LUBBOCK, TX – The 9th ranked South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets dropped a 60 – 46 decision to 8th seeded Arizona Western in the second round of the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I Women’s basketball tournament at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock, TX.
“The girls are disappointed,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey. “We got down early but we had the opportunity to come back and try to pull it out. We cut the deficit to nine points in the fourth quarter but then we missed four free throws and two layups. If we make any of those and pull within three or five points, things could have ended differently.”
Despite the outcome, Frey is very proud of the Lady Jets and the season they put together. “We wound up 27 – 7 and made it to the Sweet Sixteen in the National Tournament with nine freshmen. That is something to be proud of. The loss stings right now. We wanted things to go differently but we can regroup now and begin planning on how to do better next year.”
The Lady Jets had one of their worst three-point shooting games of the year and still managed to pull within 14 points of upsetting the 8th best team in the nation. South Georgia Tech shot 36.5% from the field (19 of 53), 50% from the foul line (7 – 14) but only hit 1 of 11 three-point attempts (9.1%). Arizona Western was only slightly better, 38.3% from the field, 30% from the three-point line, and 45.5% from the foul line.
Arizona Western jumped out to a quick lead early and the Lady Jets never came closer than nine points after the first the first few minutes. Arizona Western was up 23 – 8 at the end of the first quarter and even though the Lady Jets matched them bucket for bucket in the second quarter, they were still down 35 – 20 at the half. Arizona Western outscored the Lady Jets 10 – 9 in the third quarter. The Lady Jets scored 17 points to Arizona Western’s 15 to close the gap to 60 – 46 by the final buzzer.
Only one Lady Jet scored in double digits. Freshman Alexia Dizeko had 14 points, seven rebounds, and one steal to lead South Georgia Tech. Sophomore Kamya Hollingshed ended the game with eight points. She made the Lady Jets only three-point bucket of the night. She was followed by sophomore Maikya Simmons and freshman Fanta Gassama who both had seven points each. Luana Leite added six points, and Camryn James and Susana Yepes closed out the scoring with two points each.
Arizona Western will not advance to the NJCAA Elite Eight bracket. They will play the 18th seeded Tyler Texas team which upset the top ranked Three Rivers team earlier in the day. That game will be on Saturday. The finals will be played on Monday, March 21st.
