The Rundown: FGCU (0-0) at North Carolina A&T (0-0)
The Matchup: Karl Smesko (Kent State, '93) 14th season at FGCU v. Tarrell Robinson (NC A&T, '01) fourth season at NC A&T
When: Friday, Nov. 13  |  5:30 p.m.
Where: Elliot F. Corbett Sports Center |  Greensboro, N.C.
Live Stats: via NCATAggies.com
Hashtags: #WingsUp | #WeAreFGCU | #RainingThrees
Series History: First Meeting
Game Notes: FGCU | NC A&T
 
GREENSBORO, N.C. – As the defending champions of both the Atlantic Sun Regular Season and the A-Sun Tournament Championship, the FGCU women's basketball team will begin a new season Friday evening with a road contest against North Carolina A&T. Tipoff at the Ellis F. Corbett Sports Center is slated for 5:30 p.m.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Live stats will be available through North Carolina A&T's website and can be found at FGCUAthletics.com or by clicking here prior to tipoff. Fans can also find live, in-game updates on Twitter by following @FGCU_WBB.
 
QUICK HITS
• The Eagles will travel 17,290 miles this season, starting with the 787 mile trek north to face the Aggies WingsUp WheelsUp
• FGCU produced a historic 2014-15 season with a record of 31-3, a 26-game win streak and a top-25 ranking #EaglesRising
• Senior Whitney Knight - the reigning #ASunWBB Player of the Year - hails from Winston-Salem, just 32 miles from NC A&T
• The Green and Blue boast nine seniors on the roster this year. That crew has combined for 791 career games in their first three years
• FGCU ranked third in the nation last season with an average of 9.6 3-pointers per game RainingThrees WeAreFGCU
 
TOP RETURNERS
Backed by six-time Coach of the Year Karl Smesko, the Eagles return two double-figure scorers in seniors Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) and Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Westwood High School/VCU). Knight was named the Atlantic Sun Player of the Year after averaging 14.8 points per game last season, while Atwater contributed 14.2 in 34 games. The duo each earned First Team All-Conference accolades last season and took home Preseason All-Conference honors last month.
 
Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) added 9.2 points per contest last season and joins Knight and Atwater as part of the team's large senior class. The squad boasts nine players in their final season with a combined 791 games of collegiate experience under their belt.
 
In addition to the high scorers, the Eagles return the team's assist leader in this year's captain DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) and sharp-shooter Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School). Dunson led the program with 114 assists last year and produced a nationally-ranked assist to turnover ratio of 2.43. Dunson's helper mark put her among the nation's top-15 and led the league last season, while Gradinjan sank 47 3-pointers at a rate above 40 percent.
The Eagles will look to use their experience to their advantage, while seeing key contributions from newcomers as well with transfers Kady Schrann (York, Pa./York Catholic/Vanderbilt) and Sierra Harley (Columbus, Ohio/Africentric High School/Owens Community College) and redshirt-freshman Tayler Goodall (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North High School) eligible for competition to begin the year.
 
SCOUTING THE HOME TEAM
• Despite losing its top scorer to graduation, North Carolina A&T was voted as the Preseason favorite in the MEAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Aggies went 20-11 a season ago with a 12-4 record in league play and won 11 of 13 games at the Ellis F. Corbett Sports Center.
• 2014-15 marked the third-straight 20-win season for NCA&T under head coach Tarrell Robinson, who enters his fourth season. The team won 11-straight MEAC contests and never lost more than three in a row.
• Robinson's Aggies lost 35.9 percent of last year's scoring but return a balanced attack with four players who started at least 15 games back this season. Aprill McRae, a Preseason All-MEAC selection, is the team's top returner with 10.0 points per game last season. The graduate student maintained a field goal percentage of .470 with 5.0 rebounds per game and 17 total blocks. Christina Carter dished out a team-high 87 assists last year with an added 6.9 points per game and 61 steals. Carter joins McRae and Adriana Nazario on the Preseason All-MEAC Team. Nazario helped the Aggies to another 20-win season with 7.0 points per game and 85 assists. She started 20 games and averaged 22.9 minutes per game.
 
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
On the heels of five-consecutive regular season championships and the team's third Atlantic Sun Championship in four years, as well as a top-25 ranking and a 31-win season, the Eagles were once against picked to win the Atlantic Sun in the annual preseason coaches' poll. The Eagles picked up the top billing in the coaches' poll for the third-straight season and the sixth time in seven years and took the top position in the Media Poll for the seventh-straight season.
 
With 64 points and all eight first-place votes, the Eagles' first-ever unanimous first-place billing stands 12 points ahead of in-state rival Stetson University.  The Hatters picked up one first-place vote in the Media Poll, while FGCU earned 22 of the poll's 23 top votes. Jacksonville University earned the third-place ranking in both polls, with Kennesaw State and USC Upstate completed the top five. Lipscomb took the sixth-place position in the polls, while the league's newest member NJIT and North Florida rounded on the eight-team league as the media poll was an exact replica of the coaches' poll.
 
In addition to the team's predicted success, as the reigning A-Sun Player of the Year, Knight was named the Preseason Player of the Year, while Atwater earned the Preseason Defensive Player of the Year nod. Knight and Atwater also joined Haas on the Preseason All-Conference Team.
 
