The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets clinched the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association regular season conference title with an unblemished 18 – 0 season but remained locked in at the 20th spot in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I women’s basketball rankings this week. The Lady Jets are 27 – 3 overall. All three losses were to teams included in the NJCAA national rankings.
The Lady Jets will be hosting the NJCAA Region XVII tournament on Friday, March 1st and Saturday, March 2nd in the Hangar on the SGTC Americus campus. The Lady Jets will open the tournament at 5:30 p.m. against the fourth ranked Albany Tech Lady Titans. Central Georgia Technical College and Georgia Highlands will meet in the 7:30 p.m. game. The two winning teams will advance to the final game, which will be held at 2 p.m. on the SGTC Lady Jets home court in Americus. Following the championship game, the Jets are scheduled to play East Georgia State College at 6 p.m. Saturday for their final GCAA game of the regular season.
South Georgia Tech’s 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 clinched their fifth consecutive GCAA regular season title this season.
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 national tournament trip and the third in three years for the Lady Jets.
In addition to the 20th 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 second in the nation in assists with an average of 6.6 per game. The national leader is from Easter Wyoming and is averaging 7.3 a game. Hill is also listed in 8th place in the nation in steals with 3.6 each outing.
Sophomore guard Alyssa Nieves was ranked 10th in the nation in three-point percentage shooting with a 45.1% success rate. She is averaging 18 points per game for the Lady Jets.
Sophomore Forward Fatou Pouye from Kaolack, Senegal was listed in three categories. Fatou Pouye moved up to 7th in the nation in offensive rebounding with 4.8 per game. She is also ranked 36th in total rebounds with 256 this season and 46th in rebounds per game with an average of 9.1. Sophomor Bigue Sarr was ranked 13th in the nation in blocks per game with 2.3 and 49th in total rebounds with 232.
Two members of the Jets basketball squad garnered national attention in the individual statistics this week. Freshman Justin Johnson of Ft. Lauderdale, FL, has been included for several weeks. The guard is ranked 43rd in the nation in total points scored, with 530 points this season. He was also listed as 49th in points per game with an average of 18.9 per outing. The other Jet to break into the individual national statistic rankings this week was Adonis Green. The sophomore forward is ranked 47th in the nation with an 84.6 free throw success percentage.