Cleveland St. 70, Wright St. 56

3/16/2008 4:43 PM

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -Kailey Klein had 29 points and 13 rebounds to lead Cleveland State to a 70-56 win over Wright State in the Horizon League championship on Sunday, allowing the Vikings to clinch their first-ever NCAA tournament berth.

``This was a tremendous win for our program,'' Cleveland State coach Kate Peterson Abiad said. ``We have been building towards this for five years and to go from four wins (in 2005-06) to an an NCAA Championship bid in just two years, is a tribute to these players and coaches. ``

Dominique Butler added 16 points and 13 rebounds and Brittany Korth had 13 points and four assists. Klein, who was named the tournament's most valuable player, also had four assists and two steals.

``This season has been a journey from the start. We were picked to finish eighth in the league in the preseason and we were not a championship caliber team at the start of the year,'' Peterson Abiad said. ``But this team worked hard each and gradually improved to get to the point that we achieved today.''

The fourth-seeded Vikings (19-13) never trailed against the second-seeded Raiders (16-16), taking a 30-21 halftime lead and pulling ahead by as many as 15 points early in the second half.

Freshman guard Sheylani Peddy scored 31 points to lead Wright State. Freshman guard LaShawna Thomas added 13 points for the Raiders.