FORT MYERS, Fla. – For the fifth-straight season, the FGCU women's basketball team opened Atlantic Sun play with a 4-0 record after defeating USC Upstate 79-61 Thursday night at Alico Arena. The Eagles overpowered the Spartans to move to 17-2 on the season and remain undefeated in conference play. On the losing end of the Green and Blue's 12th-straight win, Upstate falls to 9-10 on the year with a 1-3 A-Sun record.
 
The Eagles started the contest with a quick 7-2 run and never relinquished the lead. Using 44 points in the paint and points from 10 different players, FGCU dominated Upstate inside and extended the lead to a game-high 32 points late in the second half. Upstate cut the deficit in the final minutes but the Eagles held onto the momentum and ultimately came away with an 18-point victory at Alico Arena for the team's 58th-straight win in a home conference game.
 
"We played pretty well in the first half," said head coach Karl Smesko of the team's 15th win in its last 16 outings. "We did a good job defensively. They hit some tough shots but for the most part, I thought we executed well. We were able to get to the rim and get to the foul line. We didn't shoot the ball well from three today but we made up for it by getting some baskets in transition."
 
Junior Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) paced the Eagle offense with 17 points, while classmate Katie Meador (Salem, Ill./Salem Community High School) contributed a career-high 14 points with five made field goals. For the third time in as many games, DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) put up double figures with 11 points to round out the team's double-digit scorers. Dunson also paced the team with six assists and went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line.  Defensively, senior Jenna Cobb (New Holland, Ohio/Miami Trace High School/Butler) pulled down a squad-best seven rebounds, with Meador and junior Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Westwood High School/VCU) both adding five.
 
The Eagles successfully converted 47.5 percent of shots from the field and scored an uncharacteristically high number of points in the paint. The team went 29-for-42 from inside the arc but made just six shots from the perimeter in the win. FGCU outshot the Spartans 47.5 to 44.6 percent and outrebounded Upstate 37-33. The Green and Blue scored 19 points on the Spartan's 15 turnovers, with just nine miscues of its own.
 
Atwater, Knight and Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) opened the contest to give the Eagles a quick 7-2 lead with the team converting 80 percent of shots in the opening minutes. The five-point lead was short lived as Upstate challenged the Eagles to tie the score at 11 five minutes into the game but baskets from Dunson, Knight, Meador and Cobb led FGCU into an 11-2 run.
 
Midway through the first half, Atwater drove to the rim to cap the run and bring the score to 22-13. After Upstate hailed for a timeout, the Eagles nestled into the lead with another 7-2 run and extended the advantage to double figures with seven minutes still to play.
 
Meador combined for eight-straight points for the Eagles with five minutes on the clock to steal the game's momentum and set the crowd ablaze. FGCU held onto the lead and went into the break with a 43-26 advantage.
 
The teams traded points to open the second half but another layup from Atwater sparked a seven-point run for FGCU and extended the lead to 52-28. The Spartans were held scoreless for over four minutes before hitting their first 3-pointer of the game near the 15-minute mark.
 
Following the long-range make, the Eagles used a string of Upstate turnovers and a hot streak from Knight to take control. Knight's spurt of 10 points fueled a 13-2 run and moved the advantage to a game-high 32 points with seven minutes left on the clock.
 
Upstate retaliated with a 21-7 run over a five-minute period but the Eagles held onto the advantage and ultimately earned the 79-61 win.
 
With a 12-game win streak that ranks ninth in the nation, the Eagles will continue A-Sun play Saturday night at Alico Arena. The team will welcome Kennesaw State for a 7 p.m. contest between two of the league's top teams. FGCU maintains its position atop the conference standings, while KSU holds a record of 13-6 overall and 2-2 in conference play after falling to Stetson Thursday evening.
 
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 maintains a record of 331-66 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.4 with a mark of 121-13 (90.3 W%) in Atlantic Sun contests.  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.
 
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