From Staff Reports

 

AMERICUS – She stands only 5’7 inches tall, but Alyssa Nieves has been playing some big time college basketball for South Georgia Technical College’s nationally ranked Lady Jets. The sophomore guard from Tampa, FL shattered two records for the Lady Jets this past week and was named the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Women’s Player of the Week, as well as Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association Player of the Week honors.

This is only the second time that a member of the Lady Jets’ squad has earned the NJCAA Player of the Week recognition in the 15-year history of the program.

“I’m excited that Alyssa was recognized by the NJCAA for her incredible play,” SGTC head Coach James Frey said. “She’s been very consistent for us all year and has worked hard to make herself one of the premiere shooters in junior college basketball. In addition to her athletic talent, Alyssa has above a 3.3 GPA and really is a great example of what being a student-athlete is all about.”

Nieves earned the National Player of the Week recognition after averaging 36 points in SGTC’s wins over Andrew College and Georgia Highlands on Wednesday, February 6 and Saturday, February 9 respectively.

Nieves had a career-high 41 points in the win over Andrew College, which was a new record for most points scored by a Lady Jet in a single game. She also set a new record for the most points scored in a single game with 109 in the win over Andrew College.

Nieves followed up that career-high performance with another tremendous game at Georgia Highlands on Saturday, February 9. In that game, Nieves scored 31 points, grabbed five rebounds, tallied five assists and one steal. She made seven three-pointers in that game as well.

Nieves gives a lot of credit for her success to her teammates. “Everything I shot was going in against Andrew College and Coach Frey and my teammates just kept feeding me the ball and running plays to get the ball in my hands. It just kept going in,” Nieves said. “That has been our plan since the beginning of the year. We all have to work together to make sure that happens.”

The Lady Jets have made back-to-back trips to the NJCAA Division I National Tournament and have gone four of the last five years under Coach Frey and Assistant Coach Kezia Conyers. SGTC (22-3, 15-0) is currently ranked #22 in the nation in the NJCAA Division I Top 25 poll.

The Lady Jets are on a five-game winning streak. A win at Southern Crescent Community College on Saturday, February 16 will seal the GCAA regular season championship for the Lady Jets for the fifth time in six years. It will also allow SGTC to host the NJCAA Region XVII Tournament.

The Lady Jets need to win that tournament and clinch the District J game to earn a berth in the national tournament in Lubbock, TX for the third straight year.