After Destiny Leo stepped around Purdue Fort Wayne’s Jordan Reid and knocked down a three-pointer with 20.5 seconds remaining on Sunday to pull Cleveland State even with the Mastodons, the Wolstein Center DJ had the perfect song queued up for the ensuing timeout: the Fratellis’ 2006 hit “Chelsea Dagger.”
Little did they know that the selection preceded the matching play, instead of following it.
Once the game got back underway, PFW’s Lauren Ross – the fourth-best three-point shooter in the country entering the contest – replied with a straight-on winner from four feet behind the arc, with just 2.5 seconds left, to lift her team to a 78-75 victory over Cleveland State.
LAUREN ROSS. ONIONS. 🧅
— Josh Ayen (@Josh_Ayen) January 12, 2025
The Graduate Guard drills a game-winning 3-pointer to help @HorizonLeague leader @MastodonWBB take down preseason favorite Cleveland State, 78-75!
The 'Dons are riding a 10-game winning streak, and are the only team still unbeaten in conference play. pic.twitter.com/vyvJXoQdeQ
The defeat snapped CSU’s 29-game home winning streak, and sunk the Vikings to 13-4 overall and 5-2 in the Horizon League. Purdue Fort Wayne, on the other hand, improved to 8-0 in conference play with their tenth consecutive victory, and 13-5 overall, while staking a claim as the singular leader of an HL race that’s nearly halfway complete.
It was, in a sense, symbolic that Ross connected from the D in the “Cleveland State” wordmark that stretches across the middle of the court that the Vikings had successfully defended since January 14, 2023. After all, CSU’s perimeter D continues to frustrate head coach Chris Kielsmeier, including on that decisive play.
“It wasn’t contested enough,” he said. “We were fronting on [Dons post player Jazzlyn Linbo], because we felt like that’s where they would want to go. We had to get sunk too low, because Destiny was the closest one to [the shot], and that shouldn’t have been the case.”
“We just made a mistake. We knew [Ross] could hit a shot from that far, so she’s gotta be defended better than that.”
Ross’ bomb, the final three of her team-best 19 points, foiled a considerable comeback effort by the Vikings.
CSU found itself down by nine at halftime after failing to score over the final 3:38 of the second quarter, and – in a tidy bit of foreshadowing – a Ross three-pointer with three seconds left from near the other end of that “Cleveland State” logo.
Out of the locker room, the Vikings doubled down on their strategy of attacking the middle of the floor. Generally, it worked quite well, as both Linbo and Renna Schwieterman were saddled with foul trouble for most of the afternoon. Linbo, despite missing the majority of the first half thanks to two quick fouls (and then playing a large chunk of the second half on the precipice of ejection), still managed 14 points on 7-for-8 shooting, using a lethal reverse move to great effect.
However, counterpart Jordana Reisma matched a career high with 25 points, while adding six rebounds, a pair of blocked shots, and the nine drawn fouls that perplexed Linbo, Schwieterman, and a long parade of undersized fill-ins.
“We want to go in there, and have been going in there all year,” Kielsmeier said. “There was a lot of contact, and I feel for Jordana. People are holding her, displacing her, hanging on her, and doing all of the things that they’re doing to her. We have to make some better reads and get her the ball more.”
Mickayla Perdue, who struggled from the floor, but drew six shooting fouls and went 10-for-11 from the free throw line on the way to 18 points, and Leo, who went 6-for-9 from three-point range, also helped the Vikings pull within four by the end of the third quarter. Perdue’s and-one runner, closely followed by a pair of Reisma free throws with 7:57 left, gave CSU its first lead since the second quarter, 57-56.
With the game later tied 66-66 in the final three minutes, Reid delivered what Kielsmeier called “a significant point in the game,” and appeared to give the Mastodons a clear upper hand. First, the Indiana Wesleyan transfer took the rebound of a Reisma miss coast to coast, then she immediately stole the ball from Perdue and fed it to Sydney Freeman for a three-pointer, which moved the visitors ahead by five.
Perdue willed the Vikings back though, scoring six of the game’s next eight points to draw the game within range. That surge included a vital interception of a PFW inbound pass in the last 60 seconds of play, as well as the subsequent free throws that resulted, helping to set up Leo’s almost-heroics.
“One thing we know about this team and about Cleveland State women’s basketball is that they’re never going to stop fighting, and they’re going to play to the end,” Kielsmeier said. “More times than not, even when they’re not playing their best, they’re still going to give themselves a chance to win.”
Ultimately though, Purdue Fort Wayne’s 11-for-24 mark from three-point range, complimented by Linbo’s efficient efforts, won the day, as the Mastodons took command of the Horizon League standings. Though Ross’ 5-for-10 line and game-winning shot headlined the long-range effort, Freeman (3-for-4) and Amellia Bromenschenkel (2-for-3, along with three important fourth quarter free throws after being fouled on a deep attempt) were also significant to the bombardment.
“Overall, we’ve gotta be better,” Kielsmeier said. “We have to defend that three-point line better, it’s been a concern all year. I know our upside is pretty significant.”
“We’ve just gotta get back to work tomorrow.”
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