SPORTS BRIEFS: South Georgia Tech women win NJCAA Tournament opener

South Georgia Tech women win NJCAA opener

A second-half rally set the stage for a strong overtime period Monday as the South Georgia Tech women’s basketball team won its first-round game at the National Junior College Athletic Association National Tournament in Lubbock, Texas, defeating Casper (Wyoming) 77-65.

South Georgia Tech trailed 34-24 at halftime, but the Jets outscored Casper 19-10 in the third quarter to set up a close finish.

With South Georgia Tech (29-5) trailing by three in the late going, Houfat Mahouchiza came up with a steal, a layup and a free throw to tie things up with 14 seconds to go. Both teams missed 3-point attempts to close out the fourth quarter, sending the game to overtime.

A Mahouchiza layup and four points from Ce’deja James put South Georgia Tech up 71-63 entering the final minute.

Alyssa Nieves went 5-for-10 from 3-point range to score a team-high 21 points for South Georgia Tech. Esther Adenike scored 15 points, while James scored 12 points and Bigue Sarr added 11 points.

South Georgia Tech, seeded 23rd out of 24 teams, advances to face No. 7 seed Seward County (Kansas) at 9 p.m. on Tuesday in the second round.

Jets’ Frey honored

South Georgia Tech women’s basketball head coach James Frey was presented with the NJCAA District J Coach of the Year honors at the opening ceremonies of the NJCAA Division I National Tournament on Sunday.

Frey led the Jets to their fourth NJCAA national tournament appearance in five years.

Holyfield to speak at Albany fund-raiser

Former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield will be the keynote speaker at Thursday’s Boys and Girls Club of Albany’s Steak and Burger dinner.

According to a news release, nearly 750 are expected to attend the 31st annual event, where Boys and Girls Club members eat steak and adults eat hamburgers.

Holyfield is a Boys and Girls Clubs of America Alumni Hall of Fame inductee.

The club will recognize its finalists for the Youth of the Year award. Also, the club will present its Harry and Jane Willson Partner of the Year award.

The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday at Albany State’s West Campus Arena.

For more information, contact the club at 439-0196.

ASU hosting Lunch and Learn event

Two representatives from the NCAA will take part in an Albany State Lunch and Learn event March 27.

Katrice A. Albert, the NCAA’s Executive Vice President for Inclusion and Human Resources, and Terri Steeb Gronau, the NCAA’s Vice President of Division II, will join a panel discussion about the NCAA, Division II and the vision of Albany State athletics.

Also participating will be Albany State athletics director Sherie Cornish Gordon and football head coach Gabe Giardina.

The event will take place at 11:30 a.m. on March 27 at the Merry Acres Inn Event Center, 1504 Dawson Road in Albany. The event is free and open to the public, but attendees are asked to register by this Friday.

For more information or to register, call 430-4754 or email [email protected].

GSW baseball loses twice

The Georgia Southwestern baseball team dropped the final two games of its weekend Peach Belt Conference series against the USC Aiken over the weekend in Americus.

After taking the opener on Friday, GSW lost Game 2, 5-4, on Saturday and the final game, 8-1, on Sunday.

GSW exits the weekend with a 4-18 overall record and a 1-14 mark in Peach Belt play. USC Aiken improved to 17-8 overall, 8-4 in the PBC. The Hurricanes have lost 18 of their past 20 games against USC Aiken.

The Hurricanes host Middle Georgia State at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.