the advantage in the fourth quarter, tallying 21 points to the Norse’s 16 and shooing 80 percent from the floor in the quarter. Angel Baker tallied a game-high 23 points for the Raiders – her seventh 20-plus point outing this season. Emani Jefferson added 12 points for her 13th double-figure outing and fourth consecutive while Tyler Frierson and Shamarre Hale each added eight points.