The GSU women’s basketball team has had a season they would like to forget. They are 1-23 (eight losses by 20 or more points) and have not won a game in 110 days. This is a rebuilding year for David “Rusty” Ponton’s basketball team. He lost four of his five starters from last year’s squad, with Kourtney Sherman the only starter who returned this season.
He now has a team that includes no seniors, five juniors, six sophomores and five freshmen. Most have little or no playing time experience.
This bad season has made GSU fans and alumni forget that Ponton is a good basketball coach.
During his tenure here at GSU, he has a record of 180-136 in 10 seasons. Ponton is a coach who understands the game of basketball and is very good at teaching his players the fundamentals of the game.
One thing that Ponton tells his players to do is to play hard for 40 straight minutes. And they do, no matter if the game is in or out of reach.
Even though Ponton’s team is 1-23, they have shown a lot of promise for next season, especially Kourtney Sherman (10.6 points per game), Gabrielle Fleming (9.7 ppg) and Kristen Harper (8 ppg).
If these three players continue to improve and Coach Ponton is able to develop a decent rotation, they have a legitimate chance at making a run for the SWAC championship next season.
The GSU Lady Tigers will be a good team next year because they will gain a year of experience and correct mistakes they have made this year. When they start winning next year, all of these firing rumors about Coach Ponton will cease to exist.