FORT MYERS, Fla. – As the defending champions of both the Atlantic Sun Regular Season and the A-Sun Championship, the FGCU women's basketball team will begin a new season Friday evening with a home tilt against George Washington University. Tipoff at Alico Arena is slated for 7 p.m.

Friday's contest pits two of the nation's top mid-major programs against each other to begin another year of competitive Division I action.  Both programs sit among the top-11 in the College Insider Mid-Major Top-25 and were recently mentioned in ESPN's Graham Hays' Top-10.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The game can be viewed live on ESPN3 free of charge with David Moutlon and J. Webb Horton on the call.  Fans can also find live in-game updates on twitter (@FGCU_WBB) and through live stats available via StatBroadcast.

TOP RETURNERS

Backed by five-time Coach of the Year Karl Smesko, the Eagles return two double-figure scorers in juniors Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) and Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School).  Knight led all returners last season with 12.3 points per game, with Haas contributing 11.6 to the team's total. This season, Knight earned preseason recognition as Preseason Player of the Year, while Haas and senior captain Jenna Cobb (New Holland, Ohio/Miami Trace High School/Butler) also earned Preseason All-Conference accolades.

Knight also returns as the team's top rebounder as she pulled down 5.3 rebounds per game last season. The redshirt-junior was one of the league's most versatile players with 93 blocks and a league-leading 85 shots made from beyond-the-arc.

In addition to the trio of top scorers, the Eagles return a wealth of experienced talent. The active roster features two seniors and eight juniors, who all contributed to the team's point total last season.

Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Westover High School) and DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) round out the team's top returning producers and will likely make up the starting lineup this season. Atwater averaged 7.9 points per game with a field goal percentage of .435, while Dunson led the league with a stellar assist to turnover ratio and paced the team with 110 assists.

ALL-TIME MEETINGS

The opening-day bout will be the second-ever meeting between the Eagles and the Colonials as the Green and Blue defeated GW 97-94 in a double-overtime tilt at Alico Arena as part of the 2009 WNIT.

SCOUTING THE VISITING TEAM

• George Washington travels to Fort Myers to begin the 2014-15 campaign – its third under head coach Jonathan Tsipis. The Colonials went 23-11 a year ago with an 11-5 record in Atlantic 10 play to finish third in the league behind Dayton and Fordham. The team fell to Dayton in the A-10 Championship before winning games against East Carolina and Villanova in the WNIT.

• The Eagles and Colonials have similar luck on opening night as GW is 7-1 in the last eight seasons in the first game of the year.

• This season, GW was selected to finish second in the league, behind only top-25 team Dayton. The Colonials return eight players from last year's team including former First Team All-Conference honoree Jonquel Jones. Jones returns as the team's top scorer, rebounder and shot blocker as the current junior scored 14.7 points per game, brought down 10.9 rebounds per game and swatted 44 shots as a sophomore. 

• The Colonials return just one other double-figure point contributor in former A-10 Rookie of the Year Caira Washington as the team lost two of its top three producers to graduation last season. Despite the losses, GW returns 74 percent of its scoring from last season when the team average 76.1 points per game.

• As a unit, the team shot 42 percent last season with a 30.5 mark from 3-point range. They outrebounded opponents by a margin of 6.5 to rank first in the A-10 and among the top 40 in the nation and recorded 9.1 steals per game.

• The team finished last season with an RPI rating of 72 and ranks among this year's top mid-major programs as released by ESPN's Graham Hays.

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS

On the heels of four-consecutive regular season championships and the team's second Atlantic Sun Championship in three years, the Eagles were once against picked to win the Atlantic Sun in the annual preseason coaches' poll.

With 62 points and six first-place votes, the Eagles finished four points ahead of in-state rival Stetson University.  The Hatters garnered two first-place votes to finish second in the poll with 58 points. The Green and Blue picked up 11 first-place votes in the media poll for 123 total points, with Stetson earning four top nods and 104 total points.

The 2013-14 defending Atlantic Sun Champions earned three wins over the Hatters last season, including the regular season finale and the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship Final. With help from those wins, the Eagles finished with their fourth-straight regular season title and earned their second tournament championship title in three seasons.

