The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets moved up one spot into 22nd place in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I women’s basketball rankings this week after rolling to impressive wins over Andrew College and Georgia Highlands in Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) action. The Lady Jets are 15 – 0 and 23 – 3 overall.
The Lady Jets are seeking their third straight trip to the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament. They must win the NJCAA Region XVII end of the season tournament and a District J play-in game to accomplish that goal. The Lady Jets have almost clinched the GCAA regular season title and earned the right to host the NJCAA Region XVII tournament beginning February 26th.
The Lady Jets earned back-to-back trips to the National Junior College Athletic Association in the 2016 – 2017 and 2017 – 2018 seasons and the six sophomores on this team are hoping to secure their second title and the third in three years for the Lady Jets.
In addition to the 22nd place NJCAA national ranking, the Lady Jets also had four players to earn individual national rankings in different categories. One of South Georgia Tech’s Jets players was also included in the NJCAA men’s individual statistic national rankings.
Sophomore guard Mari Hill from Japan is currently ranked third in the nation in assists with an average of 6.4 per game. She is also tied for 8th place in the nation in steals with 3.5 each outing.
Sophomore guard Alyssa Nieves broke into the poll for the first time this week after outstanding games against Andrew College and Georgia Highlands. She was selected as the GCAA player of the week for averaging 36 points per game this week. She also set a new school record for most points scored in a single game with 41 and the most three point shots in a single game with 11. This week she was ranked 15th in the nation in threepoint percentage shooting with a 44.4% success rate. She is averaging 14.8 points per game for the Lady Jets.
Sophomore Forward Fatou Pouye from Kaolack, Senegal and sophomore Center Bigue Sarr from Kaolack, Senegal were also listed in three and two categories. Fatou Pouye moved up to 10th in the nation in offensive rebounding with 4.8 per game. She is also ranked 28th in total rebounds with 229 this season. She was also ranked 45th in rebounds per game with an average of 9.2. Sarr moved up into 11th in the nation in blocks per game with 2.3. She also was ranked 42nd in total rebounds with 213.
The only member of the Jets basketball squad to garner national attention in the individual statistics was freshman Justin Johnson of Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The guard is ranked 25th in the nation in total points scored, with a total of 489 points this season. He was also listed as 40th in points per game with an average of 19.6 per outing. The Jets are currently 7 – 4 in the conference and 11 – 14 overall this season.
The next home game for the Jets and Lady Jets will be on Saturday, February 16th at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. against Southern Crescent Technical College.