Lady Jets move up to 16th in NJCAA national poll

   The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets moved up another spot in this week’s National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) women’s basketball national rankings.  They moved from 17^th place into the 16^th position following a win over Chattahoochee Valley Community College this past week.

    The Lady Jets are 13 – 1 overall and 6 -0 in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association.  They have currently put together an 11-game winning streak.  They have one game before the holiday break and then will return home to host the Lady Jets Holiday Classic on December 29^th – 31^st.  They will face their toughest competition this season when the Lady Jets come up against Eastern Florida State and Shelton State, two other nationally ranked opponents.

   The Lady Jets were ranked 24^th in the pre-season national poll, then moved up three spots into 21^st place prior to the Thanksgiving break.  They climbed to 19^th place, and then moved up another two spots into 17^th before climbing into the 16^th position this week.  South Georgia Technical College is the only Georgia college currently ranked in the NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball National rankings.

  The Lady Jets are hoping to make their fourth consecutive trip to the NJCAA Women’s National Basketball Tournament in Lubbock, Texas.  They must win the NJCAA Region XVII title as well as the District J Championship to earn their fourth consecutive berth and fifth trip in six years under head coach James Frey. 

    The top 13 teams in the NJCAA national rankings all kept their spots this week. Gulf Coast is still ranked first in the nation with a 10 – 0 record.  They are followed by South Plains and Trinity Valley, both of Texas with 14 – 0 and 13 – 0 records, and Northwest Florida State is fourth with an 13 – 0 record.

   Central Arizona is fifth with a 10 – 1 record and they are followed by Chipola (13 – 1), Hutchinson (12-1), Tyler (11-2), Western Nebraska (15-1), and Jones (6-1).  Shelton State (10-1) remained 11^th in the poll with New Mexico (9-4), and Florida SouthWestern State (10-4) rounded out the top 13 positions.

   “We have played two good games over the past week and came away with wins over Chattahoochee Valley Community College and Cape Fear,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey.  “After one more game, we will take some time off for the holidays but we need to be ready for some tough competition in during the Lady Jets Holiday Classic when we face Shelton State and East Florida State, two other nationally ranked teams. And Cape Fear will be looking for a little revenge as well.  Those should be three really good basketball games if we play up to our potential.”

    In addition to their national team ranking, three Lady Jets also earned national recognition for their individual play on the court.

   Freshman center Femme Sikuzani from Goma, DRC, is still ranked in six different categories. Femme Sikuzani, 6’ 5”, is currently the fifth leading rebounder in the nation.  She has a total of 181 rebounds in 14 games.  She is less than 30 rebounds from the leader in the nation, which has a total of 210.  She is averaging a total of 12.9 rebounds per game which is currently 10^th overall in the nation.  She was listed as 9^th last week.

   She is currently listed as 10^th in the nation in offensive rebounds with an average of 5.8 per game and 13^th in the nation in defensive rebounds with 7.1 per outing.  And she is currently ranked 42^nd overall in field goal percentage shooting with a 56.1 percent success rate on her shots. She also has an average of 1.6 blocks per game which puts her at 43^rd in the nation in that category.

    Two other members of the Lady Jets garnered national attention for their aggressive offensive and defensive skills.   Sophomore transfer Shamari Tyson, who transferred in from Southeastern Illinois College, this season is still in 9^th place in the nation in assists per game with an average of 6.0. 

    Sophomore Yasriyyah Wazeerund-Din was listed in two different NJCAA individual stats this week.  She is ranked 11^th in the nation in free-throw percentage shooting, hitting 88.5 percent of her shots, and is 25^th in the nation in steals averaging 3.3 per game.