Lady Jets face Motlow State in first round of NJCAA National Tournament

The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets will face off against the Motlow State Community College Lady Bucks from Tullahoma, TN, in the first round of the National Junior College Athletic Association Division I women’s basketball tournament at the Rip Griffin Center in Lubbock, Texas on Monday at 3 p.m. eastern standard time. The game will be broadcast live on WISK/WDEC locally and will air live on NJCAA TV (njcaatv.com).
“We played Motlow State Community College earlier this season and beat them 66 – 55 during the Lady Jets Thanksgiving Classic in November,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey. “However, both of us are very different teams now. We lost two starters but we have had others players step up and take up that slack. We do know that Motlow State has a very talented freshman Sara Vujacic, who was the TCCAA Freshman of the Year and was selected to the All-Tournament team as well.”
Vujacic only scored six points in the first match-up with South Georgia Tech, however, Kienya Jones, Sydney Floyd, and Tamiah Stanford were all in double-figures in that game. In the TCCAA tournament finals Vujacic led the Lady Bucks with 20 points while Stanford scored 19 points.
The two teams look almost identical on the stat sheets this season. The Lady Jets have played 33 games, average 72.6 points per game, shot 43.6 percent from the field, 34.7% from the three point line, 67.9% from the foul line, averaged 47.9 rebounds per game and 16.3 assists.
Motlow State has played 32 games, average 70.9 points per game, shoot 45.4% from the floor, 34.6% from the three point line, and 64.3% at the free throw line. They are averaging 38.5 rebounds and 20.1 assists.
The Lady Jets are currently ranked 15th with a 29 – 4 record and the Motlow State Lady Bucs are seeded 18th with a 27 – 5 overall record this season. Motlow State was selected to attend the National Tournament with an NJCAA at-large bid invitation. They lost to the Region VII defending champion Walters State team in the tournament finals, 58 – 49. This will be the Lady Bucs first National Tournament appearance in the history of the Motlow women’s basketball program which began in 1974.
The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets will be making their fourth appearance in the NJCAA national tournament since the program began in 2004 – 2005. The Lady Jets went to the NJCAA National Tournament in Salina, Kansas under former head coach Brandon Harrell in 2009 – 2010. This will be their third trip to the NJCAA Division I women’s tournament with current Head Coach James Frey and Assistant Coach Kenzia Conyers, however it will be their first trip to Lubbock, Texas.
“This is what the Lady Jets and Coach Conyers and I have been working for all season,” said Coach Frey. “We earned the right to advance, but now we have to go out and win to keep advanceing.”
The winner of the Lady Jets – Lady Bucs game on Monday will face the number two Odessa, Texas team on Tuesday, March 21st at 7 p.m. ET. The winner of that game will advance to the Elite Eight and play Thursday, March 24th at 6 p.m. The Final Four game will be played Friday at 8 p.m. with the Championship game scheduled for Saturday at 8 p.m.
James Frey took over the reigns as head coach of the Lady Jets in 2012 – 2013 and Coach Conyers came on board in 2013 – 2014. That was the first time that Frey and Conyers earned a trip to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament. They returned to the national dance again in 2014 – 2015 and won their first game. They were two points shy of being able to make their third trip in 2015 – 2016 when they lost in the final seconds of the NJCAA Region XVII tournament to former head coach Brandon Harrell and the Georgia Highlands team. The Lady Jets defeated Harrell and Georgia Highlands this season by the same identical score to earn the right to compete on the national stage again this year.

South Georgia Technical College President Dr. John Watford (r) is shown above congratulating head coach James Frey (l) on his team’s clinching the Region XVII tournament and advanceing to the NJCAA National tournament.