Lady Jets remain in 16th spot in NJCAA national poll for 3rd straight week

   The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets remained in the 16^th position in this week’s National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) women’s basketball national rankings for the third consecutive week.

    The Lady Jets are 21 – 2 overall and 11 – 0 in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association.  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 at the end of the year.  They fell to 17^th in the first poll of 2020 but climbed back into 16^th place and have remained there for the past three weeks.  

  South Plains, Texas, remained in the 1^st place position for the second straight week with a 22 – 0 overall record.  Trinity Valley, TX, moved from fourth place into the number two position with a 20 – 1 record followed by Western Nebraska, Gulf Coast State and New Mexico.

   Tyler in Texas, Shelton State in Alabama, Hutchinson in Kansas, Chipola and Northwest Florida State closed out the top 10 spots followed by Jones, Seward County, Central Arizona, Florida Southwestern State and Wabash Valley in the 11^th – 15^th spots ahead of South Georgia Technical College.

   “All of the top 25 teams in the national rankings are there for a reason.  They are all trying to move up in the rankings in order to have the best chance of making the national tournament,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey.  “We have got to keep winning and getting better and concentrate on our immediate goals.  Those goals include winning the conference, hosting and winning the NJCAA Region XVII tournament and the District J championship to earn a trip to the national tournament.  If we do all of that the rest will take care of itself,” added Frey.

    Four Lady Jets are helping to keep their team in the national rankings by standing out based on their individual play on the court.  Freshman center Femme Sikuzani from the Congo is currently listed as the sixth leading rebounder in the nation.  She has a total of 260 rebounds this season in her 23 games.

   Sikuzani from Goma, DRC, is ranked in six different categories.  The 6’ 5” center is averaging a total of 11.3 rebounds per game which is currently 12^th overall in the nation. 

   She is currently listed as 11^th in the nation in offensive rebounds with an average of 4.9 per game and 26^th in the nation in defensive rebounds with 6.4 per outing.  And she is currently ranked 30^th overall in field goal percentage shooting with a 57.1 percent success rate on her shots. She also moved into 49^th place this week in blocks per game with a 1.5 average.

    Three 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 in 21^st place in the nation in assists per game with an average of 5.3. 

    Sophomore Yasriyyah Wazeerund-Din moved up to 15^th in the nation in steals with an average of 3.5 per game and she moved up to 20^th in the nation in three-point percentage shooting.  She is hitting 43.6 percent of her shots from the three-point territory.

    Sophomore Anna McKendree was the fourth Lady Jet to earn recognition.  She was also listed in two different NJCAA individual stats this week.  She is ranked 25^th in the nation in steals with an average of 3.2 per game and she was also listed as 22^nd in three-point percentage shooting.  She has hit 43.5 percent of her three-point attempts this season.   

The Lady Jets and the Jets will play at home on Saturday, February 1^st when they host East Georgia State College at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. in the Hangar on the Americus campus.