From Staff Reports

 

AMERICUS – The South Georgia Technical College women’s basketball team (18-3, 10-0 GCAA) climbed back up 16th place in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Division I women’s basketball top 25 rankings last week after falling 18th in the rankings.

Two of the Lady Jets’ losses this season were to nationally-ranked teams or teams receiving votes in the national ranking. Their other loss was in the first game of the season against Santa Fe Junior College in Gainesville, FL on Thursday, November 1, 2018.

“Rankings are nice, but they are not what counts,” SGTC head coach James Frey said. “We have to execute on the floor and we have to play hard for 40 minutes every time we step on the court. We still have a long way to go if we want to earn another trip to the national tournament this season.”

The SGTC women’s team earned back-to-back trips to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament in both the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons. The Lady Jets would like nothing better than to earn their third-straight trip to the “Big Dance” in Lubbock, TX in 2019. In the past five seasons, the Lady Jets have qualified for the NJCAA Division I National Tournament four times.

In addition to the 16th-place ranking, the Lady Jets also had three players to earn individual national rankings in different categories. One member of the SGTC men’s basketball team was included in the NJCAA men’s individual statistical national rankings.

On the women’s side, sophomore guard Mari Hill was ranked 8th in the nation in assists, but has moved up to 6th in that category. Hill is averaging six assists per game. She is also ranked 23rd in the nation in steals with 3.2 per game.

Sophomore forward Fatou Pouye and sophomore center Bigue Sarr were listed in two categories each. Pouye moved up two spots in the rankings to 14th in the nation in offensive rebounding with 4.6 per game. Pouye is also ranked 25th in the nation in total rebounds (179). Sarr moved up to 14th in the nation in blocks per game with 2.2. Sarr was ranked 17th in that category. In addition to those accolades, Sarr is also ranked 45th in the nation in total rebounds (160).

The only member of the Jets basketball team to garner national attention in individual statistics was freshman guard Justin Johnson. The Ft. Lauderdale, FL native is ranked 38th in the nation in total points scored (366). Johnson was ranked 25th in this category in the first poll of the year.

Johnson was also listed as 47th in points per game with an average of 19.3 ppg. The SGTC men’s team is currently 3-2 in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) and 7-12 overall.