NASHVILLE, Tenn. – With its 14th win in as many games, the FGCU women's basketball team moved to 19-2 on the season with a 71-49 victory over Lipscomb University Thursday night at Allen Arena. FGCU maintains its position atop the Atlantic Sun Conference standings with a 6-0 conference record, while Lipscomb falls to 8-12 overall and an even 3-3 in league action.
 
After a slow start for both teams, the Eagles took control of the game with back-to-back 3-pointers and extended the lead to double-figures midway through the first half. The Eagles maintained a shooting percentage of 42.9 to hold on to the advantage and ultimately earned its fifth-straight double-digit victory. The win stands as the team's 14th-straight victory for the nation's sixth-best win streak.
 
"We played really good defense to start the game but offensively we wasted a lot of possessions early," said head coach Karl Smesko. "Lipscomb played with a lot of energy. They did a good job on us defensively early in the first half and it took us a while to get going. Fortunately, our defense was strong in the first 15 minutes of the game and we limited their shooters. We have to make sure that we play with that type of energy for the entire game."
 
Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) led the Eagles with 18 points and eight rebounds on the night. Knight now sits just seven points away from her 1,000th career point through 87 games in Green and Blue. The redshirt-junior added three assists and a season-high seven blocks in 30 minutes on the court, while redshirt-freshman Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) and junior Katie Meador (Salem, Ill./Salem Community High School) also contributed double-figures with 11 points each. Thursday marked the second time in three games that Meador has scored at least 10 points after averaging just 2.5 points per game in the first 19 games of the year.
 
As a unit, the Eagles converted 42.9 percent of shots with a 34.4 percent success rate from 3-point range. The team went 12-for-16 from the free-throw line and dished out 17 assists, while forcing 20 Lipscomb turnovers and holding the Bisons to a rate of just 31.1 percent. FGCU also outrebounded Lipscomb 34-33.
 
Scoring was scarce as the teams opened the contest with a scoring drought that lasted upwards of six minutes for both teams. The Bisons broke the silence with a long-shot from the top of the arc, but the Eagles responded with back-to-back threes from Stephanie Haas (Avon Lakes, Ohio/Magnificat High School) and Knight to take the lead with 12 minutes on the clock.
 
FGCU compiled an 11-1 run over a span of three minutes at the midpoint of the half and went ahead 17-6 on a layup from Knight with eight minutes to play. Lipscomb was forced into three timeouts as FGCU took control of the game with a double-digit lead that they would never relinquish.
 
Aided by five-straight from Knight and baskets from Gradinjan and Meador, the Eagles used a 10-2 run to extend their advantage to 30-12 at the three-minute mark but Lipscomb responded in the final minute to bring the deficit to 12 points at the break.
 
Gradinjan opened the second half with a drive to the rim and was followed by free throws from the home team. The teams traded possessions until the midpoint of the second half, with the Eagles maintaining a 15-point lead.
 
With nine minutes on the clock, the Bisons constructed a five-point run to cut the Eagle lead to just 11 points at 49-38, but back-to-back layups from Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) sparked eight-straight points for FGCU to extend the advantage to 19 points.
 
Lipscomb added six points in the final six minutes but long-range makes from Meador and Knight moved the FGCU lead to 19 points again before one final 3-point play from redshirt-freshman Haley Laughter (Ashville, N.C./Carolina Day School) brought the game to its final score at 71-49 in favor of the Eagles.
 
After winning 17 of their last 18 contests, the Eagles will endure a quick turnaround before facing Northern Kentucky Saturday evening in Highland Heights, Ky. The Norse were the lone blemish on FGCU's conference season a year ago and currently sit in second place in the conference after defeated Stetson Thursday night.
 
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 last 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 333-66 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.4 with a mark of 123-13 (90.4 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.
 
SUPPORT THE CAUSE
FGCU Athletics sponsors events throughout the year to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics' charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visitwww.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.