SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The FGCU women's basketball team erased a 15-point deficit and sparked a late comeback Saturday afternoon but the push was not enough as the Eagles fell 65-60 to No. 9 Mississippi State in the first game of the Puerto Rico Classic. With the loss at the Ruben Zayas Montanez Coliseum, the Eagles fall to 7-4, while the Bulldogs improve to 9-1 on the year.
 
Mississippi State took a 41-29 lead into halftime, but with a 21-9 push, the Eagles tied the contest at 53 to open the last quarter. MSU ultimately went 10-for-10 from the free-throw line in the final 10 minutes to reclaim the lead and hold on to the small advantage as time expired. The five-point win stands as MSU's smallest margin of victory on the year as the Bulldogs have outscored opponents by an average of 38 points per game this season.
 
"I was proud of our effort today," said head coach Karl Smesko. "I thought we really competed and made a great comeback against a very good team. Hopefully it's a step forward for our team."
 
As a unit, the Eagles outshot the Bulldogs with a 44.6 percent clip from the field but went just 5-for-18 from 3-point range. FGCU held MSU to 40.4 percent overall and saw as the Bulldogs went 14-for-17 from the free throw line with 11-of-12 made in the second half. The Eagles were narrowly outrebounded by an MSU squad with a substantial height advantage, 36-32, but turned the ball over 18 times through the 40-minute contest.
 
Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) led all players with 25 points. The senior added five rebounds and a team-best four assists. Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School), Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) and Jaime Gluesing (Solon, Ohio/Solon High School) each contributed eight points to the team's offensive effort. Knight also pulled down six rebounds and blocked five shots in 23 minutes on the court, with Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) pacing the squad with eight rebounds.
 
Mississippi State won the tip and scored right away but Laughter knocked down a corner 3 to give the Eagles a lead. MSU took a slight advantage in the opening minutes by driving to the rim and using the height advantage for second-chance points. A Gradinjan layup brought the score to 10-9 in favor of the Bulldogs before Atwater penetrated the defense for a left-side drive to give FGCU a 11-10 lead at the midpoint of the quarter.
 
The teams traded buckets and the lead but after a Knight 3-pointer, the Bulldogs responded with a long-range shot of their own to bring the score to 18-14. MSU finished the first quarter with a 7-2 run to hold a 22-16 lead at the first break.
 
Both teams shot above 50 percent in the first stanza, with the Eagles holding a 63.6 to 52.6 percent advantage. FGCU went 2-for-2 from 3-point range but turned the ball over seven times for 10 MSU points to allow MSU to take the advantage.
 
Mississippi State extended its lead to 11 points by outscoring FGCU 19-13 in the second quarter.  The Eagles held the Bulldogs scoreless for the first two minutes of the quarter and battled back with two points at 22-20.  The close score was short lived as MSU produced a 14-5 run over the next four minutes to extend the lead to double figures and went into the break with a 41-29 lead.
 
The Bulldogs sank a long-range shot from the corner to extend the advantage to a game-high 15 points in the opening seconds of the third quarter but Laughter was quick to respond. The sophomore knocked down a shot from the corner to cut the deficit and sparked the FGCU offense. FGCU held MSU to a 29 percent clip from the floor in the third quarter as Laughter, Gluesing and Atwater combined for seven-straight points to bring the score to 48-41 midway through the period. After the teams traded points again, Atwater and Knight produced back-to-back layups to end the third quarter and cap the FGCU run at 21-9 to push FGCU within three points at 53-50.
 
Gradinjan scored the first points of the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc, tying the game at 53 with 8:30 to play. MSU reclaimed the lead with a pair of free throws but another Atwater layup brought the score to 57-57 a minute later. The Eagles sent MSU back to the free-throw line midway through the quarter where the Bulldogs went ahead 59-57 before taking a four-point lead on a steal and fast-break layup with four minutes on the clock.
 
Both teams produced empty possessions to hold the score at 61-57 for nearly three minutes. Atwater sank one free throw with 1:28 on the clock and added a final drive with 25 seconds to go but the Bulldogs sank all four free throw opportunities in the final seconds to hold onto the advantage and finished the game with a 65-60 victory.
 
The Green and Blue will endure a quick turnaround as the team is set to face Arizona Sunday at noon local time (11 a.m. E.T.). The Eagles will conclude play at the Puerto Rico Classic Monday, Dec. 21 with a noon tipoff against Western Michigan.
 
Game Notes: Atwater led all players with 25 points on 10-for-20 shooting…FGCU scored 40 points in the paint…MSU scored 19 points on FGCU's 18 turnovers…FGCU shot a season-low 18 3-pointers…MSU stands as the first of two SEC teams the Eagles will face this season.
 
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 352-71 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 413-98 (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.