AMERICUS – South Georgia Technical College’s Lady Jets basketball team is headed to Salina, Kansas for the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I women’s national basketball tournament. Friends and family of the team came out on the morning of March 13 to support the Lady Jets as they departed the SGTC Americus campus on their way to the Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport for their flights to Kansas.

SGTC’s Student Leadership Council (SLC), the student group that is responsible for overseeing the student activities fund, authorized the use of additional funds if needed to help support the Lady Jets in their trip to the national tournament. Ryshanna Brown of Montezuma, SGTC SLC President, read a proclamation to the team that detailed the support of SGTC’s student body and their pride in the accomplishments of the women’s basketball team during the 2014-2015 season.

The Lady Jets will open the NJCAA tournament on March 16 at 11:00 a.m. (EST), facing off against Western Nebraska. The game will be aired in SGTC’s Hicks Hall on the Americus campus and refreshments will be provided by the Student Leadership Council. WISK-FM 98.7 will broadcast the game, or you can watch at www.njcaatv.com/womenbkbchamp (click 2015 DI WBB championship G1 – #16 Western Nebraska vs. # 17 South Georgia). The winner of the SGTC vs. Western Nebraska game will play number one seeded Hutchinson on Tuesday at 3pm (EST).

“We’re so proud of our Lady Jets basketball team for making it to the national tournament two years in a row,” said SGTC President Sparky Reeves. “We couldn’t ask for a better group of girls to represent South Georgia Tech and the community in Kansas at the national level.”

This will be Coach James Frey’s second trip to the national tournament in only three seasons as the head women’s coach at South Georgia Technical College. He has managed to put together three 20-plus winning records in each of his three seasons as the head coach of the Lady Jets. Assistant Coach Kezia Conyers has made the trip twice in her two seasons with the Lady Jets and played a big part in helping the Lady Jets reach their 57–12 combined record during her tenure.

The Lady Jets are currently 27–7 on the season. They finished second in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) regular season, but upset top-seeded Darton State College in the NJCAA Region XVII tournament to advance to the District J competition and ultimately to the national tournament for the second consecutive year.

Western Nebraska Community College is 31-2 this season and ranked 16th in the national tournament. The Lady Cougars are making their third straight national tournament appearance and 12th in the last 23 years. When WNCC captured its third straight Region IX title last week, it was the second time in the school history that the team has won three straight. The Cougars won four straight in 2003-2006.