St. Petersburg, FL – The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets are currently 2 – 2 on the season after dropping decisions to Pellissippi State Community College in Knoxville, TN, and then splitting decisions with Hillsborough Community College and St. Petersburg College in the St. Petersburg Classic in St. Petersburg, FL.
The long road trips saw the Lady Jets get in foul trouble and drop an 83 – 70 decision to Pellissippi State before traveling to St. Petersburg, FL. In Florida, the Lady Jets suffered a narrow 62 – 60 loss to Hillsborough Community College before defeating St. Petersburg College, 76 – 55, to move to 2 – 2 overall.
Three of the Lady Jets eight players fouled out in the match-up with Pellissippi State. One other player finished the game with four fouls and two more had three fouls. The Lady Jets were up 37 – 34 at the end of first half but foul trouble in the third quarter allowed Pellissippi State to take a 62 – 51 lead in the third quarter when they outscored the Lady Jets 28 – 14. Pellissippi State maintained a 21 – 19 point advantage in the fourth quarter and clinched the 83 – 70 win.
“I was proud of the effort, but disappointed in the result at the same time,” said SGTC Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach Jason Carpenter. “We got ourselves in foul trouble early and that changed the game plan and ultimately the game. This is a young but very committed team. It was a tough loss but we will learn from it and grow, I am sure of it.”
Freshman guard Ja’Niya Broome of Hamilton, GA, led the Lady Jets in scoring with 19 points. She was paced by Taja Bennett, a sophomore transfer from Dallas, Texas, who followed up with 18 points. Jada Jones, a sophomore point guard transfer from Odessa College, and Jaidyn Elam, a sophomore point guard transfer from Oakland University, both added nine points each. Glory Kaine tossed in eight points, Sarah Mellouk and Jahmaica Clegg closed out the scoring with six and two points respectively.
In the next match-up, the young Lady Jets came up just two points shy of a victory. Hillsborough Community College was up 34 – 29 at the end of the first half and the Lady Jets came out in the second half and met them basket for basket in the third quarter (12 – 12). The Lady Jets made a run in the fourth quarter and outscored Hillsborough 19 – 16 but time ran out and they came up short, 62-60.
Taja Bennett was the top scorer for the Lady Jets in this narrow loss with 18 points. Jaidyn Elam was the only other Lady Jet in double-digits with 13 points. Jada Jones came away with nine points, Ja’Niya Broome and Sarah Mellouk both added five points, Candice Ganga and Jahmaica Clegg each had four points and Glory Kane walked away with two points.
The Lady Jets struggled offensively hitting only 28.4% (19-67) of their shots from the field, 7 – 30 or 23.3% of their three points attempts and 15 – 25 or 53.6% of their foul shots. Hillsborough made 24 – 66 or 36.4% of their attempted shots from the field, 23.1% (6 – 26) from the three-point line and 8 – 19 or 42.1% of their free-throw shots.
The Lady Jets did manage to build on that narrow loss and come back and secured a 76 – 55 win over St. Petersburg in the second game of the St. Petersburg Classic. The Lady Jets started slow and were down 12 – 13 at the end of the first quarter. From that point on, they were able to shut down St. Petersburg and outscore them in the following three periods to take the 76 – 55 victory.
Ja’Niya Broome led her team in scoring with 26 points. Jaidyn Elam and Taja Bennett were close behind with 15 and 14 points respectively. Elam led the team in rebounds with 11 and Taja Bennett was close behind with 10 for double-double nights for both of them.
Candice Ganga and Jahmaica Clegg came away with six points each, Jada Jones scored four points and then Sarah Mellouk and Nyla Buyck closed out the scoring with three and two points each.
The Lady Jets are off until November 21 – 22 when they travel to Melbourne, Florida for match-ups with Eastern Florida State College at 5:30 p.m. on November 21 and Daytona State College at 2 p.m. on November 22nd.
They will return home to host the Pete Arrington Thanksgiving Classic on November 28th and 29th. They will face Florida Southwestern State at 8 p.m. on November 28 and Motlow State Community College at 7 p.m. on November 29. That will be their last home games until December 28, 29, ad 30 when they host the Lady Jets Holiday Classic. They open up with St. Petersburg College on December 28 at 7 p.m. and then face Chipola College on December 29 at 8 p.m. and Eastern Florida State College at 7 p.m. on December 30.