PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The FGCU women's basketball team held Providence College to just 41 points Saturday afternoon at Alumni Hall en route to a 50-41 win over the Friars. With their third-straight W, the Eagles move to 6-3 on the season with a 5-0 mark in road contests, while Providence falls to 3-6 in nonconference play.
FGCU held PC to just four points in the first quarter by forcing seven early turnovers and never relinquished the lead. Despite shooting just 33.3 percent from the floor, FGCU outrebounded PC and held the Friars to a 32.6 percent clip to maintain the advantage. In her first game back from injury, senior
Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) powered the FGCU offense with 16 points. The reigning Atlantic Sun Player of the Year added 10 rebounds for her 12th career double-double in just 19 minutes on the court.
Knight led all players with 16 points, while
Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) contributed 12 points for the Green and Blue.
Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Country Day) and
Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) added eight points each for FGCU in the low-scoring affair.
As a unit, the Eagles shot 33.3 percent overall with only five made 3-pointers on 28 attempts but held the Friars 32.6 percent with two makes from 3-point range. The Eagles outrebounded the Friars, who held the height advantage, 42-36, and forced 17 PC turnovers.
"A lot of kids played really well on the defensive end," said head coach
Karl Smesko. "
DyTiesha Dunson and
Kaneisha Atwater did a great job on their scorers. I also thought we rebounded the ball well, which was something we've wanted to work on lately. Those were the bright spots in today's game."
Providence got on the board first with a single free throw in the opening minute but a 3-pointer from Laughter and a scoop layup from Haas helped the Eagles take the advantage. FGCU increased the lead before the end of the first quarter by forcing seven PC turnovers and saw Knight's first five points of the season bring the score to 10-4 in favor of the Eagles after 10 minutes.
The Eagles extended the advantage to 10 points midway through the second quarter with a six-point run from Haas,
Katie Meador (Salem, Ill./Salem Community High School) and Knight but allowed the Friars to respond with a seven-point streak to end the quarter. While holding FGCU scoreless for over four minutes, the home team cut the Eagle advantage to five points as time expired.
Despite shooting just 29 percent in the first stanza, the Green and Blue took a 20-15 lead into halftime.
After the break, the Eagles increased the offensive intensity with three-straight drives to the rim. Atwater,
Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) and
DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) combined for six-straight points and forced PC into a timeout just two minutes into the third quarter as FGCU held its largest lead until that point at 26-15.
Following the breather, PC cut the FGCU run with a 3-pointer from the corner, but the Eagles quelled all PC advances and started the third period 6-for-10 from the floor to hold on to a 10-point lead. With three minutes to play in the quarter, Knight sank a long-range shot from the top of the arc to give FGCU its largest lead of the contest at 36-22.
With 50 percent shooting, the Eagles outscored PC 19-11 over the third 10-minute period to carry the game's momentum into the final stanza. Providence increased its defensive force late in the game, but with eight points from Atwater, the Eagles maintained a double-figure advantage in the final minutes of play. The home team added a 3-pointer and two successful free throws in the last 30 seconds but the Eagles were never threatened as they took their third-straight victory with a 51-40 final score.
The Eagles return to Alico Arena Tuesday, Dec. 15 for a midweek matchup against St. Thomas University. Tipoff against the NAIA foe is set for 7 p.m.
GAME NOTES: Whitney Knight returned to action after sitting out for the season's first eight games with a foot injury…she recorded her 12
th career double-double…FGCU is now 5-0 in true road games…The 20 first-half points were a season low for FGCU…The Eagles are 2-0 all-time against Providence College.
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 SALESSeason 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: $266Priority 2: $166General 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. SMESKOHead 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 351-70 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.4 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 412-97 (80.8 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.
