Americus, GA - The seventh nationally ranked Walters State Lady Senators walked away with two wins in the South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets Pete Arrington Thanksgiving Classic to be the only undefeated team in the tournament. They defeated Central Georgia Tech 85 – 81 in overtime in their opening game and then defeated Albany Tech 88 – 55 in their second match-up.
The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets were 1 – 1 in the tournament. They lost to the 17th nationally ranked Florida Southwestern Buccaneers 69 – 64 before defeating Motlow State 94 – 83 on Saturday. Central Georgia Tech and Florida Southwestern finished 2 – 1, Motlow State was 1 – 2 and Albany Tech was 0 – 3 in the tournament.
South Georgia Technical College got behind by as many as 21 points in their opening game against Florida Southwestern and were outscored in every quarter except the third quarter. The Lady Jets did manage to pull within three points (65 – 62) of the Lady Senators with 1:42 remaining in the game. Florida Southwestern regained their composure and the game ended with them up 69 – 64.
A very poor shooting performance in the first and second quarters left the Lady Jets down 43 – 25 at the end of the first half and at one point, Florida Southwestern outscored the Lady Jets 12 – 2 midways through the second quarter.
Despite a slow start, four members of the Lady Jets did score in double-digits. Freshman Ja’Niya Broome of Harris County led the team in scoring with 19 points. Sophomore guard Jaidyn Elam from Pontiac, MI, was close behind with 18. Sophomore Jada Jones tossed in 15 points and sophomore guard Tanja Bennett followed with 10 points. Freshman Candice Ganga and sophomore Glory Kaine closed out the scoring with one point each.
In the Lady Jets second game of the tournament, they got back on the winning track with a 94 – 83 win over the Motlow State Bucks. South Georgia Tech scored first and never relinquished the lead. They were up 47 – 28 at the half and then went on to win, 94 - 83. Freshman guard Ja’Niya Broome led the team in scoring again with 29 points. Twenty-one of those came in the first half when she hit five of eight three-point attempts.
Sophomore guard Jaidyn Elam from Pontiac, MI was close behind with 21 points and she had a double-double night with 12 rebounds. Three other Lady Jets were in double-digits. Freshman guard Candice Ganga of Paris, France, contributed 16 points, Sarah Mellouck from Marseille, France, had 13 and sophomore guard Taja Bennett from Dallas, Texas tossed in 11 points. Nyla Buyck and Glory Kaine closed out the scoring with 3 and one points respectively.
The first day of the tournament saw two over-time games as Motlow State defeated Albany Tech 86 – 85 in overtime and Walters State taking an 85 – 81 win over Central Georgia Tech. Florida Southwestern closed out the first day of the tournament with a 69 – 64 win over South Georgia Tech.
On Saturday, Walters State captured their second win of the tournament in an 88 – 55 win over Albany Tech. Central Georgia Tech regained their composure and defeated Florida Southwestern 65 – 61 while South Georgia Tech coased to a 94 – 83 win over Motlow State.
The tournament finished up on Sunday with Florida Southwestern defeating Albany Tech 82 – 61 and Central Georgia Tech defeating Motlow State 80 – 68.
The SGTC Lady Jets will travel to Marianna, FL for the Chipola Classic on December 5 – 6 to take on Bishop State Community College on Friday and the undefeated and second ranked Chipola College team at 3 p.m. CST Saturday. They will travel to Tuscaloosa for the Shelton State Classic on December 13 and 14. They will match-up against the number three nationally ranked Three Rivers Community College on the 13th and then face the 13th seeded Shelton State team.
The Lady Jets are 3 – 5 before going on the road to face three nationally ranked teams before returning home for the Lady Jets Holiday Classic on December 28 – 30. They open with St. Petersburg College at 7 p.m. on December 28, play Chipola College again at 8 p.m. on December 29th and Eastern Florida at 8 p.m. on the 30th.