Lady Jets defeat East Georgia State by 21 points
The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets defeated the top-ranked East Georgia State College Lady Bobcats 71 – 50 to move into a tie for first place in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) Division I women’s basketball standings with identical 6 – 1 records. The Lady Jets are 15 – 6 overall and East Georgia is 11 – 5.
“I am so proud of this team,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach Jason Carpenter. “This was a good win against a very good and well coached East Georgia State College team.
“Our defensive effort tonight was the difference,” added Carpenter. “East Georgia came in tonight’s match-up averaging 97 points per game in conference play. We held them to 50 points and that is a tribute to our defense.”
The win over East Georgia put the Lady Jets in a tie for first place at the moment. East Georgia is the only team to beat the Lady Jets in conference play and it was an 84 – 80 battle on January 18th in Americus. SGTC is now the only conference team to defeat East Georgia. The two teams will meet again on Saturday, February 15 at 1 p.m. in Swainsboro to battle for sole possession of first place in the conference.
Despite the lopsided victory, East Georgia was able to overcome a 14-point deficit in the first half and narrow that to one point (27 – 26) with 4:56 remaining in the half. SGTC pulled ahead by four points before East Georgia bounced back to close the gap to 30 – 29 with 2:30 remaining in the half. The Lady Jets shut them down offensively for the remaining 2:30 and went into half-time with a 35 – 29 lead.
The two teams continued to battle back and forth in the third quarter but SGTC outscored East Georgia 17 – 15 to go into the fourth quarter with a 52 – 42 lead. A very strong fourth quarter allowed the Lady Jets to clinch the win, 71 – 50.
Sophomore point guard Mio Sakano and freshman guard Stephie Salumu led the Lady Jets in scoring with 17 points each. Stephie Salumu was the top rebounder for the Lady Jets with 12 to finish the night with a double-double effort.
Freshman guard Jamiah Gregory was the only other Lady Jet in double digits and she had 15 points and five rebounds. Sophomore guard Enola Papin had a total of nine points, Kaiya Carter tossed in six and then Cheyenne Preston, Duilly Silva, and Mariia Ignatchenko each contributed two points. Maria Favero closed out the scoring with one point.
The Lady Jets will get a few days rest before traveling to Griffin to take on Southern Crescent Tech on Monday, February 10 at 5 p.m. They will return home for a double-header with Central Georgia Tech on Wednesday, February 12, with a 5:30 tip-off. The Jets will follow up at 7:30 p.m.
Both the Jets and the Lady Jets will travel to Swainsboro on Saturday, February 15th for a rematch with East Georgia. The Lady Jets open up at 1 p.m. followed by the Jets at 3 p.m. The match-up may determine who remains in first place in the GCAA for the women.
The Lady Jets will close out their regular season with a trip to Southern Crescent on Wednesday, Feb. 19th followed by a road trip to Andrew College on Saturday, Feb. 22nd and returning home to host Southern Crescent Tech on Wednesday, February 26th at 5:30 p.m.
The Jets will travel to Gordon College on Wednesday, February 5 for a 7 p.m. game. Gordon and Georgia Highlands are currently tied for second place in the GCAA with identical 4 – 2 records. The Jets are 3 – 3.
Following that game, the Jets travel to Griffin on Monday, Feb. 10 to play Southern Crescent Tech and then return home for the double-header with Central Georgia Tech on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Game time for the men is 7:30 pm.