In addition to the team's predicted success, three individuals also garnered preseason All-Conference accolades.  As a former First Team All-Conference member, Knight picked up the Player of the Year nod, while Cobb and Haas also earned spots on the 10-member Preseason All-Conference team.

THE GREEN & BLUE

Under Smesko's direction, the team completed the 2013-14 season with a record of 26-8, including a 17-1 mark in conference action.  The Eagles won their fourth-consecutive regular season championship and went undefeated in the A-Sun Conference tournament to win their second Tournament Championship in three seasons.  With the A-Sun Championship, the Green and Blue earned their second NCAA Tournament appearance in three years of eligibility, where they fell to eventual Sweet 16 team and no. 5 seed Oklahoma State 61-60 in overtime at the West Lafayette, Ind. Regional.  The 2013-14 season marked the 10th-consecutive season in which a Smesko coached team won at least 20 games.  

Smesko, who earned his fourth-consecutive Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year award after a successful 2013-14 campaign, led the program to its 300th win in his 12th season. 

In addition to the on court success last season, the team was again ranked among the nation's top-25 teams academically.  The group finished the 2013-14 academic year with a cumulative grade point average of 3.521 to rank 11th in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association Honor Roll.

RAINING THREES

Backed by a 3-point shooting mark of 34.7 percent, the Eagles made an average of 10.2 long-range shots per game last season.  The tally ranked the Eagles second among the nation's 349 times, behind only Sacramento State, who tallied 12.2 3-pointers a game for a new NCAA 3-point record – which was previously set by the Eagles in 2012. 

The Green and Blue have a strong history in 3-point shooting, as the Eagles have made 3,384 shots from beyond-the-arc in just 12 years.  The team has also made a 3-pointer in 377 of the team's 378 games and is currently riding a 265 game streak with at least one shot made from the perimeter.

The Eagles hold the NCAA record for 3-point shots made in a single game with 22 – a mark set against ETSU in 2013.

Individually, 2012 graduate Kelsey Jacobson sits alone as the A-Sun's all-time leader in career 3-pointers with 330 made in just three seasons.

SMESKO'S PREPERATION

Smesko's game preparation is one of the most crucial factors in the Eagles' all-time success.  Last season, the team went 14-2 in games when they had four or more days to prepare.  In 12 seasons, Smesko holds a record of 108-20 in games with that much time for preparing for a win percentage of 84 percent. 

FOR MORE INFO

For all the details on Friday's matchup check out:

UP NEXT

Following the Friday night matchup, the Eagles will welcome in-state foe FIU to Alico Arena for a Tuesday night tilt. The Green and Blue will battle the Panthers at 7 p.m. on Nov. 18.

For the first time since the 2010-11 campaign, the Eagles will start the season with back-to-back home games against Division I opponents.  The Eagles have challenged the Panthers in each of the last five seasons and hold a 5-0 record against the cross-state foe.  Last year, FGCU defeated FIU 75-55 in Miami to begin the season. In all, the Eagles hold a record of 111-17 against foes from the Sunshine State.

Single-game tickets for all FGCU women's basketball games are on sale online at FGCUAthletics.com, over the phone at 239-590-7145 or in person at the Alico Arena Box Office.

Group sales for women's basketball games are available for parties of 20 or more at a discounted rate.  Beginning this season, groups will receive the opportunity for to upgrade their package to include chairback seats, a PA announcement and a special FGCU group T-Shirt at a cost of $10.

For up-to-the minute information on the FGCU women's basketball team, stay tuned to FGCUAthletics.com and follow the official Twitter of FGCU women's basketball at @FGCU_WBB.

Head coach Karl Smesko earned his fourth-consecutive Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year award after a successful 2013-14 campaign. Under his direction, the team completed the season with a record of 26-8, including a 17-1 mark in conference action and won the program's 300th win in January. Smesko guided the Eagles to their fourth-consecutive regular season championship and went undefeated in the A-Sun Conference tournament to win their second Tournament Championship in three seasons.  The 2013-14 season marked the 10th-consecutive season in which a Smesko coached team won at least 20 games.  He has recorded 314 wins at FGCU with 117 Atlantic Sun victories.  The five-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year ranks among an elite list of just four active Division I coaches with a career win percentage of .800 or higher.  Smesko joins Connecticut's Geno Auriemma, Baylor's Kim Mulkey and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer in the esteemed group.