The Rundown: No. 1 FGCU (28-2 | 13 RPI) v. No. 4 Jacksonville (12-16 | 209 RPI)
The Matchup: Karl Smesko (Kent State, '93) 13th season at FGCU (342-66/83.5%) v. Yolette McPhee-McCuin (Rhode Island '04) 2nd season at Jacksonville (25-32/43.8%)
When: Wednesday, Mar. 11  |  7 p.m.
Where: Alico Arena  |  Fort Myers, Fla.
Video: via ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app
Live Stats: via Statbroadcast
Hashtags: #WingsUp | #WeAreFGCU | #RainingThrees | #ASunWBB
Series History: FGCU leads 15-1 with 15 straight wins
Game Notes: FGCU  |  Jacksonville
 
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The top-seeded FGCU women's basketball team continues its quest for its second-consecutive NCAA tournament appearance Wednesday night in the Atlantic Sun Semifinal. The Eagles host the No. 4 Jacksonville Dolphins in a 7 p.m. matchup at Alico Arena.
 
The Eagles will enter Wednesday's bout looking for their 24th-straight victory. With a win, the team would advance to the A-Sun Final, which is scheduled for Sunday at 2:30 p.m., for the fourth time in four years.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Live stats will be available via StatBroadcast with a video stream available through ESPN3 and the WatchESPN mobile app with Tom James and J. Webb Horton on the call. As always, fans can also find live updates via Twitter at @FGCU_WBB.
 
GAME DAY TWEETABLES
• The team won its fifth-straight #ASunWBB Regular Season title this season with its third perfect season in four years
 
• FGCU is riding a 23-game win streak, which stands as the 5th best in the nation
 
• Whitney Knight was named #ASunWBB Player of the Year and earned First-Team honors
 
• FGCU currently stands as the No. 20 team in the AP Top-25 poll and checks in at No. 21 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll
 
• As of Monday, FGCU matched its program best RPI rating at 13 #EaglesRising
 
• The Eagles matched their DI best win total at 28 with the quarterfinal victory over UNF Friday
 
• FGCU could clinch an NCAA Tournament automatic bid Thursday with an NKU win over Stetson
 
• With six rebounds, Knight will become the fourth FGCU player ever to have 1,000 career points and 500 rebounds
 
• @FGCUCoachSmesko was named #ASunWBB Coach of the Year for the fifth-straight season
 
• Whitney Knight is the nation's only player to lead a conference in both 3-pointers and blocks
 
THE GREEN AND BLUE
FGCU continues postseason play with a record of 28-2 and an official RPI of 13. The team stands as the fourth-highest mid-major in the poll, trailing only undefeated Princeton at No. 13, SoCon Champion Chattanooga at No. 17 and No. 19 and Atlantic 10 Champion George Washington.
 
FGCU finished the regular season with an FGCU Division I best win streak of 22 games and added to the streak with a 74-35 win over North Florida in the A-Sun Quarterfinals on Friday. With 26 wins in their last 27 games, the Eagle run is the fifth best in the nation, only shorter than No. 1 Connecticut, No. 13 Princeton, No. 17 Chattanooga and No. 4 Maryland – all of whom have completed and won their conference tournaments.
 
FGCU boasted double-figure scorers through the regular season in Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School), Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Westover High School) and Stephanie Haas (Avon Lakes, Ohio/Magnificat High School).  Knight and Atwater currently pace the squad, each with more than 14 points per game.  Knight also leads the team with 6.4 rebounds per game and tops the league with 84 made shots from the perimeter and 76 blocks. Knight was named Player of the Year for her season-wide performance and currently stands as the nation's only player to lead a conference in both categories.
 
Collectively, the Eagles averaged 73.4 points per game during the regular season, while holding their opposition to 54.2 points per contest for the league's best scoring average and scoring margin. The scoring margin also ranks among the top-10 in the nation. The team has maintained a shooting percentage of .438 with a mark of .352 from the perimeter this year. The Eagles rank third in the NCAA and first among the Atlantic Sun with 9.6 shots made from beyond-the-arc per game. On defense, the Eagles have been narrowly outrebounded, 35.1 to 35.4 per game this year but hold an advantage in turnovers, 11.4 to 18.5 and steals, 8.8 to 4.8. FGCU ranks fifth in the country with a turnover margin of +7.03 and 10th nationally in assist to turnover ratio at 1.29.
 
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWIN STREAK
With 23-straight wins, the Eagles currently hold the nation's fifth-best win streak. They sit behind only Connecticut, Princeton, Chattanooga and Maryland - who have all finished their conference tournaments.
       
The team also holds a 24-game win streak in conference games to rank fourth in the nation and sits only behind the nation's top two teams in Connecticut and South Carolina with 26-straight wins at home.
 
