A college basketball star who was found dead in her dorm room in January died from a blood cell disorder, not from choking on gum in her sleep, as police first believed.

The Washington County coroner announced Shanice Clark's cause of death on Monday, nearly two months after the 21-year-old was found inside her room at California University of Pennsylvania.

She was found unresponsive at 3.03am on January 18. She was rushed to Monongahela Valley Hospital but she could not be revived and was pronounced dead at 4.10am.

California borough police said that a preliminary report from medical personnel indicated the death appeared to be accidental and there were suggestions she had choked on gum.