PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- The defensive play of the Shawnee State women's basketball program has been a key calling card all season long.
It was that defensive play that arguably allowed the Bears to win a critical River States Conference Quarterfinal affair -- as Shawnee State held Saint Mary-of-the-Woods to 36 percent shooting, forced 19 turnovers and claimed a 37-29 rebounding advantage (plus-eight) in the Bears' nine-point win over the Pomeroys Wednesday evening at Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth to advance to the River States Conference Tournament Semifinals.
Game Summary
The Bears won the contest with their defensive play in the first and fourth quarters especially -- as Shawnee State held Saint Mary-of-the-Woods to 7-of-26 shooting (26.9 percent) between the first and the last quarter of action. Shawnee State forced 15 turnovers in just those two stanzas alone.
Shawnee State also did an excellent job keying on Saint Mary-of-the-Woods' three leading scorers -- Brooklyn Jones, Irye Gomez and Madison Fueger -- as the trio were held to 11-of-34 shooting (32.4 percent) for the contest by the Bears. SSU forced the talented trio into eight turnovers with the pair collecting just three assists as a whole.
Gloster keeps adding to elite year
A player who has one of the best motors one could hope to find, Shawnee State senior forward Cianna Gloster was simply a thorn in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods' side all evening long.
Gloster, who notched her 41st career double-double in her 59th game at Shawnee State, posted five or more rebounds in three of the four quarters contested Wednesday evening -- ultimately finishing with a 17-rebound, 13-point, two-steal, one-block statline on 5-of-8 shooting.
The senior collected the contest's lone double-double, set the game-high in rebounds by eight over the next-highest rebounding total from an individual on either team, and simply set a tone with her end-to-end hustle, at one point coming from midcourt and using her hustle to make up no less than a 10-step gap en route to blocking a shot at the rim and grabbing the rebound on the block with 57 seconds left to play in the first half of competition.
For her career, Gloster now has 971 career points. The senior also continues to close in on the single-season rebounding record at Shawnee State to boot, as Gloster has 334 rebounds -- just 39 off of her own record of 373 set during the 2023-24 campaign.
Ellis Steele sets tone with physicality
Playing with a physical edge all evening long, Shawnee State sophomore Jariah Steele and Shawnee State junior Miyoshi Ellis continued coming up large in big games this season.
Ellis, who averaged over 10 points and exactly 2.9 assists per contest in the final 18 games of the regular season, nabbed team-highs of 15 points and four assists while going 7-of-11 from the charity stripe in Shawnee State's nine-point win -- scoring 10 points while going 6-of-6 from the free throw line and 2-of-4 from the field in the fourth quarter of competition.
Steele, who posted 15 points, six rebounds and two assists on 7-of-8 shooting, came up particularly large in the second half, scoring eight points while going 4-for-4 from the floor. The sophomore also added in three rebounds in both halves as the 5-9 sophomore from Cincinnati made her impact felt all game long.
For the 2024-25 season, Ellis is averaging 7.4 points, 2.9 assists, 2.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals, while Steele increased her averages to 7.4 points and 4.3 rebounds on 52.3 percent shooting from the field.
Additional
Emily Maynard's six points and Sanaya Gregory's five also contributed to Shawnee State's winning cause -- as the Bears improved to 25-4 overall and won the program's 915th game in its history Wednesday.
The women's basketball program at Shawnee State will host Brescia (18-9) in a River States Conference Semifinal that will be played Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Portsmouth. The Bears beat the Bearcats, 71-58, back on Feb. 8 in Portsmouth.
