Lady Jets sweep competition in Thanksgiving Classic Tournament

The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets walked away with two big wins in the Lady Jets Thanksgiving Classic basketball tournament held recently in the Hangar on the South Georgia Technical College Americus campus. The Lady Jets defeated Motlow State in their opening match-up, 73 – 52 and then came back and secured a 78 – 68 win over Wallace State in the second game to dominate the tournament. The Lady Jets are now 8 – 1 overall and still 3 – 0 in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association conference. Central Georgia Tech and Wallace State finished the tournament with 1 – 1 records while Motlow State dropped to 0 – 2 in the tournament. Wallace State defeated Central Georgia Tech, 59 - 47 in the opening match-up, and then Central Georgia Tech came away with a narrow 68 – 64 win over Motlow State during the second day of the tournament. Freshman guard Aubrey Maulden from St. Simons, Georgia, led the Lady Jets to the 73 – 52 win over the Motlow State Lady Bucks. She had a total of 23 points and was five of 11 from the three-point line. She also pulled down three rebounds and had one assist. Sophomore forward Ester Adenike added 15 points and had 14 rebounds, freshman forward Ricka Jackson from Ewa Beach, HI, accounted for 13 points, nine rebounds, and four assists, and then sophomore forward Houlfat Mahouchiza closed out the double digit scoring with 11 points, four rebounds and two assists. The Lady Jets jumped out to a 20 – 15 lead at the end of the first quarter but Motlow State came back in the second quarter to go up 35 – 34 at the half. South Georgia Tech took charge in the second half outscoring the Lady Bucks, 39 – 17 to secure the 73 – 52 win. Freshman forward Fatou Pouye of Senegal added four points. Freshmen Cedeja James and Alyssa Nieves tossed in two points each, and then another freshman, Bigue Sarr from Senegal, closed out the scoring with one point. In the second day of the tournament, South Georgia Tech rallied in the second half again to secure a 78 – 68 win over the Wallace State Community College Lady Lions. Sophomore forward Ester Adenike from Nigeria scored 23 points and pulled down 13 rebounds in this victory. Sophomore Houlfat Mahouchiza from France accounted for 17 points and nine rebounds, and then sophomore transfer guard Dakata Toney from Michigan stepped up to score 14 points to close out the double digit scoring. The Lady Jets were up 27 – 21 at the end of the first quarter but a strong second quarter by Wallace State saw the Lady Lions pull ahead 40 – 36 at the half. South Georgia Tech came back in the third quarter to outscore Wallace State 27 – 11 to regain the lead and ultimately capture the 78 – 68 win. Freshman Bigue Sarr was four of eight from the floor to pull down eight points for the Lady Jets in that match-up. She was joined by freshman Ricka Jackson who had seven points and eight rebounds. Another freshman Alyssa Nieves came up with five points and Cedeja James, and Aubry Maulden closed out the scoring with two points each. The Lady Jets will travel to Gainesville, FL on Wednesday, November 29th to face Santa Fe College and then return home for a conference rivalry with Brandon Harrell and the Georgia Highlands College team on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the Hangar. The Lady Jets will also host Andrew College on December 6th in a double-header with the Jets and Tallahassee Community College. Those games are at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sophomore forward Esther Adenike, 24, had a big game against Wallace State scoring 23 points and pulling down 13 rebounds.