Lady Jets drop to 17th in NJCAA national poll; Femme Sikuzani ranked second in nation in rebounds

   The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets only fell one spot into 17^th place in this week’s National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) women’s basketball national rankings after a narrow loss to 10^th ranked Shelton State in the Lady Jets Holiday Classic tournament. 

    The Lady Jets are 17 – 2 overall and 7 – 0 in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association.  They had put together a 14-game winning streak prior to the loss to Shelton State.  That loss to one of the top ten teams in the nation dropped them from 16^th to 17^th in the NJCAA rankings.   

   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.  South Georgia Technical College is the only Georgia college currently ranked in the NJCAA Division I Women’s Basketball National rankings.

  Gulf Coast retained their top spot in the rankings by defeating Shelton State and Eastern Florida in the Lady Jets Classic.  They are currently 14 – 0 on the season.  South Plains from Texas is also undefeated at 18 – 0 and is currently second in the rankings.  Chipola, Hutchinson, and Tyler moved into the third, fourth, and fifth spots from being ranked sixth, seventh, and eighth the previous week.

   New Mexico, Trinity Valley, Northwest Florida State, Western Nebraska and Shelton State rounded out the top 10 spots.  Jones, Midland, Seward County, Central Arizona, Florida Southwestern State and Wabash Valley are in the 11^th – 16^th spots ahead of South Georgia Technical College.

   “Shelton State has a very good team and we had our chances to upset them,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey.  “I am hoping that we have the opportunity to play them again at the National Tournament.”

    In addition to their national team ranking, four Lady Jets also earned national recognition for their individual play on the court and freshman center Femme Sikuzani from the Congo is currently listed as the second leading rebounder in the nation.  She has a total of 225 rebounds this season in her 18 games, which is 11 less than the leading rebounder in the nation, F. Hawkins from Vincennes.

   Sikuzani from Goma, DRC, is ranked in six different categories.  The 6’ 5” center is averaging a total of 11.8 rebounds per game which is currently 13^th overall in the nation. 

   She is currently listed as 14^th in the nation in offensive rebounds with an average of 5.2 per game and 26^th in the nation in defensive rebounds with 6.6 per outing.  And she is currently ranked 37^th overall in field goal percentage shooting with a 57 percent success rate on her shots. She also has an average of 1.6 blocks per game which puts her at 49^th in the nation in that category.

    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 19^th place in the nation in assists per game with an average of 5.4. 

    Sophomore Anna McKendree was listed in two different NJCAA individual stats this week.  She is ranked 24^th in the nation in steals with an average of 3.3 per game and she was also listed as 39^th in three-point percentage shooting.  She has hit 42.2 percent of her three-point attempts this season.

    Sophomore Yasriyyah Wazeerund-Din was the fourth Lady Jet to make the individual national rankings.  She is currently listed as 15^th in nation in steals with an average of 3.5 per game.