TOP-25
FGCU is now ranked No. 20 in the AP Top-25 and No. 21 in USA Today Coaches' Polls. The team picked up votes in three-straight polls before getting ranked in Week 15 for the first time in program history. FGCU held the No. 20/21 position from week 17 to week 18.
 
TOP-50
In games played against opposition in the RPI's top-50, the team is 6-1 with wins over GW, Quinnipiac, Stetson (x2), Wichita State and Arkansas State. The team adds two wins in the top-100 with Southern Miss. and Cal State-Northridge.
 
SUNSHINE STATE SUCCESS
With Florida State leading the way at No. 10, Florida boasts the most number of teams within the RPI's top-50. FGCU joins the Seminoles, USF and Stetson to lead the rest of the nation.
 
LAST TIME OUT
With an Atlantic Sun Championship record 16 3-pointers made, the top-seeded FGCU women's basketball team advanced to the A-Sun semifinal with a 74-35 victory over No. 8 North Florida Friday night.
 
With nine players making at least one long-range shot, the Eagles scored 48 points from the perimeter to match their season high against a Division I opponent. The team saw five double-digit scorers in a well-balanced attack and cruised to its third victory over the Ospreys this season.
 
FGCU, who entered the game with an official RPI of 17 and an AP Top-25 standing, got off to an eight-point lead right out of the gates as Knight made back-to-back 3-pointers in the first minute of action and followed with a layup on the right side. The Eagles never looked back and maintained a 15-point advantage through the first half before shooting 58 percent from the field with 10 made shots from beyond-the-arc in the second stanza. UNF was held to just 14 field goals and a 25 percent success rate as the Eagles sailed to their 23rd-straight win and earned a place in the A-Sun semifinals.
 
Cobb and Atwater paced all players with 12 points each, while Knight and Haas both added 11. Chatzigiakoumi rounded out the team's balanced attack with 10 points and matched Cobb to lead the squad with three long-range shots on the night.
 
FGCU set the new A-Sun postseason record at 16 long-range shots and produced a 48.5 percent success rate from beyond-the-arc. The Eagles also outrebounded UNF 44-33 and forced 14 UNF turnovers but also turned the ball over 14 times through the 40-minute affair.
 
ALL-TIME MEETINGS WITH THE DOLPHINS
The Eagles hold a 15-1 record over the Dolphins in 16 meetings since the 2007-08 season.  FGCU has won 15-straight after falling at JU to open the all-time series and has defeated the Dolphins by an average of 15 points per game in meetings since.
 
LAST TIME AGAINST THE DOLPHINS
The Eagles finished the regular season with a 78-47 win over the Dolphins at Alico Arena Feb. 28 to seal their third perfect #ASunWBB slate in four seasons.
 
FGCU and JU battled back and forth in the opening minutes but the Eagles used a 15-2 run late in the first half to take an 18-point lead into the break. Atwater accounted for 37 percent of the team's scoring with 29 points as the Eagles capitalized on opportunities at the post and at the free throw line.  FGCU finished with 46 points in the paint and 21 free throws on 25 attempts to run past the visiting team. The Green and Blue extended the lead to a game-high 33 points late in the game and ultimately earned the 78-47 win to move to 13-0 at home this season.
 
SCOUTING THE NO. 4 SEED
Jacksonville enters the semifinal round with a record of 11-16 after defeating No. 5 Kennesaw State 55-54 in the first round of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship. The team earned wins over North Florida, Kennesaw State, Northern Kentucky and Lipscomb in the regular season but fell to FGCU twice.
 
The team lost four of the top six scorers from last year's squad that went 13-17 overall and 10-8 in conference play. The Dolphins were selected to finish fifth in the league this year but despite a young roster, earned the No. 4 position in the postseason.
 
As a unit, the Dolphins average 61.9 points per game, with their opponents scoring 63.8 points an outing. The team has shot 37.5 percent from the floor with a 32.7 percent success rate on 343 3-point attempts. Jacksonville's opposition has converted 39.1 percent of shots so far this season and has made 5.8 shots from 3-point range compared to the Dolphins' 4.0 per contest. Defensively, the Dolphins average 39.9 rebounds per game and allow foes to pull down 37.1 per game to stand as one of four teams with a positive rebounding margin in the league. The team has recorded 18.7 turnovers per game with 9.7 assists and 8.0 steals. They sit behind their competition in assists and steals as teams have produced 11.8 assists and 8.5steals in games against the Dolphins.
 
