Indianapolis, IN – The Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (25-7, 18-2 Horizon League, 2 seed) and the Cleveland State Vikings (24-9, 14-6 Horizon League, 3 seed) met for the third time this season – this time on a neutral court inside of the Corteva Coliseum at the Indiana State Fairgrounds for Game 2 of the Barbasol Horizon League Women’s Basketball Championship Semifinal. The Mastodons took the first matchup of the season in Cleveland State by three points only for Cleveland State to return the favor in Fort Wayne last month.
The rubber match was nothing short of a barn burner – well only if you were a Mastodon fan. The Purdue Fort Wayne crowd that traveled down I-69 easily doubled the respectable crowd that Cleveland State brought. The PFW fans left the Corteva Coliseum happy as their Mastodons routed the Cleveland State Vikings 83-65 setting up yet another “winner take all” matchup tomorrow with Green Bay.
First Quarter: Cleveland State controlled the opening tip, giving the crowd a preview into the defensive masterclass that was about to ensue. Jazzlyn Linbo would get this elite defense started with a steal in the post, but the ‘Dons would not be able to capitalize on the turnover as they would give the ball right back to Cleveland State. Destiny Leo started the scoring with a three for Cleveland State from Macey Fegan.
Linbo was methodical in the post, using all of the time on the shot clock to score on Jordana Reisma. In the first meeting of the season, Linbo was able to exploit weaknesses in Reisma’s defense. In the second matchup, Reisma was able to shut the 6-2 Senior forward down. Linbo would learn from the February matchup and would have herself a night.
However, Linbo was not going to be outdone by the guard play from Purdue Fort Wayne. A transition in-rhythm three-pointer from the best three-point shooter in the nation, Lauren Ross, sends the PFW crowd into a frenzy for their first lead of the game. A surprise to many – this would be the only lead change of the night. Reisma would try to get the train rolling for the CSU offensive with a made shot down low over Linbo, but another Ross deep three and a called travel on Mya Moore down low would unbeknownst to many start the downward spiral for Cleveland State and the all-around explosive near perfect game from Purdue Fort Wayne.
Sydney Graber would get her first basket downlow over Moore, and Graber would follow this up with great defense in the post on the very next play to force a turnover by Macey Fegan. The first quarter media timeout at 4:44 saw the Mastodons leading 12-5. Graber continued to play great defense this time on Reisma to force the missed 2 foot shot. The ‘Dons got the ball down the court quickly to find Audra Emmerson on the left wing for her first three and basket of the game. Graber again shows her senior leadership by drawing the offensive foul down low against Reisma.
Leo stopped the five minute and four second scoring drought for the Vikings with a three when her defender, Jordan Reid, got knocked to the floor with a shoulder with no call. The ‘Dons would try to offset the basket with a Linbo midrange jumper and an Emmerson 10-foot floater that was pure, but a basket by Sara Guerreiro and Reisma would give the Vikings a glimmer of hope as the first quarter came to an end. The Mastodons led after 10 minutes of play 19-12.
Second Quarter: Ross would do what Ross does and started the quarter with another three-pointer from the right wing. A minute later, Ross would get Filippa Goula to cough up the ball at the top of the key. Ross picked up the ball and gave it up to Sydney Freeman. Freeman would find Ross leaking out on the wing in transition for another three-pointer.
The Horizon League Player of the Year, Mickayla Perdue, would finally get on the board with 8:21 left in the half with a three-pointer of her own. The lack of scoring from the POY could be credited to the defense by Freeman and Tia Morgan who would never allow more than two feet between them and Perdue. Bromenschenkel and Freeman would counter the Perdue three-pointer with a layup from Bromenschenkel and a deep three-pointer from Freeman. The Freeman three-pointer would force CSU Head Coach Chris Kielsmeier to use a timeout as he looked to the scoreboard and saw the Mastodons doubling up his Vikings 30-15.
After the two teams traded baskets after the timeout, Bromenschenkel backed down and spun around her defender for a basket in the paint. Leo tried to light another spark in the Vikings offense with a corner three-pointer, but Freeman would respond with a three pointer of her own. The scoring would go back and forth at this point as time in the half started to wind down. The Mastodons would hit their 10th three-pointer of the half on another Emmerson three, this time being fed from inside by Linbo.
The three-pointer by Emmerson would be the 29th point scored by the Mastodons in the second quarter. On the other end, the Mastodons would play incredible defense led by Tia Morgan. Morgan would lock up Perdue until the shot clock read 1 second where Perdue would throw up a shot and get the foul call from the official on Morgan. The Mastodon fans seated behind press row had more than plenty to say about the call and the overall foul distribution. Perdue’s free throws would be the fourth and fifth for the Vikings, and the Mastodons would not shoot a single free throw in the first half. Perdue went a perfect 5-5 from the charity stripe and shot all 5 free throws of the half. The free throws would give Perdue 15 points in the half, meaning 15 points in last 8 minutes of the half. The Mastodons however would go into the locker room all sorts of fired up leading the Vikings by a baker’s dozen, 48-35.
