Lady Jets get blown out by Shelton State

Published 10:05 am Monday, December 31, 2018

AMERICUS – The South Georgia Technical College women’s basketball team came into the Lady Jets Holiday Classic with a record of 12-1 on the season. However, the Lady Bucs of Shelton State College imposed their will from the start and took control of the game, winning 85 -43 over the Lady Jets at the Hangar on Sunday evening, December 30.

The Lady Jets were coming off an 82-72 win over St. Petersburg College in the first round of the Lady Jets Holiday Classic on Saturday, December 29.

“We were just flat. We just didn’t play well. Their coach told me that we caught them on a bad day and that they played their best game all year. I told her that this was the worst game we’ve played all year,” SGTC head coach James Frey said. “We’ll find out tomorrow what we’re made of. How you respond to games like that will determine what you are down the road. We’re 13-2 with a chance to come out of the tournament 2-1. We play a really good East Florida team tomorrow. We’ve got to go play. We’ve got to be ready to play. We can’t show up and lay an egg like we did today.”

SGTC guard Ricka Jackson with the ball looking to pass. Jackson scored three points in the loss to SSC.
Photo by Ken Gustafson

Coach Frey was referring to the Lady Jets’ final game of the tournament against East Florida College on Monday, December 31, at the Hangar. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m.

SGTC point guard Rio Yamazaki led the Lady Jets in scoring with eight points. Six of those points came off of two three-pointers. Forward Yasriyyah Wazeerud-Din and center Bigue Sarr each scored seven points for the Lady Jets. Forward Amara Edeh scored five in the losing cause.

For the Lady Bucs of SSC, they had three players in double-figures. Latascya Duff led all scorers with 19 points and Ataiya Bridges scored 12. Tiyah Johnson also chipped in 11 points in the winning cause.

SGTC center Bigue Sarr shooting a free throw. Sarr scored seven points in the loss to SSC.
Photo by Ken Gustafson

SGTC shot 27 percent from the field for the game (17 for 63). They were 3 for 21 from the three-point line (14.3 percent) and they shot 6 for 16 from the foul line (37.5 percent). In contrast, SSC shot 33 for 73 from the field (45.2 percent), 8 for 27 from beyond the arc (29.6 percent) and made 11 of 13 foul shots (84.6 percent). The Lady Bucs also outrebounded the Lady Jets 53-41.

SSC jumped out to a 17-9 lead in the first quarter. The Lady Jets struggled to score on the offensive end and struggled defensively as well. The Lady Bucs were able to score a few fast-break baskets and they were able to score against SGTC on the inside as well. The Lady Jets seemed to struggle with their interior defense as the Lady Bucs got some easy baskets on the inside. At one point in the second quarter, SSC jumped out to a 39-15 lead on a three-pointer by Cierra Cunningham. At halftime, the Lady Jets trailed 41-17.

Things didn’t get any better for the Lady Jets to start the second half. The Lady Bucs went on an 11-4 run early in the third quarter. The Lady Jets struggled to score, while the Lady Bucs were scoring on the inside and out. With 4:33 to go in the third quarter, Sarr was able to make one of two free throws to make the score 56-22 SSC.

SGTC forward Fatou Pouye grabs a rebound against SSC.
Photo by Ken Gustafson

However, it didn’t help much as the Lady Bucs continued to score baskets on dribble penetration and fast-break layups. By the 1:14 mark of the third quarter, the Lady Jets had fallen behind 64-23.

SSC continued to score in the fourth quarter and built a 71-33 lead at one point. The Lady Jets continued to struggle offensively as they couldn’t hit outside shots and missed easy shots on the inside. The Lady Jets also struggled from the free-throw line as well. The Lady Bucs went on to win 85-43. Another factor in the Lady Jets’ defeat was the number of turnovers they committed. SGTC turned the ball over 24 times. The Lady Bucs had 18 turnovers.

SGTC forward Oumy Gueye drives to the basket.
Photo by Ken Gustafson

After their final tournament game against East Florida College on Monday, December 31, the Lady Jets will return to conference play when they travel to Macon, GA to take on Central Georgia Technical College on Wednesday, January 2. Tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m.