COLUMBIA, Ky. -- The opening day of the UC Bank Classic at Biggers Sports Center on the campus of Lindsey Wilson College didn't disappoint, as the women's basketball program at Shawnee State and the Lindsey Wilson Blue Raiders' women's basketball program battled for all 40 minutes in an entertaining contest where neither team led by more than seven points in a nonconference battle that had a tournament-style atmosphere attached to it.
However, despite another double-double from 6-0 senior forward Cianna Gloster and a strong defensive outing by Shawnee State that saw the Bears hold Lindsey Wilson to 14-of-42 shooting (33.3 percent) from the field, the Blue Raiders were able to claim a 56-51 victory as Shawnee State dropped its first contest in the UC Bank Classic Friday evening.
Breakdown
While Shawnee State held Lindsey Wilson to makes on just a third of its shot attempts overall, and forced the Blue Raiders into 18 turnovers Friday evening, the Bears were held to 16-of-55 shooting themselves and committed 18 turnovers on its own end of the floor. SSU did post 10 assists on its 16 made baskets, however, and showed flashes of its potential in terms of finding the open player at different points throughout the contest.
Game Summary
Trailing by a 7-3 margin to begin the game, Shawnee State got its offense untracked on two late first-quarter three-pointers by Sanaya Gregory and Lauren Hawthorne, which helped the Bears battle Lindsey Wilson to a scant 12-9 deficit after the opening quarter of play.
SSU improved further in the second frame -- as the Bears turned the basketball over just twice in the quarter and had six different players score in the frame. Down 14-9 early in the quarter, Shawnee State got a three-point basket from Jariah Steele to draw within two, then two free throws from sophomore Emily Maynard with 6:42 to play in the half tied the score at 14 apiece.
Less than a minute and a half later, Maynard found an open Lexi Deaver on a pass to the wing, with Deaver stepping into a fluid three-pointer that saw the sophomore knock down the shot while being fouled to give Shawnee State its first lead of the contest, 17-16, with 5:20 to play in the opening half.
The lead then changed hands five additional times from there, with Laken Williams adding in two more free throws at the 4:04 mark of the second quarter and Gloster scoring inside with 1:02 to play in the first half to give SSU 19-18 and 21-20 advantages, respectively.
When Lindsey Wilson split a free throw opportunity on its next trip down the floor, freshman Jonilyah Chambers stepped up with a dazzling ankle-breaker move where the Huber Heights product glided from that ankle-breaking play directly into a beautiful layup finish to put the Bears ahead by a 23-21 margin before Lindsey Wilson's Angel Garcia answered on the opposite end of the floor with a putback basket to tie the contest at 23 apiece after the opening 20 minutes of action.
Shawnee State struggled to begin the second half as the Bears fell behind by a 29-23 gap after not scoring over the opening 4:08 of the third quarter. However, Deaver and Jada Johnson answered the call -- and buried back-to-back three-pointers to pull the Bears within 32-29 with 5:24 to play in the third period. SSU never trailed by more than five points the rest of the way.
Down by a 34-29 margin with just under five minutes to play, Cianna Gloster proceeded to not only keep the Bears within striking distance but give Shawnee State the lead as well. Over a seven-minute stretch between the third and fourth quarters of play, Gloster posted eight points and four rebounds -- scoring off of a beautiful off-balance touch pass by Chambers with 8:47 to play to give Shawnee State its first lead of the second half, 42-41. The Bears ultimately went on an 11-2 run from the 19-second mark of the third quarter to the 6:59 mark of the fourth frame of action, taking its biggest lead of the second half on a Lauren Hawthorne three-point field goal that gave SSU a 47-43 advantage.
When Lindsey Wilson answered with a 5-0 push that gave the Blue Raiders a 48-47 lead with 5:27 left, Hawthorne again answered just nine seconds later with a driving bucket to put SSU back up by a 49-48 mark. Chambers then scored on a mid-range pull-up jumper to give Shawnee State its final lead, 51-50, with 1:58 remaining in the contest.
After a foul allowed the Blue Raiders to take a 52-51 advantage, SSU had three opportunities to take the point -- but a missed three-point attempt from the left wing, a turnover in offensive transition, and a missed bucket inside allowed Lindsey Wilson to extend its advantage to 54-51. Three additional chances -- a three-pointer and two putback attempts -- unfortunately rimmed out on the final Shawnee State offensive possession as the Bears' valiant road effort ultimately fell shy.
Despite the loss, Cianna Gloster posted her seventh double-double in nine contests and her 25th career double-double at Shawnee State with her team-highs of 12 points and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes of game action for the Bears -- all while also adding a pair of steals to boot. Jonilyah Chambers added in seven rebounds and six points for SSU while Lauren Hawthorne and Lexi Deaver combined for 14 points and three steals while shooting 5-of-9 from the field and 4-of-8 from three-point range together.
Jariah Steele's five points, three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block and Jada Johnson's five points, four rebounds, three assists and a steal were also among the main contributing efforts for Shawnee State (7-2).
The Bears will be back in action Saturday afternoon against No. 3 Campbellsville (8-0) on the second and final day of the UC Bank Classic at Biggers Sports Center in Columbia, Ky. Saturday's contest begins at 1 p.m. ET/12 p.m. CT.
