The Rundown: FGCU (1-0) v. FAU (1-0)
When: Tuesday, Nov. 17  |  7 p.m.
Where: Alico Arena | Fort Myers, Fla.
FGCU Head Coach: Karl Smesko | Kent State, '93 | 14th season at FGCU | 346-67 at FGCU (83.7 %)
FAU Head Coach: Kellie Lewis-Jay | Boise State, '98 | fourth season at FAU | 42-48 at FAU (46.6 %)
Live Stats: via FGCUStats.com
Live Video: via ESPN3 with David Moulton and J. Webb Horton
Hashtags: #WingsUp | #WeAreFGCU | #RainingThrees
Series History: First Meeting
Game Notes: FGCU | FAU
 
 
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The reigning Atlantic Sun Conference Champion FGCU women's basketball team returns to Alico Arena for the 2015-16 home opener Tuesday, Nov. 17 with a 7 p.m. tipoff against FAU.
 
Tuesday marks the first of 13 home games for the Green and Blue, who will be honored for the 2015 A-Sun Conference Championships and NCAA Tournament Second Round appearance prior to the game.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting FGCUAthletics.com/tickets, calling the Ticket Office at 239-590-7145 or by visiting the Alico Arena Ticket Office after 9 a.m. Tuesday.
 
All FGCU home games will be streamed live via ESPN3 this season with David Moulton and J. Webb Horton on the call Tuesday. Live stats will be available through FGCUStats.com, while fans can also find live, in-game updates on Twitter by following @FGCU_WBB.
 
Tuesday's home opener will be a Green Out and all fans are encouraged to wear green to the game.
 
QUICK HITS
• The Eagles hold a 12-1 record in home openers in the program's 13-year history. The team has won seven-straight Alico debuts.
• FGCU produced a historic 2014-15 season with a record of 31-3, a 26-game win streak and a top-25 ranking #EaglesRising
• Alico Arena is the nation's second-toughest place to play as FGCU holds a 93.5 % winning percentage since moving to DI.
• The Green and Blue are 122-18 all-time against teams from the Sunshine State.
• 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 VISITING TEAM
Like many teams the Eagles will face this season, the Owls return for the 2015-16 season without last year's leading scorer. This year, the team will look to Preseason All-Conference USA Team Member Ali Gorrell, who averaged 13.9 points per game last season with a team-best 6.5 rebounds. Gorrell is the team's top returner in points, rebounds, assists and steals and scored a team-best 26 points in the win over Akron Friday night. Morgan Robinson also averaged nearly double digits last year with 9.3 points per game as a junior and opened her senior season with 18 points in Friday's win.
 
Kellie Lewis Jay's Owls went 13-17 last season with a Conference USA Tournament appearance and finished the year with an official RPI of 221. The team opened this year with a 91-77 win over Akron. In the win, the Owls shot 46.7 percent from the field with a 37.9 percent clip from 3-point range on 60 shots. The Owls sank 11 long-range shots, with at least one attempt from all but one player who saw the court. FAU will play a similar style to FGCU with a high-motion offense and perimeter shooting.
 
In her fourth year with FAU, Lewis Jay has compiled a record of 42-48 since taking over as head coach.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Solidified by a strong third-quarter performance, the team began the year with a 60-36 win at North Carolina A&T Friday evening at the Corbett Sports Center.
 
The Eagles took a 27-17 lead into halftime but exploded in the third quarter with sharp shooting and an overall advantage over the home team. The Green and Blue went 4-for-5 from 3-point range and shot 72.1 percent overall, while outscoring the Aggies 22-7 over the 10-minute span. FGCU also outrebounded NC A&T 10-4 in that time and forced four turnovers. The Eagles maintained the double-figure deficit through the fourth quarter and ultimately earned a 24-point win on the road. Overall, the Eagles shot 46.8 percent from the field with nine made 3-pointers on 26 attempts and held the home team to a 33.3 percent clip from the floor. The team forced 25 A&T turnovers with 12 steals and sent A&T to the free-throw line for just two shots.
 
FGCU outrebounded the Aggies, 33-28, and forced 25 A&T turnovers. The Eagles saw 10 different players contribute in points and rebounds and had six individuals sink a shot from 3-point range for a well-balanced attack.
 
Gradinjan led the team with 14 points on a 6-for-7 shooting percentage including a 4-for-4 clip from 3-point range.
 
PROTECTING THE NEST
Alico Arena stands as the second-toughest place to play in all of NCAA Division I women's basketball. The first: UConn's Gampel Pavilion.  The Eagles hold a record of 116-8 at home since making the jump to Division I in 2007-08 and have won 70 out of 71 Atlantic Sun Conference games with the home crowd behind them. The team won all 16 games at Alico last season and is currently riding a 26-game win streak in home games – second nationally to only Connecticut and South Carolina.
 
SUNSHINE-STATE SERIES
The Eagles hold an impressive record of 122-18 against in-state opponents through 13 seasons, including the NCAA Tournament loss at Florida State last year. The team went 11-1 against Sunshine State foes last season and will face Florida based teams nine times this season.
 
RECORD CHASER
Knight holds all FGCU program records in blocks with nine in a single game, 93 in a single season and 231 and counting in her career. The senior also became FGCU's fourth player ever to record 1,000 career points and 500 career rebounds last year and now ranks fifth all-time with 1,166 career points and fifth with 516 rebounds. The block mark also ranks fifth among the A-Sun career record books.
 

FGCU POINTS RECORD			FGCU REBOUND RECORD			A-SUN BLOCK RECORD
PLAYER	PTS		PLAYER	REB		PLAYER	BLOCKS
1.Sarah Hansen	1,895		1.Sarah Hansen	882		1.Jessica Bobbitt (Belmont 05-09)	209
2.Adrianne McNally	1,415		2.Adrianne McNally	658		2.Katie Beth Pate (Lipscomb 03-07)	254
3.Kelsey Jacobson	1,251		3.Robyn Swain	640		3.Albena Branzova (FIU 91-95)	250
4.Shannon Murphy	1,185		4.Courtney Chihil	601		4. Denise Hogue (CoC 91-93)	248
5.Whitney Knight	1,166		5. Whitney Knight	516		5. Whitney Knight	231

 
 
FOR MORE INFO
For all the details on Tuesday's matchup check out: http://www.fgcuathletics.com/documents/2015/11/16/V_FAU_NOV_17.pdf.
 
UP NEXT
Following the Tuesday night matchup, the Eagles travel to Ohio for the Akron Classic at James A. Rhodes Arena. The Green and Blue will take on Ohio and Akron Friday, Nov. 20 and Saturday, Nov. 21 in a homecoming for the team's three Ohio natives and Coach Smesko.
 
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 346-67 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 407-94.  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.