SGTC Lady Jets jump to number 17 in national poll; four players recognized

Published 10:59 am Monday, February 27, 2017

From STAFF REPORTS

The top-ranked Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association’s South Georgia Technical College (SGTC) Lady Jets moved up one spot into 17th place in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I women’s basketball Top 25 poll released Feb. 14. South Georgia Tech was previously in the 18th-place spot and is still the only Georgia women’s team included in the NJCAA Division I national rankings. They have moved up six spots since reentering the polls a month ago.
The Lady Jets were 11-0 in the GCAA and 23-3 overall at the time of the ranking. They lost a close decision to East Georgia the day after the rankings were released and took a 56-42 win over Albany Tech on Feb. 22.
The Lady Jets are currently 24-4 and 12-1 in the conference.
“We are still the only Georgia team in the NJCAA Division I rankings right now,” said SGTC Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey. “We are facing challenges with injuries, but we are just going to have to have some younger players step up and fill those gaps if we plan to reach the goals we set at the beginning of the season.”
Odessa, Tx. moved into the number one spot in the NJCAA Division I women’s rankings with a 21-0 record. They were third in third place prior to the time of the ranking.  Hutchinson, Ks. remained in second place while Gulf Coast State fell to third place with a 24-2 record. Salt Lake and Seward County, Ks. are in the fourth and fifth place positions.
Chipola, Fl.; South Plains, Tx.; Tallahassee, Fl., New Mexico, NM, and Trinity Valley, Tx.; are ranked in order from sixth place to 10th place.
In addition to the Lady Jet’s 17th-place overall ranking in the women’s NJCAA Division I basketball poll, the Lady Jets also had several individual players spotlighted. Camille Coleman, Desiree Corbin, Esther Adenike, and Kanna Suzuki are all among the top players in the nation in individual categories.
Corbin moved up two spots into the 12th place position in the nation in rebounds per game with an average of 11.1. She has played in 24 games this season. The top ranked rebounder in the nation is averaging 14.8. Corbin is currently out with a hair-line fracture to her knee but is hoping to be able to return to the court after a week or two of rehab and rest.
She is also ranked 9th in total rebounds this season with 299, 10th in this week’s poll in defensive rebounding with an average of 7.3 per game and 42nd in offensive rebounding with a 3.7 average per game.
Corbin was also ranked nationally in field goal percentage shooting. She is making 56.3 percent of her attempts this season and moved up from 25th to 23rd in the national rankings in that category. The sophomore from Griffin, Ga. also earned a 10th-place spot in the nation in blocks per game. She is averaging 2.7. The national leader is averaging 3.4 blocks per game.
Coleman, a sophomore guard from South Bend, Indiana, is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL but she was still ranked 6th this week in three-point field goal percentage shooting. She is hitting 45.6 percent of her shots from the three-point line. She played in 26 games this season and is averaging 10.6 points per game. The leading three-point shooter in the nation has a 51.4 percent success rate and is averaging 12.5 points.
Suzuki broke into the three-point field goal percentage shooting category this week for the first time. She is ranked 19th with a 41.5 percent success rate. She has played in 27 games and is averaging 9.8 points per game. She has also retained her position at 23rd in the nation in assists with an average of 4.9 per game.
Adenike was the other SGTC player listed in this week’s rankings. She is 17th in the nation in total rebounds with 254 rebounds in 27 games. She is also ranked nationally in rebounding with a 9.5 average. She moved up to 33rd in the nation from 37th last week. She is 37th in offensive rebounds with an average of 4.0 per game.
At the time of the poll, the Lady Jets needed to win at least one of their last two regular season conference games to capture the GCAA regular season title for the second year in a row and host the NJCAA District XVII tournament which begins on Feb. 28. SGTC cinched that title with their victory over Albany Tech on Feb. 22. Georgia Highlands is currently in second place with an 11-2 record, but SGTC has defeated the Lady Chargers twice in head to head competition.
The Lady Jets and Jets will host Atlanta Metropolitan College on Feb. 25 at 1:00 p.m. for Sophomore Day.  The Jets will follow at 3:00 p.m. All SGTC sophomore players will be recognized at the games. Atlanta Metro is currently 4-9 and in last place.