The Sports Inquirer

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

Georgia State’s fast-paced offense and aggressive defense led to a 99-60 win over Montevallo in Thursday’s exhibition opener at the GSU Sports Arena.

The 12 returning letterwinners didn’t disappoint, led by senior Alisha Andrews’ nine assists in 28 minutes and senior Brittany Logan’s nine rebounds in 13 minutes. But, the surprise stars were the pair of freshmen, Makeba Ponder and Kennesha Nichols. Ponder, the state of Georgia’s leading high school scorer last year at 24.5 points per game, came off the bench to score 22 points in 22 minutes. Nichols, a finalist for Miss Tennessee basketball last year, stepped up with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Georgia State had a size advantage and used that for a 58-36 rebound advantage, including 25 offensive rebounds. The swarming defense forced 25 turnovers and made 18 steals.

In addition to Ponder’s 22 points, GSU had four others in double figures. Kayla Nolan netted 14 points, Ashlee Cole and Brittany Logan added 12 points along with Nichols’ 10 points.

Montevallo got 15 points from guard Jacquelyn Thompson and 12 points from Katherine Goldsby.

“We got our energy level up eventually and that is what we need,” coach Sharon Baldwin-Tener said. “We allowed some open shots early and got down, then didn’t panic and improved our defensive effort. I wanted to get a lot of people a lot of minutes and we accomplished that.”

What about the two freshmen? “We knew Ponder was a shooter and we weren’t worried about her offense, we were worried about her playing defense. She is an offensive weapon and she did a little better on defense, but got a little winded. Nichols is so strong and makes things happen. She kept the ball alive on the boards and got some transition going for us.”

Georgia State opens the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 15 at North Florida in Jacksonville.