Lady Jets Dominate East Ga. in Early Conference Matchup
After signing three players to Division I Power 5 conference schools on Wednesday, the South Georgia Tech (SGTC) Lady Jets took the court against East Georgia State (EGSC) in what was an impressive show of offense for the team. The Lady Jets handled the Lady Bobcats by a hefty score of 99-42 in their first conference matchup of the season.
The Lady Jets (4-1) came out firing – going up by 12 before the Bobcats got on the board with a field goal. The tempo of the game stayed consistent, with the Lady Jets leading the entire 40 minutes of the game. By the half, the Lady Jets were up 56-19, and were able to cruise through the next two quarters in a similar fashion, holding the Bobcats at just 24 points to their 43.
“It’s exciting to get a win,” Lady Jets head coach James Frey said. “We felt like, coming in, if we played well that we’d be in good shape – and they came out and took care of business and decided to be 1-and-0 in conference.”
On the night, the Lady Jets went 38-82 (46.3%) from the field, hit 8-of-18 (44.4%) of their 3 point attempts and shot 15-23 (65.2%) from the free throw line.
But while the offense seemed to click for the Lady Jets in the win, the defense shined through for the team as a whole. SGTC controlled the ball well and interrupted the Bobcats, often coming away with a takeaway or rebound. The Lady Jets tallied 32 steals, five blocked shots and 58 total rebounds, and only turned the ball over 19 times.
CONTRIBUTORS
While the spotlight of the night was on the three Power 5 conference signees – Bigue Sarr (Oklahoma State), Ricka Jackson (Texas Tech) and Fatou Pouye (Illinois) – it was newcomer Kamya Hollingshed who was the big scorer on the night.
Hollingshed, a freshman shooting guard from McDonough, led the team with 24 points off the bench, and contributed five rebounds, three assists and five steals on defense. Other double-digit contributors included stars of the night Fatou Pouye (15 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 6 steals, 2 blocks) and Ricka Jackson (11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals). Yasriyyah Wazeerud-Din, freshman small forward from Decatur, also scored 11 points for the team off the bench, with three rebounds, four assists and five steals.
The other star of the night, Bigue Sarr – the 6-foot-2 returning center from Senegal, scored nine points, brought down nine rebounds, had one assist, two steals and three blocked shots.
“Tonight we shot it probably better than we have so far this season,” Frey said. “There are still some things we’re not doing, and we’re going to keep working on those things. Some games we’re good and some games we’re not – we’re not consistent. But if we can ever put those two things together then we’ll be what we think we are – really good.”
NEXT UP
The Lady Jets will continue their homestand and their conference play as Central Georgia Tech comes to the Hangar on Saturday, Nov. 17. The CGTC Lady Titans (2-0 GCAA, 2-3 overall) are returning some of the best players in the GCAA conference and will look to take an early lead in the conference standings, but will have to face the defending champion Lady Jets on their home turf.
The game begins at 5:00 PM and will be the final game in a triple header, which will fall on the tail end of the Jets Classic. The classic will feature Gordon State facing USC Salkahatchie at 1:00 PM and the South Georgia Tech Jets facing Tallahassee Community College at 3:00 PM. Admission for the day is $5 and includes all three games.