PORTSMOUTH — Behind another double-double outing from Cianna Gloster (16 rebounds, 14 points), and an excellent shooting performance by Lexi Deaver (18 points), the Shawnee State University women’s basketball team was able to claim a 64-50 victory over West Virginia Tech in a River States Conference contest —held at Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth on Tuesday night.

Shawnee State, which shot 20-of-59 from the field, and West Virginia Tech, which went 17-of-49 from the floor, were essentially even from a percentage standpoint — but the Bears forced 25 Golden Bear turnovers, and outrebounded West Virginia Tech by a 36-26 margin to claim the upper hand.

Gloster notches 12th double-double

The winning cause was again led by Gloster, who — as per the norm — made her living making hustle plays, running down long rebounds, and simply beating her opposition to every spot on the floor.

The 6-1 energy bug, as a result, was as efficient as one could hope to be, grabbing 16 rebounds and notching 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field.

Gloster was especially stout, from an offensive standpoint, in the third quarter of action — notching 10 of her 16 points in the next-to-last frame while also notching four boards on the glass.

Gloster upped her season averages to 12.5 points and 12 rebounds per contest on 61.8-percent shooting from the field in the win.

West’s Lexi Deaver

continues to blossom

Enjoying possibly the finest performance of her college career, Shawnee State freshman guard Lexi Deaver was strong in all aspects on Tuesday evening — en route to a career-high 18 points.

Shawnee State trailed West Virginia Tech by a 15-13 margin after the opening quarter of play — but the Bears were able to stay right in the fight throughout, thanks to Deaver’s seven first-quarter notches.

Deaver then added five points and two steals in the fourth and final frame to help put the game away.

Deaver ultimately went 6-of-15 from the floor and 4-of-9 from three-point range to shoot 40 and 44-percent respectively in those fields.

The West Portsmouth talent is up to 8.9 points per game for the season, and is shooting 38.5 percent from three-point range.

Gregory stays on gas

Continuing to grow on a game-by-game basis, Shawnee State senior point guard Sanaya Gregory produced another solid outing — with a 10-point, four-rebound, four steal effort in Tuesday evening’s 14-point victory.

Gregory proved to be clutch from the free throw line — hitting all eight of her attempts at the stripe on her way to her third double-figure scoring effort over the last four contests.

The senior has posted eight or more points over the last five games, and has notched seven or more points in a game in nine of Shawnee State’s last 11 contests overall.

Additional

Teyarra Johnson’s seven points off the bench led the Bears’ reserve contingent, helping Shawnee State improve to 14-8 and 6-5 in the River States Conference with the victory.

West Virginia Tech fell to 4-16 and 1-9 in the RSC with the setback.

Shawnee State will turn its attention to a huge rivalry contest on Saturday afternoon (Feb. 3) — as the Bears take on Rio Grande in what will be a pivotal RSC contest at Rio Grande.

Game time is set for 1 p.m. at Newt Oliver Arena.

For more information on SSU Bears Athletics, please visit www.ssubears.com or visit the X, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube pages at https://twitter.com/SSUBears, https://www.facebook.com/SSUBears, https://www.instagram.com/ssubears/?hl=en, and/or https://www.youtube.com/@ssubearsathletics/videos.

For more information on how to join the SSU Bear Club, or for sponsorship of specific SSU players or events, please visit https://givetossu.com/bear-club and/or https://givetossu.com/sponsorthebears.