Third Quarter: The ‘Dons continued their defensive excellence to start the half with Linbo walling up Reisma down low for Ross to come down and pluck the ball from Reisma’s hands. Ross would pass the ball up and once again leak into the corner where her teammate would find her for her fifth three-pointer of the game. The Vikings would not find scoring success in the second half until Grace Ellis hit a free throw at the 7:40 mark and Perdue would make a three-pointer and jumper 30 and 60 seconds later. The first field goal for Cleveland State from someone not named Perdue in roughly 6 minutes of game play came by way of a Grace Ellis layup. This would take the game to the media timeout for the 3rd quarter with the Mastodons still leading 53-43.
Out of the timeout, a set for Reid would have her blow by her defender with a strong rip to the right and get to the basket and draw contact. Reid would hit the back end of her two free throws. These would be the first free throws that the ‘Dons would attempt almost 26 minutes into the game.
On the next defensive possession, the ‘Dons would play great defense once again to force Cleveland State into a desperation heave that would barely hit the backboard and would be called for a shot clock violation. Amellia Bromenschenkel would take the turnover and turn it into two points for the ‘Dons on a shot a foot inside the three-point line. She would tack on two more on the next possession with a dribble drive for a layup.
Each team would make a layup in the final two minutes of the quarter – Freeman for the ‘Dons and Moore for the Vikings. The quarter horn would sound, signaling some urgency from the Vikings if they wanted to continue this run in Indy. The Vikings found themselves down a dozen at the end of the third 60-48.
Fourth Quarter: If it sounds like a broken record, or a typo, it’s not. Ross hits another three-pointer to start the last frame. Freeman joined the double-digit scoring group on a play that would showcase her handles that some may argue are the best in the Horizon League.
Guerreiro would hit a three-pointer with 7:57 to keep the deficit reasonably in reach for the Vikings at 66-53. Cleveland State would call a timeout a minute later after a scrum would leave the referees deciding which team possession belonged to. The timeout would give the Mastodons the rest they needed to close out this game and cruise to a Finals berth.
The ‘Dons would come out of the timeout and force Cleveland State into another shot at the shot clock buzzer that wouldn’t find that basket. Jazzyln Linbo would turn it into two points, and Bromenschenkel would turn it into five with another three-pointer from the top of the key after yet another Cleveland State empty possession.
Cleveland State would turn to desperation and turn on the full-court press. On the first round, the Mastodons would break the press with ease and find a wide open Linbo under the basket for a layup with no defender within 10 feet of her. On the next full-court press break, Emmerson would find a seam up to Bromenschenkel who would bury another PFW three-pointer and put the Mastodons up by 19.
As the game entered in the final minute of play, Emmerson and Bromenschenkel put the cherry on top with a three-pointer from Emmerson and a post bucket from Bromenschenkel. The Vikings would go empty on their final possession on a missed Perdue three-pointer, and Bromenschenkel would grab the final rebound and dribble out the clock as the Mastodons would handle the Vikings 83-65.
Stats and Leaders: Perdue defended her Player of the Year honor with a very impressive showing from Senior. Perdue led all scorers with 33 points on 10-for-26 shooting from the field, including 6 three-pointers on 13 attempts. Perdue also went 7-for-8 from the free throw line. She would also contribute 6 assists to the team. Leo would be the only other player for Cleveland State in double figures with 11. Reisma, Guerreiro, and Grace Ellis each recorded 6 rebounds for the team.
For the Mastodons, the starters showed out. All five starters scored double figures for what Coach Marchesano believes is the first time this season. The ‘Dons were led in scoring by Bromenschenkel with 23 points. Ross ended the game with 18 points, Emmerson had 14 points, Freeman had 11 points, and Linbo rounded out the starters with 10 points of her own. Linbo led all players with 8 rebounds.
The Mastodons shot the ball lights out. The ‘Dons ended the game shooting 33-63 (52.4%) from the floor, 15-28 (53.6%) from three-point land, and they made two of their only three free throw attempts through the whole game.
What’s Next: The Vikings end their 2024-2025 season with a great 24-9 record. The Vikings will most likely be invited to a postseason bid in some tournament in the coming weeks.
The Mastodons set up yet another rubber match – this time with the Green Bay Phoenix. Each team won their home game against the other in the regular season. The Mastodons’ loss in the regular season finale gave Green Bay the first overall seed for the Horizon League Tournament. The matchup between the top two seeds in the Horizon League should be nothing short of exciting. The championship game will take place tomorrow, Tuesday, March 11 at the Corteva Coliseum on the Indiana State Fairgrounds. The game is set to tip off at 12pm ET. A victory for the Mastodons would be the first league championship in program history and therefore the first trip to the Big Dance for Purdue Fort Wayne.
