By SCOTT NOVAK

Dowagiac Daily News

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the second time in three years, the Cleveland State Vikings are appearing in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

The Vikings are the No. 15 seed and face a tall order in the opening round against host Notre Dame, the Kansas City Regional’s No. 2 seed.

Cleveland State will take on Notre Dame on Sunday in the second game of a doubleheader, slated to begin at 2:30 p.m.

The Horizon League champions will be facing a Notre Dame team that likes to run a lot of players in and out of the game.

The Fighting Irish play a consistent nine players and veteran Notre Dame coach Muffet McGraw says she is comfortable going 10 deep at times.

“Well we don’t have a lot of depth,” Cleveland State coach Kate Peterson Abiad said Saturday afternoon at the final of four press conferences. “We’re both a small team and a small team. Given that, I am notorious for not subbing a lot. I give my kids a lot, a lot of minutes. I am hoping that the conditioning does not wear out now. Kailey (Klein) and Stephanie (Crosley) both play 40 minute games, and in the last games so have Angel (Roque) and Jessica (Roque). It is one of my concerns going into the game, but I would not say it is one of my top concerns.”

Abiad is excited about the team’s opportunity and said that a win in the opening round would be huge for the program.

“It would be tremendous and give us recognition,” she said. “Being here in this position in the last two years is a start, but knocking someone off a higher seed would be amazing. My players have been watching the men’s games and seeing all these double figure seeds winning. I think they are in the right mindset to make this happen.

“So, winning the game would mean everything to our program. It would help us in the future with recruiting, give these girls the final feeling that they’ve made a huge impact at Cleveland State and above all that they would be really proud of their careers here,” she added.

Klein is the top offensive threat for the Vikings as she comes into the tournament averaging 18.6 points per game, 7.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists.

Shawnita Garland averages 13 points, five rebounds and three assists for Cleveland State.

“We just really want to make a name for Cleveland State,” Klein said. “That’s what we have set out to do since we got here, and it’s not going to be an easy road by any means against Notre Dame at their home court. We come from a small school, but we want to show that we’re not small-time players and what a better way to do it against Notre Dame in the NCAA tournament.”

The other three starters for Cleveland State are Jessica and Angel Roque, along with Crosley.

The winner of Sunday’s second game will advance to Tuesday night’s second round against the winner of the Wisconsin-Vermont contest.