Lady Jets upset nationally ranked Eastern Florida Titans in overtime
The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets upset the nationally ranked Eastern Florida Lady Titans 71 – 62 in overtime in the second round of the SGTC Lady Jets Holiday Classic women’s basketball tournament Sunday night.
Eastern Florida was 10 – 2 on the season and ranked 23rd in the nation. They outscored the Lady Jets 25 – 20 in the first half, but a strong third quarter by the Lady Jets allowed them to pull ahead 38 – 35 at the end of 30 minutes of play. Eastern Florida came back in the fourth quarter and pulled ahead 51 – 45 with three minutes remaining in the contest.
Stephie Salumu, 13, had 15 points and 13 rebounds in the game against Eastern Florida.
The Lady Jets held Eastern Florida scoreless in the final three minutes to tie the game at 51 – 51 at the final buzzer and force the game into a five-minute over-time. Three Lady Jets scored 20 points in five minutes to secure the 71 – 62 victory over their nationally ranked opponent.
Jamiah Gregory, Stephie Salumu, and Mio Sakano were the only three Lady Jets to score in the over-time period. Those three individuals were two of three from the three-point line, four of five from under the basket and six of six from the foul line to help clinch the victory.
Freshman guard Jamiah Gregory led the team in scoring with 21 points. She also had six rebounds and two assists. Freshman guard Stephie Salumu had a double-double night with 15 points and 13 rebounds. She also had four assists. Sophomore Enola Papin tossed in 11 points to close out the double-digit scoring for the Lady Jets but Mio Sakano was close behind with nine points and four rebounds on the night. She also had eight assists.
Mariia Ignatchenko walked away with eight points, and then Kaiya Carter and Hayda Toro closed out the scoring with four and three points respectively.
Eastern Florida was led in scoring by E’Zaria Adams with 21 points and Ashleigh Battle with 14. Eastern Florida defeated SGTC, 50 – 47 in November in Tallahassee.
South Georgia Tech is scheduled to play again at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, December 31st against the 11th ranked and unbeaten 13 – 0 Chipola Lady Indians. The Lady Jets lost to them 81 – 74 earlier this month.
In other tournament action Sunday, St. Petersburg won their second game of the season in a 62 – 51 decision over Chattanooga State, the 11th ranked Chipola Lady Indians upset 9th seeded Shelton State, 57 – 53, and Daytona State defeated Northeast Mississippi, 64 – 60.
On Monday, action started at 1 p.m. with Northeast Mississippi playing St. Petersburg followed by Shelton State and Eastern Florida at 3 p.m. and Daytona State and Chipola matching up at 5 p.m.
The final day of the tournament is Tuesday and action kicks off at 12 noon with Eastern Florida facing Northeast Mississippi followed by Chattanooga State and Shelton State at 2 p.m. Chipola and South Georgia Tech will match up at 4 p.m., Tuesday.