The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I 4th nationally ranked South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets captured wins against Central Georgia Technical College and Tallahassee Community College over the holidays to bring a 14-game win steak into a match-up against the 12th ranked Pensacola Lady Pirates tonight at 6 p.m. in a pre-cursor to the Lady Jets Holiday Classic women’s basketball tournament, December 30th – January 1st at the Hangar in Americus, GA.
The Lady Jets moved to 6 – 0 in the conference with a 59 – 46 win over Central Georgia Technical College in Macon on December 14th and then defeated Tallahassee Community College in Tallahassee 75 – 56 on December 20th. Both teams will join the Lady Jets and participate in the SGTC Lady Jets Holiday Tournament.
Flight cancellations forced Snow College from Utah to drop out of the Lady Jets Holiday Classic and the game tonight but SGTC Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey was able to convince the 12th seeded Pensacola Lady Pirates to step in for the game tonight and for the Lady Jets Holiday Classic tournament. Game time is 6 p.m. in the Hangar.
The ten-team tournament will feature four of the top 12 NJCAA Division 1 women’s basketball teams in the country including top ranked Eastern Florida, second-ranked Gulf Coast, fourth-ranked SGTC Lady Jets and 12th ranked Pensacola. The other six teams include Chattahoochee Valley Community College, Central Georgia Tech, St. Petersburg College, Shelton State, Tallahassee Community College and Georgia Highlands.
In the action over the holidays, the Lady Jets came on strong in the third quarter after a sluggish first half to capture the 59 – 46 win over Central Georgia Tech. The Lady Titans were only down by five at half-time, 26 – 21. The Lady Jets outscored Central Georgia Tech 23 – 12 in the third quarter to pull ahead 49 – 43 and even though Central Georgia Tech outscored the Lady Jets 13 – 10 in the fourth quarter, SGTC was able to walk away with the 59 – 46 victory.
Sophomore center Fanta Gassama was the top scorer for the Lady Jets with a double-double night. She had 19 points and 19 rebounds along with three assists, one steal, and two blocked shots. She was joined in double-figures by sophomores Camryn James and Luana Leite.
James had a good night with a double-double as well. She walked away with 17 points, 10 rebounds, two assists, two steals and three blocks. Luana Leite closed out the double digit scoring with 12 points, two rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Alexia Dizeko added seven points for the Lady Jets. Maeve Fotsa Fofou scored two points and then Da’Nae Williams, and Vera Gunaydin both added one point.
Following that conference win, the Lady Jets traveled to Tallahassee and took their 14th consecutive win of the season, 75 – 56 over Tallahassee Community College which fell to 2 – 11 overall.
The game was never in doubt but Tallahassee did put together a strong second quarter to outscore the Lady Jets 18 – 17 and make it 35 – 30 at the end of the first half. The Lady Jets outscored Tallahassee 40 – 26 in the second half to walk away with the 75 – 56 win.
Four Lady Jets scored in double digits in that game. Camryn James led the team in scoring with 18 points and she was followed by Fanta Gassama and Alexia Dizeko who added 17 points each. Luana Leite accounted for 11 points in that match-up. Loes Rozing scored seven points to round out the starting five scoring. Laurie Calixte came off the bench to score four points and then Veronika Palfi had one point.
The Lady Jets will attempt to stretch their win streak to 15 points tonight when they host 12th ranked Pensacola State at 6 p.m. in the Hangar on the Americus campus as a pre-cursor to the SGTC Lady Jets Holiday Classic Tournament, December 30th – January 1st.