Behind a 14-point, 10-rebound effort from Chianne Gloster and an efficient 12-point outing from Lexi Deaver, the women's basketball program at Shawnee State was able to overcome an off-night from a shooting standpoint by holding the Wilberforce Bulldogs' women's basketball program to just 30.6 percent shooting and claiming a plus-16 rebounding advantage (44-28) on the glass in a 56-37 victory Tuesday evening in a nonconference affair that was held in Waller Gymnasium.

In addition to holding Wilberforce to just 15 made baskets in 49 shot attempts throughout the entirety of the 40-minute contest and claiming its sizeable rebounding advantage, Shawnee State shared the basketball proficiently with 11 assists in its 23 makes from the field and turned 16 Wilberforce turnovers into 14 points on the offensive end of the floor. 

Chi not shy

With Shawnee State needing a go-to offensive punch in the opening half of competition, Chianne Gloster took the lead role Tuesday evening with her relentless attacking leading to optimal results more often than not in the 19-point victory.

In the opening half of play alone, Gloster posted 10 points and seven rebounds on 4-for-8 shooting and a 2-for-2 mark from the free throw line.

Of her 14-point, 10-rebound total, Gloster ultimately tied a game-high in total rebounds and set the game-high in offensive rebounds, grabbing four boards on the offensive front. Three of those four offensive rebounds directly led to putbacks from the 6-0 standout.

Don't doubt Deaver

Getting the start at the lead guard spot for Shawnee State in Tuesday evening's contest, West Portsmouth's own Lexi Deaver didn't disappoint.

The freshman talent helped the Bears get untracked offensively as Deaver's five first quarter points helped Shawnee State go on a 15-1 spurt from the 8:32 to 1:21 marks of the opening quarter of play. Deaver then added in seven additional tallies in the third quarter of action, helping the Bears build what was a 29-17 halftime advantage to a 38-20 third-quarter edge at one point.

Tuesday's contest marked the seventh double-figure scoring performance in the last eight games for Deaver, who is averaging 10.7 points, 2.9 assists and two rebounds per outing while shooting 45.5 percent from three-point range.

Holland the closer

Saddled with foul trouble throughout the first three quarters of action, Markayla Holland made the most of her time on the floor in the final 10 minutes of play.

Holland scored all nine of her points in the fourth frame while going 4-for-5 from the floor and posting a steal to boot in her eight minutes of fourth quarter action. The sophomore scored seven straight tallies from the 7:05 to the 6:01 mark of the final frame to help turn a 43-31 advantage into a 50-33 Shawnee State lead at the aforementioned junctures.

Additional

Jariah Steele posted seven points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting mark from the field in 14 minutes, while Cianna Gloster (seven points, six rebounds, 3-for-4 shooting) and Emily Maynard and Maelynn Howell (13 rebounds combined) also had solid numbers for the Bears (7-3) in the victory over the Bulldogs (1-9).

By holding Wilberforce to just 39 points, this year's version of the Shawnee State roster became the first unit since the 2017-18 Shawnee State women's basketball squad to hold at least two opponents to under 40 points scored in a game. The 2017-18 unit, which had three opponents collect under 40 points per outing, ultimately finished the regular season as the No. 1 unit in the NAIA Women's Basketball National Poll and was the No. 1 overall seed in the NAIA Women's Basketball National Tournament.

Shawnee State will be back in action Saturday, Dec. 16 when the Bears travel to Ohio Christian to take on the Trailblazers in a River States Conference doubleheader. The women's contest will precede the men's contest and begins at 1 p.m. in Circleville, Ohio.

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