Fort Wayne, IN – The Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons (12-8, 6-4 Horizon League) used a near perfect offensive first quarter against the Cleveland State Vikings (15-5, 5-5 Horizon League) to pull away early and snap a three game losing streak, winning Wednesday night by a score of 80-70 in Hilliard Gates Sports Center.
The Mastodons started the game a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor and finished the first quarter with 27 points. The Vikings play a zone defense almost exclusively, but the different look didn’t rattle the ‘Dons at all. On the first trip down the floor, Lauren Lee found Lili Krasovec in the heart of the zone. Krasovec’s post game is respected enough to draw three defenders, allowing Alana Nelson to slip right behind the defense for an easy layup. On the next possession, Jordan Reid took the ball in similar location to Krasovec, but the defense fell back to guard a diving Nelson. Reid took the uncontested mid-range for the easy score. Krasovec would then get her chance to score with a 10-foot mid-range shot. Rylee Bess would then join in on the action, slicing through the zone with excellent patience and pace for the reverse layup on the right side of the hoop. The first player for the ‘Dons to score twice would be Krasovec, with another mid-range shot. Reid and Ella Riggs would then go on to hit back-to-back three-pointers to make it seven straight made baskets to start the game.
During the 3:46 of offensive perfection, the Mastodons were getting it done on the other end of the floor as well. In that time, the Vikings were only able to muster five points against the Mastodons’ 16. Only two of the five points came from the field on a post move by one of the nation’s most efficient scorers, Izabella Zingaro. The other three were on a pair of free throws from Macey Fegan and the front end of two free throws from Zingaro. Heading into the first media timeout, CSU was able to make a small run behind a mid-range shot from Fegan and Colbi Maples’ first three points on a driving and-one. The deficit at 10-16 heading into the first media break would be the closest that the Vikings would get for the rest of the game. Purdue Fort Wayne’s freshman Avery Wagner would not allow the Vikings to get any closer, doing her best impression of the patented Lebron James chase down block on Laurel Rockwood.
The Mastodons took care of the ball too. It took nearly eight minutes of play for the ‘Dons to turn the ball over with an Ayisse Magassa steal for the Vikings. Fegan would turn the turnover into two more points at the charity stripe, but Nelson would bury her first three of the game to reverse the damage by Fegan. After shooting 10-for-15 from the floor, winning the rebounding battle 9-5, and using 10 points from the bench, the Mastodons ended the first quarter leading 27-14. The glimmer of hope for Cleveland State was that they made it to the line and converted on eight of their 11 attempts.
The second quarter fared about just as well as the first quarter did for the Mastodons. Bess started the quarter with a three-pointer from the wing, and Nelson added a layup and a three-pointer of her own. Zingaro would then go on a 6-0 run by herself with three straight post shots after CSU only made three field goal attempts total in the first quarter. The ‘Dons would then swell the lead to a game-high 21 points with a layup from Nelson and back-to-back three-pointers from Destiny Macharia and Bess.
The Vikings would do their best to slow the bleeding before half with Jada Leonard, Zingaro, and Fegan all getting a layup for the buzzer. The Mastodons’ Hillary Offing would make a fadeaway shot in the lane as the shot clock expires, not allowing for a good shot attempt from CSU to end the half. While Cleveland State was leading the free throw category at 12 made free throws to PFW’s four, the ‘Dons had seven first half triples while holding CSU to zero. The Mastodons would take a 47-30 lead into the break on 56.3% shooting in the half, and only five turnovers. Defensively, the ‘Dons held the Vikings to 33.3% shooting in the half, with no made three-pointers. Cleveland State coughed the ball up eight times.
In the second half, foul trouble would become an issue for Purdue Fort Wayne. In the first half, the Mastodons were called for 12 fouls. In the third quarter, the ‘Dons committed seven more. By the end of 30 minutes of play, Reid, Krasovec, Wagner, and Offing all had limited action due to three personal fouls each. The common theme? Those four ‘Dons players plus Nelson all were the primary defender guarding Zingaro at one point in the game. Zingaro drew nine fouls over the course of the game. Only Rockwood had three fouls for Cleveland State in the first half.
In the fourth, the Barbasol Close Shave Play of the Game was the epitome of this year’s teamwork. On the defensive side, Jordan Reid hustled to force a bad pass turnover. Reid would pass the ball up, hustle down the floor and receive it under the hoop, where she had an opportunity for a layup. However, Reid would elevate and find a trailing Lee on the wing for a three to get the Mastodon bench fired up. Lee is known for her playmaking and facilitating abilities, but the Campbellsville transfer can put the ball in the hoop when needed.
The nail in the coffin came at 5:58 remaining in the game when a rainbow three-ball from Purdue Fort Wayne’s Macharia found nothing but the bottom of the net, forcing Cleveland State’s head coach Chris Kielsmeier to call a timeout with his team now down by 15 again. Though the Vikings didn’t give up at this point, the game never got back within reach. Nelson helped the game stay out of reach with a diving layup and-one to score her game-high 23rd point of the night.
The teams would trade baskets and free throws in the closing moments of the game, including Cleveland State’s second three-pointer of the game by Ella Van Weelden. The last score of the game came on the front end of two bonus free throws by Rockwood, and the Mastodons would emerge victorious 80-70.
The game was a tightly officiated contest. There were a combined 46 team fouls called in the game with Purdue Fort Wayne being called for 27. Wagner for PFW and Leonard for CSU would both foul out in the game, and Cleveland State would shoot a season high 35 free throw attempts in the game. Purdue Fort Wayne would only attempt 15 from the stripe.
Cleveland State was led in scoring by familiar faces. Zingaro ended with a team high 22 points on 8-for-15 shooting from the floor and 6-for-8 from the line. Leonard and Fegan were the only other Vikings in double figures with 18 and 16 respectively. Former Horizon League Player of the Year Colbi Maples was mostly held in check for the night by the Mastodon defense. Maples ended the game with just five points on 1-for-8 (12.5%) shooting from the floor and three made free throws. Fegan recorded a game-high seven rebounds in her team high 37 minutes of play. The loss snaps a three-game winning streak coming into the game.
The Mastodons were once again led in scoring by Nelson with 23 points on a very efficient 9-for-11 shooting, including 4-for-5 from deep. Bess was the only other Mastodon in double digits with 13. Both Bess and Nelson barely got a break with each of them playing 39 of 40 minutes of the game. A well balanced scoring attack from the bench resulted in 18 bench points for Maria Marchesano’s squad. Nelson and Lee led the team in rebounding with six each and Bess added four of her own.
The Mastodons are back in action on Saturday, January 24 when they hit the road for a rematch with Northern Kentucky on the banks of the Ohio River at Truist Arena. In their first matchup, the Norse seemingly upset the Mastodons in a 88-85 overtime victory in Fort Wayne back on December 29. The win for the Norse would start a seven game win streak in the Horizon League, propelling them to second place in the league after starting 0-3. The Norse’s win streak would get shattered on Wednesday at the hands of IU Indy. The game is set to tip off at 1:00pm ET and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
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