After producing the historic season in 2014-15, the Eagles' national standing has held strong. This year, the team received votes in the Preseason AP Top-25 and the Preseason USA Today Coaches' Poll. The squad also earned the top billing among mid-majors, checking in at No. 1 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top-25.
 
THE GREEN & BLUE
Last season, the Eagles finished the season ranked no. 21 in the nation after falling to a loaded Florida State squad in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. FSU would go on to reach the Elite Eight and finished the year ranked no. 7 in the country. The Eagles finished the year with a record of 31-3, including an undefeated conference slate and 26-game winning streak that stretched for nearly four months.
 
The team picked up notable wins over No. 20 George Washington, Quinnipiac, Wichita State, Arkansas State, Cal-State Northridge and Harvard in nonconference action before defeating rival Stetson in the first week of conference play. Those marquee wins gave FGCU a record of 6-1 against the RPI's top-100 teams, with the only loss coming in double overtime to No. 10 Ohio State.
 
Led by Smesko, FGCU secured its 11th-straight 21+ win season and participated in its eighth Division I postseason tournament in as many years. The Green and Blue boasted the 39th best scoring offense with 71.9 points per game, and the sixth-best average margin of victory in the nation of 18.3 points per game. Not only did the Eagles field a high-powered offense, they also ranked 10th in the country with a scoring defense at 53.7 points per game. FGCU also netted 9.6 3-point field goals per game, which ranked third in the nation.
 
RAINING THREES
Backed by a 3-point shooting mark of 34.7 percent, the Eagles made an average of 9.6 long-range shots per game last season.  The tally ranked the Eagles third 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, and DePaul.
The Green and Blue have a strong history in 3-point shooting, as the Eagles have made 3,696 shots from beyond-the-arc in the program's 13-year history.  The team has also made a 3-pointer in 411 of the team's 412 games and is currently riding a 298 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, while Knight cracked the A-Sun top-10 last year and sits 33 makes away from the top-5.
 
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 17-0 in games when they had four or more days to prepare.  In 13 seasons, Smesko holds a record of 125-20 in games with that much time for preparing for a win percentage of 84 percent.
 
30 WINS
FGCU was one of just nine teams during the 2014-15 season to win 30 games, joining Connecticut, Princeton, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Maryland, Baylor, Quinnipiac and Western Kentucky. 
 
NONCONFERENCE FOES
Starting with the MEAC's Aggies, the Eagles will see 11 nonconference foes from 10 different leagues this year. The slate includes Conference USA, the MAC, the MAAC, the Ivy League, the SEC, America East, the Atlantic 10, the Big East, the MEAC and the Sun Belt.
 
FOR MORE INFO
For all the details on Friday's matchup check out: http://www.fgcuathletics.com/documents/2015/11/11/AT_NCAT_NOV_13.pdf
 
UP NEXT
Following the Friday night matchup, the Eagles head back to Southwest Florida for the 2015-16 home opener. FGCU will take on cross-state foe FAU in a long-awaited matchup Tuesday, Nov. 17 with a 7 p.m. tipoff at Alico Arena.
 
Prior to the game, the Eagles will unveil the NCAA Tournament Second Round Appearance banner as well as banners for both the 2015 A-Sun Regular Season Title and A-Sun Championship crown.
 
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.
 
TICKET SALES
Season tickets for the 2015-16 season are still available but selling quickly. Ticket packages range from $133 for general admission to $366 for club-level seating. A complete breakdown is below. Fans can secure their season tickets by calling the FGCU Ticket Office at 239-590-7145 Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by emailing tickets@fgcu.edu.
 
For reserved seating, membership to the Eagles Club may be required depending on priority level. The Eagles Club is the official booster organization for FGCU Athletics which provides financial support for each of the Eagles' 15 Division-I programs. For a detailed seating map and additional ticket information, visit FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets.
 
Priority 1: $266
Priority 2: $166
General Admission: $133
 
Faculty and staff members as well as alumni association members interested in season tickets receive a 20 percent discount on packages. Combination packages with the FGCU men's basketball team are also available through the Ticket Office.
 
Single-game tickets for all FGCU women's basketball games are not on sale.  Fans can purchase tickets online at FGCUAthletics.com, over the phone at 239-590-7145 or in person at the Alico Arena Box Office.
 
SMESKO
Head coach Karl Smesko earned his fifth-consecutive Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year award after a successful 2014-15 campaign. Under his direction, the team compiled with a Division I program best record of 31-3, including a 14-0 mark in conference action and earned its first-ever national ranking. The team earned its third NCAA Tournament appearance as a seven seed and won its first ever DI NCAA Tournament gave against No. 10 Oklahoma State. With 31 wins in the 2014-15 season, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 11-straight 20+ win seasons.  He maintains a record of 347-66 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.9 with a mark of 130-13 (91 W%) in Atlantic Sun contests and has led the team to a 67-1 record in conference play in the last four seasons.  The six-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year earned his 400th career win this season in just 493 career games, two games faster than UConn's Geno Auriemma and holds a career record of 406-94.  Smesko ranks among an elite list of just four active Division I coaches with a career win percentage of .800 or higher, joining 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 visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.