AUBURN, Ala. – Despite a career-high 30 points from Stephanie Haas, the FGCU women's basketball team came just shy of a win Thursday evening at Auburn University. The Eagles were outscored by the Tigers 6-3 in the final minute of action to fall 72-69 at Auburn Arena.  With the loss, the Eagles fall to 2-1 on the season, while the SEC foe moves to 3-0.
 
After leading 37-35 at the half, the Eagles exchanged the lead with the home team seven times in the second half. Haas tied the contest at 66 with a drive to the right side of the rim with 1:18 left on the clock but the Tigers were quick to respond with a jumper near the one-minute mark.
 
On FGCU's next possession, the Eagles were charged with an offensive foul to give Auburn back the ball with 48 seconds on the clock. Auburn extended the lead to four points but a Haas' 3-pointer brought it back to one point with 22 seconds remaining.   After a timeout, the Eagles sent Auburn to the free-throw line where the Tigers sank one shot to bring the score to 71-69. Whitney Knight grabbed the rebound on the second shot and sent the ball down the court but the Eagles were again charged with an offensive foul with 3.1 ticks left to play. Auburn made one final shot from the free-throw line but the Eagles were unable to come close on a full-court shot at the buzzer and ultimately fell 72-69.
 
"Obviously, we are disappointed in the loss," said head coach Karl Smesko. "We thought we a really good opportunity to win today. I give Auburn a lot of credit. They made some plays down the stretch. They made some big baskets and they stepped in to take two big charges that really were the difference in the game."
 
Overall, the Eagles shot 46.3 percent from the floor with a 40 percent clip from 3-point range. The team converted 9-of-10 shots from the free-throw line with 10 made shots from the perimeter. Auburn made 52.7 percent of shots from the field with 38 points in the paint and 18 second-chance points. The Tigers outperformed FGCU 30-27 on the boards but the Eagles produced 18 points on Auburn's 18 turnovers, while turning the ball over 17 times.
 
Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat) paced all players with a career-high 30 points on 10-of-16 shooting with four 3-pointers and six free throws. Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) added 15 for FGCU, with Jenna Cobb (New Holland, Ohio/Miami Trace High School/Butler) and Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Westwood High School/VCU) each contributing nine to the team's total. Haas also led the team's rebounding effort with five, while four others pulled down four.
 
FGCU's offense started slowly with a 1-for-6 clip in the opening four minutes, but the Eagle defense forced four Auburn turnovers to hold the score even at 2-2. The teams traded buckets to hold a 9-9 tie seven minutes into the contest before a shot behind-the-arc from Cobb gave the Eagles their first lead of the game with 11 minutes left in the half.
 
After a 3-pointer from Haas and a drive to the basket by Atwater, the teams picked up the pace of the contest and traded baskets for a span of six minutes. In that span, Auburn added eight points in the paint and pulled down six rebounds.
 
With three minutes left in the half, the Eagles maintained a 28-25 lead but Auburn stormed back with a traditional three-point play to tie the game at 28. In the final three minutes, FGCU produced a 9-2 run that included long-range buckets from Haas, Knight and Cobb to take their largest lead of the game at 37-30. However, the home team scored five-straight to bring the game back within two points as the first half ended.
 
After holding a 37-35 lead at the break, the Eagles traded possessions with the Tigers to open the second half with neither team scoring in the first three minutes.
 
A 3-pointer from Auburn sparked three-straight field goals for the home team, allowing them to reclaim the lead at 42-39 before Katie Meador (Salem, Ill./Salem Community High School) added two-quick layups to push the Eagles forward again.
 
The teams traded baskets and tied the game three more times through the midpoint of the half, with neither team taking more than a three-point lead.
 
After a two-minute drought, Auburn broke the silence with a layup but Knight responded with four-quick points, aided in part by a Haas steal, to give FGCU a lead at 59-58 with 4:14 left to play. The home team retaliated with a run of its own to again take the lead 64-61 with four minutes left to play.
 
The remaining time saw Knight and Haas each tie the score for the Eagles but the home team did not relinquish the advantage. Auburn stopped the Eagles by forcing two offensive turnovers in the final 60 seconds and outscored the Green and Blue 6-3 in that span to take the win at home.  
 
FGCU returns to Alico Arena to host local foe Ave Maria Sunday evening. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. before the Eagles head to the U.S. Virgin Islands for the 2014 Paradise Jam. In the tournament, FGCU will take on Wichita State, Clemson and Ohio 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.