MILWAUKEE — Cleveland State's women's basketball team wrapped up its greatest regular season in program history Saturday with a 63-56 road win over Milwaukee.
At 27-4, the Vikings have already set a team record for wins, nabbing victories in 10 of their last 11 games along with a winning streak of 16 from Nov. 12 to Jan. 12. Their 17-3 Horizon League record also places them second in the conference.
CSU star Destiny Leo finished with a game-high 16 points and is averaging 17.9 per game on the year. Gabriella Smith added 15 points and nine rebounds.
Jessi Giles and Angie Cera each led Milwaukee (10-18, 8-12 Horizon League) with 13 points apiece. The Panthers overcame an 11-points halftime deficit to tie things up early in the fourth quarter, but a 10-0 Vikes run put the game out of reach immediately thereafter.
Despite the stellar record, Cleveland State fell short of winning its first-ever regular season conference championship, finishing a game behind No. 1 Green Bay after losing both of their matchups with the Phoenix. Still, the Vikings will be the No. 2 seed in next week's Horizon League Tournament, earning a first-round bye and a home quarterfinal game Thursday at 5:30 p.m. at the Wolstein Center. It will be part of a special downtown doubleheader, with the men's team hosting its own quarterfinal showdown in the second tilt.
The winner of the Horizon League Tournament will get the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, somewhere CSU hasn't been since 2010. The Vikes' quarterfinal opponent could be any one of the four following teams, depending on how the first round shakes out:
- (7) Milwaukee
- (8) Oakland (13-16, 8-12)
- (9) Wright State (7-23, 6-14)
- (10) Robert Morris (11-18, 5-15)