Lady Jets take two wins in the Pete Arrington Thanksgiving Classic
The National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) ninth ranked South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets defeated the 20th ranked Indian River State College Pioneers in the Pete Arrington Thanksgiving Classic women’s basketball tournament Saturday. They opened up with an impressive 76 – 21 victory over Denmark Technical College in the opening game to finish the weekend with a 2 – 0 record.
In the other tournament action over the weekend, Indian River took an 82 – 54 win over Albany Tech but then Albany Tech bounced back on Saturday to upset Denmark Tech 73 – 61. They had lost to Denmark Tech earlier in the season.
“It is good to get a win against a ranked opponent but we missed way too many lay-ups,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey after the Indian River State College win. “And we just looked like we quite playing the last four minutes of the game. We need to play complete games from buzzer to buzzer.”
Indian River started out strong and was up 14 – 12 at the end of the first quarter. The two teams battled back and forth in the first half with 16 lead changes and five ties before the Lady Jets managed to go up 32 – 26 at the end of the second quarter. That was the largest lead of the first half.
South Georgia Tech came out strong in the second half and were up by as many as 18 points midway through the fourth quarter. Indian River State rallied late in the fourth quarter and were able to cut that deficit to only eight points by the final buzzer.
Sophomore center Fanta Gassama had a double-double for the Lady Jets with 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead her team in scoring and rebounding. She also had five assists and one steal on the night. Sophomore forward Alexia Dizeko and sophomore guard Laurie Calixte both tossed in 13 points each. Dizeko also had seven rebounds, two assists and two steals. Calixte had six rebounds on the night.
Sophomore guard Luana Leite accounted for nine points, seven rebounds and four assists. Loes Rozing, a sophomore point guard, was next with eight points, seven rebounds, five assists and one steal. Susana Yepes added four points and then Maeve Fotsa Fofou closed out the second with two points.
In the opening day of the tournament, the Lady simply overpowered Denmark Tech, 76 – 32. They were up 30 – 13 at the half and then outscored Denmark 46 – 18 in the second half to capture the win. Sophomore forward Alexia Dizeko was the top scorer for the Lady Jets with 19 on the night. She also had six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
Luana Leite, Loes Rozing and Veronika Palfi each scored nine points in that game. Fanta Gassama scored seven points and had a total of 12 rebounds. Mame Thiaw and Laurie Calixte both added six points, followed by Vera Gunaydin with five, Maeve Fotsa Fofou, four; and Da’Nae Williams with two.
The Lady Jets are now 9 – 1 on the season and 3 – 0 in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA). Albany Tech is currently in second place in the GCAA with a 2 – 0 record followed by East Georgia with a 1 – 0 conference performance.
The Lady Jets are off until December 5th when they travel to Chattahoochee Valley Community College for a 6 p.m. game in Phenix City, AL. They will return home on December 9th at 5:30 p.m. for a conference match-up with East Georgia State College followed by another conference game on Saturday, December 10th at 1 p.m. against Albany Tech in the Hangar.
The Jets will be hosting the nationally ranked Chipola College Indians at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 29th as part of the SGTC “Light Up Your Future” event on the Americus campus. Then they will travel to Melbourne, FL to take on Eastern Florida State College and Dayton State College on December 2nd and 3rd in the Eastern Florida Classic.