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From Staff Reports

 

AMERICUS – In a battle between two nationally ranked National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I women’s basketball teams, the 13^th ranked South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets defeated the 17^th ranked Florida Southwestern Buccaneers, 80 – 74 in the SGTC Hangar on Thursday, January 20.

“We are improving every week,” Lady Jets head coach James Frey said.  “This was a good test for the Lady Jets and we were able to come out on top.  Florida Southwestern has a really good team and are very well coached.”

The game between South Georgia Tech and Florida Southwestern was not on the original schedule, but after Southern Crescent dropped their team, the Lady Jets were looking for a make-up game.  Florida Southwestern was willing to make the trip to Americus and the Lady Jets were able to add another win against a strong nationally ranked team.

The Lady Jets started out slowly and were down by 10 points (12 – 2) midway through the first quarter.  Finally, the Lady Jets started hitting a few shots and were able to narrow the deficit to 25 – 22 at the end of the first 10-minutes of play.

SGTC put together a strong second quarter and outscored Florida Southwestern 22 – 13 to take a 44 – 38 lead at the end of the first half. Both teams scored 36 points in the second half to make it an 80 – 74 decision in favor of the Lady Jets, who moved to 17 – 4 overall and remained 6 – 2 in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) conference.

“We did a much better job of protecting the basketball,” Frey said.  “We had nine turnovers to their 12 and in close games, that can make a big difference. Turnovers that lead to points for the other team can add up quickly and chance the outcome of a game.”

Freshman shooting forward Alexia Dizeko led the Lady Jets in scoring with 18 points, 16 of which came in the second half.  She was five of 14 from the floor and eight of eight from the foul line.  She also had 14 rebounds and one assist.

Joining Dizeko in double-digit scoring was sophomore Kamiya Hollingshed with 15 points, and freshmen Laurie Calixte and Fanta Gassama with 11 points each.  Luana Leite added nine points, Camryn James eight points, Maikya Simmons, 5, and Loes Rozing, 3, to close out the scoring the Lady Jets.

The Jets and the Lady Jets will both play at home on Saturday, January 22 in a double-header.  The Lady Jets will take on East Georgia at 1 p.m. and the Jets follow up with Georgia Highlands at 3 p.m.  The Lady Jets travel to Macon to take on Central Georgia Tech on Tuesday, January 25 at 5:30 p.m. while the Jets travel to Cuthbert on Wednesday, January 26 for a game with Andrew College at 7 p.m.

Both teams return home for a doubleheader in Americus on Saturday, January 29. The Lady Jets host Andrew College at 1 p.m. and the Jets host East Georgia State College at 3 p.m.