FGCU (4-3) vs. Harvard (4-3)
FGCU Head Coach: Karl Smesko | Walsh '97 | 14^th Season at FGCU: 349-70 (83.4%) | 17^th Season as Head Coach: 410-97 (80.8%)
Harvard Head Coach: Kathy Delany Smith | Bridgewater State '71 | 33rd Season at Harvard: 536-364 (59.6%)
When: Saturday, Dec. 5 | 7 p.m.
Where: Alico Arena | Fort Myers, Fla.
Watch: ESPN3
Stats: via StatBroadcast
Game Series: FGCU leads 1-0 | FGCU won last meeting 68-58 (1/2/15 in Cambridge)
 
FORT MYERS, Fla. – After improving to 4-3 on the season with a strong road win at George Washington Thursday, the FGCU women's basketball team returns to Alico Arena Saturday, Dec. 5 to take on the Harvard Crimson. Tipoff against the Ivy League foe is set for 7 p.m.
 
The Eagles continue the 2015-16 slate with a record of 4-3 after defeating the Colonials Thursday night. The team is 4-0 in road games but holds a 0-2 mark at Alico. Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Westwood High School/VCU) leads the team with an average of 16.0 points per game through the season's seven games, while sophomore Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day) produced a career-high in her first collegiate start and has averaged 11.1 points per contest so far this season. Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) has also contributed heavily on offense for the Green and Blue with 10.4 points per contest so far and a team-best 19 3-pointers.
 
Atwater also leads all players with 6.0 rebounds per game and has produced a squad-topping mark with 11 steals and 31 assists. Senior captain DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) has also dished out 31 assists and has added 7.0 points in a team-high 34.6 minutes per game.
 
As a unit, the Green and Blue have averaged 63.9 points per game through the early season with a 40.1 percent clip from the field. The team has made 64 3-pointers, at a rate of 9.1 per game and has been outrebounded by opponents 34.6 to 38.3 boards per game.
 
QUICK HITS
• FGCU shot 100% in the final six minutes at GW to spark a 13-point turnaround and earn the big-time 'W'
• The Eagles hold a 4-0 record on the road but are looking for their first win at home Saturday night #ProtectTheNest
• Atwater produced a season-best 22 points with 11 rebounds for her second career double-double in Thursday's win
• The Green and Blue are 1-0 against Harvard all time with a 68-58 come-from-behind win in Cambridge last season
• After sinking 12 long-range shots Thursday night, the Eagles are now averaging 9.1 3-pointers per game #RainingThrees
• Taylor Gradinjan was stellar in the Eagles' comeback at GW, sinking back-to-back 3-pointers to take the lead in the last minute
 
GAME DAY INFORMATION
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 Saturday night. Live stats will be available through FGCUStats.com, while fans can also find live, in-game updates on Twitter by following @FGCU_WBB.
 
SCOUTING THE CRIMSON
The Harvard Crimson travel to Southwest Florida Saturday evening with a 4-3 record after falling to No. 23 USF 86-59 Thursday night in Tampa. The Crimson earned four wins in a span of 10 days in November, including a three-game streak with wins over Toledo, Boston University and Rice but fell to Maine and Rhode Island before venturing to the Sunshine State.
 
Overall, the Crimson are averaging 63.9 points per game compared to their opponents' 65.3 and like the Eagles are converting shots at a rate of 40.1 percent. Harvard maintained a shooting percentage of 30.3 from 3-point range with 6.1 makes per game with 30 of its 43 long-range buckets coming from just two players.  The Crimson have been narrowly outrebounded at 38.7 to 37.3 boards per game and average 15.1 turnovers per contest with 13.1 assists and 6.9 steals a game.
 
Senior captain AnnMarie Healy leads the Crimson at 14.4 points per game and holds a team-best shooting mark at a 50 percent. Healy is the team's lone returner from last year's starting lineup against the Eagles. She scored nine points with four rebounds in the contest in Cambridge. Healy's classmate Tummala Shilpa has contributed 13.0 points per game and stands as the team's only other double-figure scorer. Shilpa leads the squad all around with 15 3-pointers, 13 steals and 6.2 rebounds per game. The team's top contributors are rounded out with senior Kit Metoyer, who has also added 15 3-pointers on 44 attempts and leads the team with 16 assists. Metoyer leads the team in minutes at 30.7 per game.
 
Head coach Kathy Delaney Smith enters Saturday's game with a career record of 536-364 through 33 seasons with the Crimson. She is the Ivy League's all-time winningest coach, for both men's and women's programs. Smith's team went 14-14 last season, including the loss to the Eagles, and finished the year with an official RPI of 118. This season, the Crimson check in at 284 in the NCAA's first RPI release.
 
ALL-TIME MEETINGS
FGCU and Harvard have met just once before leading up to Saturday's tilt. FGCU earned a 10-point win last season as the Green and Blue traveled to Cambridge for the first game of the home-and-home series. 
 
LAST TIME AGAINST THE CRIMSON
The Eagles came from behind to defeat Harvard 68-58 last season at Harvard's Lavietes Pavilion in the team's final nonconference contest of the season.
 
After exchanging the lead with the Eagles 11 times, the home team took hold of a game high six-point lead with 6:33 left to play. The Eagles hailed for a timeout before sparking one of the strongest streaks of the season. Backed by four forced Harvard turnovers and five made field goals on nine attempts, the Green and Blue produced 19-straight points to take hold of game and forge ahead with the lead. The Crimson were unable to stop the Eagle's momentum and watched as FGCU turned the six-point deficit into a 13-point advantage in a span of just six minutes. Harvard sank one final three but the Eagles maintained the lead to win their eighth-straight contest with the 68-58 final score.
 
Despite being outshot and outrebounded by the home team, the Eagles produced 25 points on 22 Harvard turnovers to hold the contest's advantage. FGCU shot 36.1 percent from the field with a 34.5 percent clip from 3-point range.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Despite a nine-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter, the team pulled out a 64-60 win over national contender George Washington Thursday night at the Smith Center. The Eagles outshot the Colonials 21-10 over the final six minutes with 100 percent shooting from the floor and added six unanswered points in the final minute to move to 4-3 on the season.
 
The Eagles and Colonials traded the lead 10 times through the 40-minute affair, but the home team took hold of the advantage in the second half. GW outscored FGCU 20-10 in the third quarter and extended its lead to a game-high nine points in the final stanza. After trailing 52-43 with 5:44 on the clock, the Eagles went 6-for-6 from the floor with four made shots from beyond-the-arc for the comeback. GW held a 60-58 lead with 1:26 on the clock but sophomore Taylor Gradinjan sank her fourth 3-pointer of the game to take back the lead with one minute to play. Senior Kaneisha Atwater sealed the pivotal victory for the Green and Blue with three made free throws and a steal in the final 10 seconds of play.
 
Atwater led the Eagles with her first double-double of the season. Even after picking up her fourth foul early in the second half, Atwater produced a game-best 22 points and added 11 rebounds. The senior dished out four assists and grabbed three steals in 33 minutes on the court.
 
FOR COMPLETE INFO
For all the details on Tuesday's matchup check out: http://www.fgcuathletics.com/documents/2015/12/4/VS_HARVARD_DEC_5.pdf.
 
UP NEXT
The Eagles will continue the season with the final game in the string of home-and-home return games from last season as they travel to Providence to take on the Friars in a 2:30 p.m. tipoff on Saturday, Dec. 12. The Eagles produced a record of 5-0 against the string of foes last year that included FIU, Arkansas State, George Washington, Harvard and PC.
 
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 349-70 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 410-97 (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.