RIO GRANDE, Ohio -- The women's basketball program at Shawnee State utilized a gritty effort to claim a key nonconference victory Saturday afternoon, as the Bears overcame a four-point deficit after the opening quarter of play by holding Governor's State to just 17 points between the second and third quarters of action and a 30.9 percent mark from the floor defensively.

Additionally, Shawnee State received a massive fourth quarter scoring barrage from SSU sophomore Jonilyah Chambers, who played perhaps her best stretch of basketball in an SSU uniform by scoring 13 points in the final quarter of the Bears' 64-59 victory over Governor's State (Ill.) in a matchup that was held at Newt Oliver Arena in Rio Grande as part of the final day of the Bevo Francis Classic.

Shawnee State (5-2), whose only losses this season were a seven-point road loss to Northwestern Ohio in its season opener and a one-point setback to presently undefeated Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), the No. 7 ranked team in the NAIA, frustrated Governor's State throughout much of the second and third quarters of action, forcing nine turnovers -- six alone in the second frame -- to turn a 19-15 first quarter deficit into a 42-36 advantage after three quarters of competition.

Governor's State (5-3), who shot 40 percent from the field in the opening quarter en route to taking its 19-15 advantage at the end of the first frame, was held to 4-of-23 shooting between the second and third frames in the second and third stanzas of play behind a collectively strong performance by the Shawnee State defense. The Bears, as a result, held the Jaguars to just 10-of-38 from the field through three quarters of competition -- and only two players who suited up for Governor's State shot better than 35.3 percent from the floor over the entirety of the contest.

Shawnee State senior guard Miyoshi Ellis' second quarter efforts proved vital in the Bears grabbing the point -- as Ellis scored each of Shawnee State's first eight points in the second quarter over a span of 4:08 to give the Bears a 23-21 advantage with 5:52 to play in the second period. Governor's State briefly tied the score at 23-all 40 seconds later on a pair of made free throw attempts, but TK Catchings' bucket in the paint just 13 seconds later began a 4-0 run for the Bears -- who ultimately held the lead over the contest's final 24:59.

Exiting the opening half with a 29-25 lead after holding Governor's State to just five points over the final 8:20 of the first half, Shawnee State's lead hovered between three to six points for much of the third quarter -- with the Bears able to slightly increase the advantage from its four-point halftime cushion to a six-point third quarter lead (42-36) after holding Governor's State to just four points over the final 6:14 of the third frame.

When the Jaguars whittled the Bears' lead down to a 46-43 lead with 7:23 to play in the contest, that's when Chambers activated. A microwave scorer by nature, the sophomore off-guard from Huber Heights, Ohio scored 13 consecutive Shawnee State points over a span of 4:10 to play in the fourth frame -- all while hitting three consecutive three-point attempts from the 5:37 to 3:45 markers of the fourth quarter.

Chambers' offensive onslaught late gave the Bears a 59-49 lead with 2:54 to go -- and despite a late rally by Governor's State that cut the lead to a possession with under 45 seconds to play in the game, the clutch play of the sophomore proved to be too much for the Jaguars to overcome.
For the contest, Chambers ultimately finished with 18 points, three assists, two steals and a block while going 6-of-9 from the field and a perfect 4-of-4 from three-point range, while Ellis added in 17 points, five assists, three rebounds and two steals -- scoring her 17 tallies on a 6-of-12 mark from the floor -- as Shawnee State's leading producers in the backcourt combined for 35 points, eight assists and four steals while going 12-of-21 from the field.

Lauren Hawthorne added in 10 points, four rebounds and two steals while Laken Williams supplied eight points and two assists on 3-of-6 shooting off of the bench for the Bears, who picked up their 923rd win in program history and garnered their highest-quality win of 2025 so far with the five-point triumph.

For more on the Shawnee State women's basketball program, visit the Bears on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/shawneestatebears_wbb/ or on X at https://x.com/SSUWBB.