The Kent State ladies’ basketball team showed a great deal of stamina Sunday in Athens. Trailing almost the entire game and by double digits late in the second half, they maintained their composure and kept hustling to steal a victory from the Bobcats. It would have been easy to become frustrated after several outstanding efforts created open shots that went in and out. The victory was the result of hustle, perseverance, confidence in one another and, in no small measure, making key foul shots.

Coach Danielle O’Banion deserves a great deal of credit for skillfully rotating players in and out to get the right combination in the game at the right moment. Coaching every second of the game, both players on the court and on the bench, O’Banion did an impressive job keeping her players upbeat despite numbers on the scoreboard that seemed to prophesize a dim outcome.

The season for the ladies before Sunday has obviously been disappointing, and it is also true the victory came against a team experiencing similar frustrations. But their ability to hang tough portends a bright future for this group of gritty young ladies. Their performance in Athens validates their potential, and other teams would take them lightly at their peril.