Lady Jets open GCAA season with win over Central Georgia Tech

Macon, GA – The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets opened the 2019 -2020 Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) season with an important 76 – 53 victory over the Central Georgia Technical College Lady Titans in Macon. The Lady Jets are currently in a three-way tie for first place in the GCAA with Georgia Highlands and East Georgia. Each of those teams has a 1- 0 conference record.
Femme Sikuzani, the 6’ 5” freshman center from Goma, Congo, was the star of the show for the Lady Jets in her first conference outing. She posted a double-double with 16 points and 20 rebounds. She was joined in double-figures by two other Lady Jets. Sophomore forward Yasriyyah Wazeerud-Din tossed in 13 points and then sophomore forward Oumy Gueye closed out the double-digit scoring with 11 points.
Shamari Tyson, the transfer sophomore guard from Fort Wayne, IN, had nine points and eight assists for the Lady Jets along with four rebounds and three steals. Hope Butera, a 6’ 3” freshman from Kigali, Rwanda had eight points, sophomore Anna McKendree had five points, Veronica Charles and Flore Ngasamputu both contributed four points and then Amara Edeh, Moe Shida, and Sarah Lwambo scored two points each.
“It is always good to get a conference win. And Central Georgia Technical College is always ready when you travel to Macon to play them in their gym. They are a very physical team,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey.
The Lady Jets started off slowly and Central Georgia Technical College had the lead three times in the first quarter. The Lady Jets were able to pull ahead 18 – 7 by the end of the first 10-minute period. Central Georgia Tech and South Georgia Tech both scored 19 points in the second quarter to go in to half-time with the Lady Jets up 37 – 26.
A strong third quarter for the Lady Jets put them ahead 59 – 36 at the end of three complete periods and then both teams scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to finish the game with the Lady Jets first conference win, 76 – 53.
The Lady Jets are currently 4 – 1 on the season. They opened up with two victories but then traveled Tampa, FL for match-ups with St. Petersburg College and Hillsborough Community College. St. Petersburg College scored 19 points in the fourth quarter and held the Lady Jets to only 10 points to take a 66 – 59 victory. That was the Lady Jets first and only loss so far this season.
The Lady Jets were up 22 – 13 at the end of the first quarter and were still up 36 – 30 at the half. St. Petersburg closed that deficit to 49 – 47 at the end of the third period and outscored the Lady Jets in the final 10 minutes to capture the win.
Shamari Tyson led the Lady Jets in scoring in that contest with 16 points. Flore Ngasamputu had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds and Anna McKendree closed out the double-digit scoring with 10 points.
The Lady Jets rebounded from that loss and took an 88 – 64 win over Hillsborough Community College the next day in Tampa to move to 3 – 1 overall. Anna McKendree led the team with 21 points in that matchup. She had four three-pointers. Shamari Tyson and Niya Goudelock both had 19 points and Goudelock had a double-double with 19 –points and 10 assists. Freshman center Femme Sikuzani closed out the double-digit scoring with 16 points and a total of 19 rebounds on the night.
The Lady Jets will be looking for their third consecutive win second straight conference victory on Saturday when they host Andrew College at 5 p.m. following the Jets game at 3 p.m. against Triton College in the final game of the Pete Arrington Classic.