Jacksonville is led by sophomore Sherranda Reddick and junior Briona Brown. Reddick paces the team with 14.1 points per game and a team-high 54 3-pointers made, while her counterpart adds 12.3 points per game with 37 steals and 20 blocks. Brown has averaged 20 points per game in the team's last five games and has seen an average of 30 minutes on the court per game. Junior guard Loliya Briggs is the team's other long-range shooter with 17 made shots on 74 attempts this season. She had added 6.7 points per game with 34 steals. Sophomore Kimberly Dawkins leads the charge on the boards with 7.9 per contest and has recorded a squad-best 34 blocks on the year, while Kayla Gordon has pulled down 7.3 rebounds per game with a team-best shooting percentage of 51.1. Gordon and classmate Brandi Buie were named to the A-Sun All Freshmen Team with Gordon earned Freshman of the Year honors.
 
Head Coach Yolette McPhee-McCuin is in her second year at the helm of the Dolphins and is currently the Bahamian National Team head coach. McCuin took over the reins of the program last season and is 25-32 in her first two seasons.
 
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The Eagle's tough nonconference schedule has been crucial in the team's high RPI ranking this year. The team currently stands at 36 in the official NCAA SOS.
 
SMESKO'S PREPARATION
Smesko's game preparation is one of the most crucial factors in the Eagles' all-time success. Last season, the team went 14-2 in games when they had four or more days to prepare. This season, the team is 15-0 when coach is given that much time to plan. In 12+ seasons, Smesko holds a record of 123-20 in games with extra time for a win percentage of 86 percent.
 
PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
On the heels of four-consecutive regular season championships and the team's second Atlantic Sun Championship in three years, the Eagles were once against picked to win the Atlantic Sun in the annual preseason coaches' poll.
 
With 62 points and six first-place votes, the Eagles finished four points ahead of in-state rival Stetson University.  The Hatters garnered two first-place votes to finish second in the poll with 58 points. The Green and Blue picked up 11 first-place votes in the media poll for 123 total points, with Stetson earning four top nods and 104 total points.
 
The 2013-14 defending Atlantic Sun Champions earned three wins over the Hatters last season, including the regular season finale and the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship Final. With help from those wins, the Eagles finished with their fourth-straight regular season title and earned their second tournament championship title in three seasons.
 
In addition to the team's predicted success, three individuals also garnered preseason All-Conference accolades.  As a former First Team All-Conference member, Knight picked up the Player of the Year nod, while Cobb and Haas also earned spots on the 10-member Preseason All-Conference team.
 
PREDICTIONS PROVING TRUE
In addition to the first-place standing, FGCU's preseason predictions proved to be true individually as well as Preseason Player of the Year Whitney Knight earned the year-end accolade this week. Knight was named First-Team All Conference and the Player of the Year, while Atwater also earned First-Team distinction.  After her first full season on the court, Taylor Gradinjan picked up All-Freshman Team honors with Smesko taking home his fifth-straight Coach of the Year nod.
 
OFF THE COURST SUCCESS
Stephanie Haas was recognized as the A-Sun's Women's Basketball Scholar Athlete of the Year Thursday morning. The award recognizes the league's top student-athletes who excel on and off the court. Haas averaged 10 points per game through most of the season and holds a cumulative grade point average of 3.94 as a criminal justice major.
 
UP NEXT
With the No. 1 seed, the Eagles will host each game of the Atlantic Sun Conference Championship at Alico Arena as long as they continue winning. With a win over Jacksonville, the team will vie for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in the 2015 A-Sun Championship Sunday afternoon against the winner of the No. 3 Northern Kentucky v. No. 2 Stetson contest. With an NKU win, the Eagles would seal the automatic bid before Sunday's championship as the Norse are ineligible for NCAA postseason play.
 
As the No. 1 seed in the 2015 Atlantic Sun Conference Championship, the Eagles will host each game of the tournament. Tickets for all A-Sun tournament games are on sale online at FGCUAthletics.com, over the phone at 239-590-7145 or in person at the Alico Arena Box Office.
 
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.
 
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 completed the season with a record of 28-2, including a 14-0 mark in conference action and earned its first-ever national ranking. With 28 wins already in the 2014-15 season, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 11-straight 20+ win seasons.  He maintains a record of 342-66 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.8 with a mark of 132-13 (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 five-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year ranks among an elite list of just four active Division I coaches with a career win percentage of .800 or higher.  Smesko joins Connecticut's Geno Auriemma, Baylor's Kim Mulkey and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer in the esteemed group.
 
IT'S AWESOME, BABY
Dick Vitale held a book signing in the Alico Arena Auxiliary Gym on Feb. 25, but it's not too late for fans to still purchase autographed copies of his latest book: "It's Awesome Baby! 75 Years of Memories and a Lifetime of Opinions on the Game I Love" by clicking here or by calling 239-590-7060. All proceeds from the book will be donated to The V Foundation for children battling pediatric cancer.
 
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 visitwww.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.