Lady Jets move up to 5th in NJCAA Division I national poll

    The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets climbed two spots from 7^th to 5^th place in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I women’s basketball national standings released January 25^th, 2021.

    The Lady Jets opened the 2020 – 2021 season with back-to-back wins over New Horizon Prep.  Those two victories propelled the Lady Jets from a 7^th place seeding in the pre-season poll to 5^th place this week.  South Georgia Tech’s ranking may rise even higher next week following an impressive 71 – 66 win over the fourth ranked Shelton State Lady Bucs Sunday.  Shelton State dropped to seventh in the first regular season ranking.

   Trinity Valley Community College is the top-ranked team in the nation.  They are followed by Northwest Florida State College, South Plains College and Chipola College in the second to fourth place spots.  South Georgia Tech was fifth.  Central Arizona College, Shelton State Community College, Jones College, Gulf Coast State College and Tyler Junior College rounded out the top 10. 

   Only two colleges in the top 25 standings have a loss.  They are Wabash Valley College (1-1) at 17^th and College of Southern Idaho (0-1) at 25^th.  Four teams in the national rankings were 0 – 0 so far this season.  Those included: Central Arizona College (6), Jones College (8), Chattanooga State Community College (18), and Midland College (19).

    “We are pleased to be considered to be a top 5 team in the nation,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey.  “But, this is just a ranking.  We have to go out and prove ourselves on the court each week.  We host Albany Tech here Wednesday, January 27^th at 5:30 p.m. and then we travel to Tuscaloosa, AL, on Sunday for a rematch with Shelton State.  We will need to play well, and win both of those games to maintain our overall ranking.”

   In addition to the 5^th place team ranking, South Georgia Technical College had seven individual players that were recognized nationally for their individual efforts.  Sophomore shooting guard Imani McNeal from Locust Grove, GA, is currently the 17^th leading scorer in the nation with a total of 43 points this season.  She is also ranked 47^th in steals per game with an average of 3.7 over three games.  Her teammate, Veronica Charles, a sophomore guard from Benue State, Nigeria, is ranked 21^st in the nation.  She is averaging 4.7 steals per game.

   Another sophomore guard, Moe Shida, 5’ 7” from Hokkaido, Japan, was ranked nationally for assists.  She is currently 27^th in the nation with 5.3 assists per game.  The other four Lady Jets included in the poll are centers or forwards.

   Sophomore center Femme Sikuzani, who stands at 6’ 5” from Goma, DRC, earned national recognition in the offensive rebounds per game and total rebounds this season.  She is 33^rd in the nation in offensive rebounds, averaging 4.7, and then she is 13^th in total rebounds with 27 this season.

   Two other sophomores, Hope Butera, 6’ 3” from Kigali, Rwanda, and Flore Ngasamputu, 6’ 2” from Kinshasa, DRC, are both listed nationally for total rebounds this season.  Butera is listed as 8^th in the nation in total rebounds with 27 and Ngasamputu, 6’ 2” is 27^th with 22.    Freshman Tena Ikidi, a 6’ 3” center from Lagos, Nigeria, was also included in the national rankings.  She earned the 46^th position in blocks per game.  She has 1.5 per game over two games this season.