FORT MYERS, Fla. – After trading the lead on six occasions, the FGCU women's basketball team suffered a 62-48 loss at the hands of Arkansas State University Saturday night at Alico Arena. With the loss, the Eagles move to 3-3 on the season, while A-State moves to 4-1.
 
FGCU took control in the first quarter and claimed a nine-point lead before the Red Wolves responded. The visitors chipped away at the Eagle lead and outscored the Green and Blue 34-19 in the second half to take the advantage in the game's final minutes. The Eagles shot just 13 percent from 3-point range and committed a season-high 21 turnovers for 21 A-State points in the 14-point defeat.
 
"I thought that Arkansas State was the more aggressive team tonight by far," said head coach Karl Smesko. "They played a really smart and really aggressive second half. They really hurt us on the boards, they forced turnovers that led the layups and we shot it horribly. We're not going to win shooting 3-for-23. We'll have to look at the film and figure out what we can fix and try to get to it."
 
The Eagles shot 36.7 percent from the floor in Saturday night's contest but sank just 3-of-23 attempts from beyond-the-arc, while allowing A-State to convert 41.7 percent of its shots with 3-of-10 shots from long range. The Green and Blue pulled down 34 rebounds, compared to the Red Wolves' 36 and produced 21 turnovers with nine assists and five steals.
 
Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) again led FGCU in the absence of Atlantic Sun Player of the Year Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School). Atwater produced 11 points with four assists, two steals and two rebounds in 25 minutes on the court before fouling out. The senior class added to Atwater's production as Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) contributed 10 points for the Green and Blue, with Jaime Gluesing (Solon, Ohio/Solon High School) pulling down a career high nine rebounds and adding four points and two steals and Katie Meador (Salem, Ill./Salem Community School) setting new season highs with nine points and nine rebounds.
 
A-State started the game with a single free throw before the FGCU defense held its opponent scoreless for a five-minute span. The Eagles took a 7-1 lead in that time with six-straight points from Atwater and a free throw from Meador but the Red Wolves responded quickly. A-State scored four in a row to cut the deficit to two points but Meador sank back-to-back layups to maintain the slight advantage for the home team. After Meador's second bucket, Gluesing found an opening at the post and pushed the lead to 13-5 on a layup. With a long-range shot from Haas, the Eagles took their largest lead of the game at 16-7 but A-State quickly cut the advantage with five-straight points in the final 30 seconds of the quarter.
 
Sophomore Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) started the second period with a layup but the Red Wolves were unrelenting. A-State scored five-straight points in the next minute and tied the game at 20 with a 3-pointer from the right side. Midway through the second quarter, A-State used a baseline drive to capture the lead at 22-20 and maintained a slight lead for a six-minute span. Laughter broke the drought for FGCU with five points in a two-possession span before a traditional three-point play from Haas extended FGCU's lead back to four points at 29-25.
 
FGCU maintained the advantage but allowed A-State three points in the final minute of play to bring the halftime score to 29-28 in favor of the Eagles.
 
The teams traded baskets to open the second half and tied the contest at 38 midway through the third quarter before Atwater picked up her fourth foul. The Eagles were outrebounded 16-11 in the stanza and let go of five turnovers as the Red Wolves used a quick 6-0 run to claim the game's momentum. A-State extended its lead to nine points in the final seconds of the quarter and entered the final 10 minutes with the advantage.
 
Arkansas State shot 41.7 percent and held the Eagles to 3-of-12 in the fourth quarter to hold on to the advantage. The Green and Blue committed six turnovers in that time and was unable to spark a comeback as the Red Wolves outscored FGCU 14-7 and pushed the lead to a game-high 16 points late in the fourth quarter.
 
The Eagles' best chance came with seven minutes to play as Gluesing produced a steal and a fast-break layup and Haas followed with another 3-point play to bring the score to 53-46, but the Red Wolves extended the lead to a game-high 16 points with a nine-point run late in the game. Meador added one final layup for the Eagles to bring the game to its final score of 62-48.
 
The Eagles will travel to Washington, D.C. for a Thursday, Dec. 3 tilt at No. 23 George Washington before hosting Harvard on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 7 p.m. The string of five-straight return games from the 2014-15 season ends on Dec. 12 with a trip to Providence to take on the Friars in a 2:30 p.m. tipoff. The Eagles produced a record of 5-0 against the string of foes last year, including wins over FIU and A-State.
 
Game Notes: The Eagles were without 2015 Atlantic Sun Player of the Year Whitney Knight and Vanderbilt transfer Kady Schrann – who are both out with foot injuries…the two-game losing streak at home is the first for the Eagles since December 2013…Arkansas State earned one point in the latest USA Today Coaches' Poll…FGCU begins the year at 3-3 to match the start of the 2013-14 season…FGCU lost a total of three games last season…the Eagles were outscored 24-10 after Atwater's fourth foul…the FGCU bench was issued a technical foul in the fourth quarter for not replacing Atwater within the regulated time.
 
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 348-70 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.3 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 409-97 (80.9 W%).  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.