SGTC Lady Jets capture 8th consecutive victory
![Amara Edeh, 5, and Alyssa Nieves, 4, were the top scorers for the Lady Jets in their wins over Roane State and Pensacola State in the Georgia Highlands Thanksgiving Classic Tournament.](https://www.southgatech.edu/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Edeh_Nieves-11-18.jpg)
ROME, GA – The nationally ranked South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets captured their eighth straight win in the Georgia Highlands Thanksgiving Classic Basketball Tournament in Rome over the Thanksgiving Break. The Lady Jets defeated Roane State Community College 76 – 40 in the opening game of the tournament and then came back and defeated 25th ranked Pensacola State College 73 – 61 in the second match-up of the tournament.
In the other games, Georgia Highlands finished the tournament at 1 – 1 after defeating Cleveland State 76 – 42 and then dropping a 41 – 34 defensive struggle to the ninth ranked Walters State Community College team.
The SGTC Lady Jets captured two impressive wins in that tournament but sophomore center Bigue Sarr from Dakar, Senegal injured her knee in the first game and sophomore forward Fatou Pouye from Kaolack, Senegal, turned her ankle.
“I was not sure we could defeat Pensacola State without Bigue and Fatou,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey. “But the other players really stepped up and that is what they are going to have to do for us to keep beating good teams. I am hoping both of these will be back and ready for action this weekend or next week,” added Frey. “I was very proud of the way the team came together.”
In the opening game with Roane State Community College, Bigue Sarr did manage to play eight minutes and scored eight points before going down with an injury. Freshman power forward Amara Edeh from Enugu, Nigeria, came off the bench to lead the Lady Jets in scoring with a total of 18 points and seven rebounds. Freshman Center Laky Samo from Maputo, Mozambigue, also came off the bench and accounted for 14 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Ricka Jackson from Hawaii, closed out the double-digit scoring with 13 points.
Freshman forward Yasriyyah Wazeerud-Din from Decatur, GA came off the bench and scored eight points and then Kamya Hollingshed tossed in five points, Alyssa Nieves added four points and Rio Yamazaki and Mari Hill had four points and two points respectively. Fatou Pouye only played nine minutes before her ankle injury but managed to pull down four rebounds.
In the match-up with the 25th NJCAA ranked Pensacola State team, the 11th ranked South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets had four of their five starters score in double-digits to lead the Lady Jets to the 73 – 61 victory.
Sophomore guard Alyssa Nieves from Tampa, FL, led the team in scoring with 18 points. She was four of 13 from the three-point line and also led the team in rebounds with nine. She had two assists and three steals on the night. Sophomore forward Ricka Jackson from Ewa Beach, HI, was close behind with 17 points, six rebounds, two assists and four steals.
Freshman center Laky Samo from Maputo, Mozambique, made the most of her first regular season start for the Lady Jets with 15 points, seven rebounds, two assists and one steal. Freshman forward Amara Edeh from Enugu, Nigeria, also started for the Lady Jets and came up with 12 points, seven rebounds, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot. Freshman Kamya Hollingshed from McDonough, GA, tossed in seven points for the Lady Jets and then guards Mari Hill and Rio Yamazaki closed out the scoring with two points each. Hill had nine assists and three steals. Rio had two rebounds and one assist.
The Lady Jets will host Southern Crescent Technical College in a Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association Division I conference match-up on Saturday, December 1st in the Hangar at 1 p.m. The Lady Jets are currently ranked number one in the conference with a 3 – 0 record. The Lady Jets are 8 – 1 overall. After that match-up the Lady Jets travel to Cuthbert on December 8th to face Andrew College in a conference game at 1 p.m.
The Jets will travel to Walterboro, SC, to face USC Salkahatchie on Saturday, December 1st at 4 p.m. and then return home for a game against Marion Military on Tuesday, December 4th at 7 p.m. Admission to the Jets basketball game is free to all individuals who attend the SGTC Light Up Your Future Event hosted December 4th from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in Gailey Park. Application fees will be waived for students who sign up for Spring Semester at the Light Up Your Future event. Spring semester begins January 9th, 2019.