TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – On the strength of 26 points from
Kaneisha Atwater and a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds from
Whitney Knight, the No. 7 FGCU women's basketball team used a 12-0 run late in the second half to pull away from No. 10 Oklahoma State and earn its first Division-I NCAA Tournament win in program history with a 75-67 victory over the Cowgirls in the First Round Saturday afternoon. With the win at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center, the Eagles move on to the Second Round with a record of 31-2, while OSU ends the season at 20-12.
The win avenged a 61-60 overtime loss to Oklahoma State in last year's NCAA Tournament and extended the Eagles' winning streak to 26 in a row. The Green and Blue advance to play No. 2 Florida State, who defeated No. 15 Alabama State Saturday afternoon. The Sunshine State matchup is slated for 6 p.m. Monday on ESPNU, with the winner earning a trip to the Sweet Sixteen.
"This is a very exciting time for us," said 13th-year head coach
Karl Smesko. "We get our first Division I NCAA Tournament win. We beat a very good team and I'm definitely proud of the way we started the game. Oklahoma State posed a lot of challenges for us, but we had a lot of players step up. Kaneisha and Whitney had huge scoring games, but the whole team had to step up at different points and make plays and it was such a great team effort. I'm proud of our team and look forward to the opportunity to keep playing."
Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Westwood High School/VCU) and Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) combined for 45 of the team's 75 points, with
Jenna Cobb (New Holland, Ohio/Miami Trace High School/Butler) and
Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) adding 10 and nine, respectively. Knight and Atwater also led the rebounding efforts at 10 and eight.
As a unit, the Eagles connected on 45.2 percent of shots from the field with 11 made attempts from long range. The Eagles – who entered postseason play with an official RPI of 15 and an AP Top-25 mark of 20 – held OSU to a 37.1 percent clip but were outrebounded 44-32. FGCU forced 14 Cowgirl turnovers with six steals and lost the ball just seven times through the 40-minute bout.
FGCU got started with a long-range shot from Knight, who followed with a layup to give FGCU a 5-4 lead in the first two minutes of action. Haas added two points from the free throw line before an Atwater drive pushed the score to 9-4 and forced Oklahoma State into its first timeout just four minutes into the game. The Cowgirls quickly tied the game at 10, but the Eagles held on to the momentum and used back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers from Cobb, Atwater and
Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) to claim a 19-10 advantage with 13 minutes still to play in the first half.
Oklahoma State stopped the Eagle run with a 3-pointer of its own, but Atwater used two-consecutive layups and a single free throw to extend the lead to 11 points midway through the half. With a 24-13 lead, FGCU saw as Knight and Atwater each picked up two quick fouls, giving Oklahoma State a brief glimpse at the momentum. OSU cut the deficit to six points at 24-18 on two free throws and used a nine-point run to claim the lead at 27-26 near the four-minute mark.
The Cowgirl lead lasted just one minute as
DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) and Knight knocked down consecutive long-range shots to move the score to 34-29 in favor of the Eagles. OSU added two free throws in the last two minutes but a buzzer-beating drive from Cobb pushed the score to 36-31 at the break.
FGCU forced another OSU turnover on the opening possession of the second half, but allowed the Cowgirls to cut the deficit to three points in the first two minutes. With a 38-35 lead, FGCU constructed a 6-0 run with layups from Knight and Atwater and forced OSU into another timeout. The Cowgirls maintained their pressure and kept the game within 10 points through the first half of the second stanza as the teams traded small runs.
With eight minutes to play and a five-point lead for the Eagles, Cobb ignited the team with a pivotal offensive rebound. The senior captain dished the ball to Knight who laid it in on the left side and sparked what would become a 12-0 run for the Eagles over a span of three minutes.
Cobb converted a long shot from the left corner on the Eagles' next possession and pushed the score to 66-54 with a mid-range shot that barely beat the shot clock buzzer with six minutes to play. The team stopped OSU on four-consecutive possessions before Haas lit up the bench and the crowd of Eagle fans with another corner three. Dunson capped the run with a floor-length drive to the rim and pushed the Green and Blue ahead 17 points with 4:37 to play.
Oklahoma State stopped the FGCU run with a long-range shot with 3:22 on the clock, but the Cowgirls were unable to take back the momentum. OSU chipped away at the score in the final minutes, but with four made free throws on four attempts, the Eagles sealed the win and advanced to the NCAA Second Round for the first time in program history with a 75-67 win over No. 10 Oklahoma State.
Notes: The game saw seven lead changes in the first half but none in the second…FGCU held the lead for 37 minutes…the Eagles own an FGCU DI record and an Atlantic Sun record with 31 wins…FGCU claims the nation's third-longest win streak, behind only Connecticut and Princeton…the win marked FGCU's first-ever DI NCAA Tournament victory…FGCU is now the only current A-Sun member to have won an NCAA Tournament game…FSU will be the highest ranked opponent for the Eagles with an RPI of 10…
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 continues action with a record of 31-2, 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 already in the 2014-15 season, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 11-straight 20+ win seasons. He maintains a record of 346-66 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.9 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 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. 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.
