ST. THOMAS, USVI. – In the first of three games in the U.S. Virgin Islands this week, the FGCU women's basketball team defeated Wichita State 56-39 Thursday afternoon at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center as part of the 2014 Paradise Jam. The Eagles begin the tournament with a record of 1-0 and move to 4-1 on the season, while the Shockers fall to 2-2 on the year.
 
The Eagles held the Shockers to just 13 points in the first half and extended the lead to a game-high 29 points with 55 percent shooting in the second half. Wichita State increased its point production in the final minutes of action but could not overcome the Eagles' game-long advantage as the Green and Blue ultimately took the 17-point victory.
 
After shooting just 36.8 percent in the first half, FGCU increased its shooting efficiency in the second half and finished the contest with a 46.2 percent clip from the floor. The Eagles held Wichita State to a 33.3 percent success rate and matched the Shockers on the boards with 28 rebounds. FGCU produced 24 points on WSU turnovers and outscored the Shockers 24-10 in the paint.
 
"I thought we played really good defense today," said head coach Karl Smesko. "We really limited their looks at the basket and they didn't get any really good scoring opportunities. They had to settle for tough shots and we did a good job competing on the boards."
 
Individually, FGCU was again led by junior Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School). Haas produced 16 points for FGCU with a 5-for-9 shooting performance and a team-best five rebounds. Senior Jenna Cobb (New Holland, Ohio/Miami Trace High School/Butler) and junior Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) also added double-figures for the Eagles with 10 points each.
 
Defensively, Knight led the team with three blocks, while Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Westwood High School/VCU) paced the squad with four steals.  Cobb and DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) each added three steals to the team's total 12. As a unit, FGCU forced 20 Wichita State turnovers and converted 24 points on those miscues.
 
The Eagles opened the game with a quick five-point lead courtesy of five-straight points from Knight. After a jumper from Wichita State at the 16-minute mark, Atwater increased the lead to 6-2 with two made shots from the free-throw line. The Eagles pushed the advantage to 10-2 with strong defensive pressure coupled with five-straight points by Atwater.
 
FGCU held Wichita State scoreless from the floor for two separate spans of four minutes each. The Shockers shot just 19.2 percent in the first half and turned the ball over nine times, giving way to a double-figure lead for the Eagles.
 
With help from successful shots from the charity stripe and consecutive baskets from beyond-the-arc by Cobb and Knight, the Eagles moved the lead to 21-10 with under six minutes remaining in the half.
 
FGCU increased the advantage to a half-high 16 points with a free-throw from Dunson in the final 20 seconds before the Shockers pushed past the 10-point mark with a 3-pointer at the buzzer.
 
The final Wichita State bucket brought the score to 26-13 at the break. The 13-points allowed stands as the second fewest for an FGCU opponent in Division I play.
 
The Green and Blue opened the second half with intensity and increased the lead to 20 points early on. Atwater drove to the rim and followed with a steal on the Shocker's next possession. Dunson laid it in on the steal to push the score to 30-13 and force Wichita State to call timeout after just 42 second of play in the second half.
 
After the timeout, Haas drove to the left to move the score to 32-13 before Wichita State got on the board with a jumper from the left side. With two more layups and two free throws, Haas produced a 7-2 run against the Shockers to give the Eagles a 22-point lead with 16 minutes still left to play.
 
The teams traded 3-pointers before Cobb led the Eagles to a nine-point run with three steals and three fast the-break layups midway through the second half. Capped off by one free throw, Cobb's efforts pushed score to 51-22.
 
The Shockers outscored the Eagles 14-5 in the final seven minutes of play but were unable to cut the deficit to any fewer than 17 points. The Eagles took the win to join Ohio State as the two undefeated teams in the tournament field.
 
The Eagles continue action at the Paradise Jam Friday and Saturday. FGCU will face Clemson at 3:30 EST Friday afternoon before concluding tournament play with Ohio State Saturday. The team returns to Alico Saturday, Dec. 6 to host Southern Mississippi in a 7 p.m. bout.
 
Clemson fell to Ohio State 86-77 to open Paradise Jam play. The Tigers shot 43.3 percent from the field and outrebounded OSY 43-38. The difference in the matchup came at the charity stripe as the Buckeyes converted 32-of-41 free throws to edge the Tigers.  
 
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.