Lady Jets move up to 5th in NJCAA Division I national poll

January 26, 2021
Six sophomores and one freshman from the South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets 2020 – 2021 team earned spots in the NJCAA Division I women’s basketball individual rankings this week. Shown above are: sophomores Imani McNeal (1), Flore Ngasamputu (12), Femme Sikuzani (34), Hope Butera (21), Moe Shida (10), and Veronica Charles (4) are shown above. Not shown is freshman Tena Ikidi (15).
Six sophomores and one freshman from the South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets 2020 – 2021 team earned spots in the NJCAA Division I women’s basketball individual rankings this week. Shown above are: sophomores Imani McNeal (1), Flore Ngasamputu (12), Femme Sikuzani (34), Hope Butera (21), Moe Shida (10), and Veronica Charles (4) are shown above. Not shown is freshman Tena Ikidi (15).

The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets climbed two spots from 7th to 5th place in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I women’s basketball national standings released January 25th, 2021.
The Lady Jets opened the 2020 – 2021 season with back-to-back wins over New Horizon Prep. Those two victories propelled the Lady Jets from a 7th place seeding in the pre-season poll to 5th place this week. South Georgia Tech’s ranking may rise even higher next week following an impressive 71 – 66 win over the fourth ranked Shelton State Lady Bucs Sunday. Shelton State dropped to seventh in the first regular season ranking.
Trinity Valley Community College is the top-ranked team in the nation. They are followed by Northwest Florida State College, South Plains College and Chipola College in the second to fourth place spots. South Georgia Tech was fifth. Central Arizona College, Shelton State Community College, Jones College, Gulf Coast State College and Tyler Junior College rounded out the top 10.
Only two colleges in the top 25 standings have a loss. They are Wabash Valley College (1-1) at 17th and College of Southern Idaho (0-1) at 25th. Four teams in the national rankings were 0 – 0 so far this season. Those included: Central Arizona College (6), Jones College (8), Chattanooga State Community College (18), and Midland College (19).
“We are pleased to be considered to be a top 5 team in the nation,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey. “But, this is just a ranking. We have to go out and prove ourselves on the court each week. We host Albany Tech here Wednesday, January 27th at 5:30 p.m. and then we travel to Tuscaloosa, AL, on Sunday for a rematch with Shelton State. We will need to play well, and win both of those games to maintain our overall ranking.”
In addition to the 5th place team ranking, South Georgia Technical College had seven individual players that were recognized nationally for their individual efforts. Sophomore shooting guard Imani McNeal from Locust Grove, GA, is currently the 17th leading scorer in the nation with a total of 43 points this season. She is also ranked 47th in steals per game with an average of 3.7 over three games. Her teammate, Veronica Charles, a sophomore guard from Benue State, Nigeria, is ranked 21st in the nation. She is averaging 4.7 steals per game.
Another sophomore guard, Moe Shida, 5’ 7” from Hokkaido, Japan, was ranked nationally for assists. She is currently 27th in the nation with 5.3 assists per game. The other four Lady Jets included in the poll are centers or forwards.
Sophomore center Femme Sikuzani, who stands at 6’ 5” from Goma, DRC, earned national recognition in the offensive rebounds per game and total rebounds this season. She is 33rd in the nation in offensive rebounds, averaging 4.7, and then she is 13th in total rebounds with 27 this season.
Two other sophomores, Hope Butera, 6’ 3” from Kigali, Rwanda, and Flore Ngasamputu, 6’ 2” from Kinshasa, DRC, are both listed nationally for total rebounds this season. Butera is listed as 8th in the nation in total rebounds with 27 and Ngasamputu, 6’ 2” is 27th with 22.
Freshman Tena Ikidi, a 6’ 3” center from Lagos, Nigeria, was also included in the national rankings. She earned the 46th position in blocks per game. She has 1.5 per game over two games this season.