The Rundown: No. 7 FGCU (31-2 | 15 RPI) v. No. 2 Florida State (30-3 | 10 RPI)
The Matchup: Karl Smesko (Kent State, '93) 13th season at FGCU (345-66/83.9%) v. Sue Semrau (UC San Diego '85) 18th season at FSU (346-217/61.4%)
When: Monday, Mar. 23  |  6 p.m.
Where: The Donald L. Tucker Civic Center  |  Tallahassee, Fla.
Video: via ESPNU and ESPN3/WatchESPN with Mark.Jones and Sue Bird
Audio: on FGCUAthletics.com and 1240 AM The Fan
Live Stats: via CBS Gametracker
Hashtags: #WingsUp | #WeAreFGCU | #RainingThrees | #NCAAw | #WhatItsAllFour
Series History: FSU leads 2-0 in games in 2007 and 2008
 
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In its third NCAA Tournament appearance in just four years of eligibility, the FGCU women's basketball team will take on no. 2 Florida State in the Second Round Monday evening. The Eagles earned their first NCAA Tournament win as a Division I program Saturday in a 7/10 matchup with Oklahoma State Saturday and will vie for a position in the Sweet Sixteen Monday night at the Tucker Center. Tipoff in the in-state battle is set for 6 p.m.
 
SETTING THE STAGE
The Eagles – who enter the Monday's matchup with a national top-25 ranking of 20 and an official RPI of 15 – will face their first nationally ranked team of the season. The Seminoles check in at no. 7 in both top-25 polls and hold an official RPI of 10. Monday stands as the team's 12th contest against a Florida-based team.
 
FOLLOWING LIVE
Monday's tilt will be broadcast live nationally on ESPNU with Mark.Jones and Sue Bird on the call. The contest is the lone game slated for ESPNU in that timeslot and can be seen in its entirety nationally. The game can also be viewed on ESPN3.
 
Fans in Southwest Florida can catch a radio stream live on 1240/1270 The Fan. The audio will also be available online and can be accessed at FGCUAthletics.com.
 
Live stats will be available through CBS by visiting this link and as always, fans can follow @FGCU_WBB on twitter for live updates throughout the game.
 
TWEETABLES
• The team won its fifth-straight #ASunWBB Regular Season title this season with its third perfect season in four years
• #ASunWBB POY Whitney Knight is the nation's only player to lead a conference in both 3-pointers and blocks
• FGCU's @FGCUCoachSmesko earned the #ASunWBB Coach of the Year honor for the sixth time in seven seasons and is a nominee for the WBCA COY Award
• Eight of FGCU's nonconference opponents played in their respective conference championship finals with five earning bids to The Dance
• The Eagles are riding a 26-game win streak, which stands tied for the third best in the nation - behind only UConn and Princeton
• The Green and Blue has defeated foes by an average of 19.4 points per game this season
• FGCU began NCAA DI action against FSU at Alico Arena Nov. 9, 2007 but have not faced the Seminoles since 2008.
 
SMESKO SAYS
"Yesterday was an exciting day for us getting our first Division I NCAA Tournament win and we are moving on," said head coach Karl Smesko before Sunday's practice. "We will prepare today for Florida State, who I believe is just an excellent team, a team very capable of going to the Final Four this year.  They have five kids who average double figures and they really get it out in transition, they're one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, if not the best.  We have a lot of respect for their team this year. We know we've got our hands full and we are going to spend today and shoot around tomorrow trying to give us the best opportunity to win the game." 
 
THE GREEN & BLUE
With its best resume in program history, the FGCU women's basketball team earned a No. 7 seed in the 2015 NCAA Tournament for the program's best-ever seeding.  The Eagles hold a 31-2 record on a season, an official RPI of 15 and an AP Top-25 ranking of No. 20 after earning their first Division I NCAA Tournament win.
 
With 29 wins in their last 30 games, the Eagle streak is the third best in the nation, only shorter than Connecticut and Princeton tied with Chattanooga.
 
FGCU sealed the regular season championship with a perfect record of 14-0 in A-Sun action and continued its dominance in the postseason with three wins by an average of 25 points per game. Although the Eagles sealed an automatic bid prior to Sunday's championship in an unlikely situation, the team defeated No. 3 Northern Kentucky 60-43 at Alico Arena for its second-straight tournament crown.
 
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 6.5 rebounds per game and tops the league with 89 made shots from the perimeter and 83 blocks. Knight was named Player of the Year for her season-long performance and currently stands as the nation's only player to lead a conference in both categories.
 
In addition to the team's top-three scorers, ball handlers Jenna Cobb (New Holland, Ohio/Miami Trace High School/Butler) and DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) contribute to the offense with a combination of 196 assists. With 113 assists and just 46 turnovers on the year, Dunson ranks among the nation's top-20 with an assist to turnover ratio of 2.48.
 
Collectively, the Eagles averaged 72.7 points per game during the regular season, while holding their opposition to 53.3 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 .354 from the perimeter this year. The Eagles rank third in the NCAA and first among the Atlantic Sun with 9.7 shots made from beyond-the-arc per game. On defense, the Eagles were narrowly outrebounded through most of the season but currently stand near their opponents at 35.1 rebounds per game and a margin of just -0.4. FGCU holds an advantage in blocks, 3.6 to 2.5, turnovers, 11.5 to 18.7 and steals, 8.9 to 4.6. FGCU ranks fourth in the country with a turnover margin of +7.25 and 11th nationally in assist to turnover ratio at 1.27.
SUNSHINE STATE SUCCESS
• Of all the teams remaining in the 2015 NCAA Tournament, Florida is the only state to boast three or more still standing with FSU, FGCU and USF still fiighting for a spot in the Sweet Sixteen.
• Florida also has three teams ranked among the nation's top-30 in the official RPI with FSU at 10, FGCU at 15 and USF ranking 26.
• The Eagles are 11-0 this season against in-state opposition & and hold a 122-17 all-time mark against teams from Florida.
• In games against teams from its home state, FGCU has averaged 73.9 ppg this season with a 44.7 success rate from the field and 11.3 3s per game.
 
SCOUTING NO. 2
Florida State, fresh off a 42-point victory over No. 15-seed Alabama State in its first-round test Saturday afternoon, earned its highest-ever tournament seed in program history with the No. 2 position. With Saturday's first-round victory, the Seminoles recorded their first-ever 30-win season.
 
After finishing second in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 14-2 record, Florida State appeared the ACC Championship game but eventually fell to first-place finisher, Notre Dame, 71-58. The Seminoles' 14 wins in ACC play are also a program best.
 
Boasting an RPI rating of 10, Florida State has yet to lose at the Tucker Center this season, which also stands as a program first. The Seminoles have won all 15 outings in Tallahassee this season as FSU hosts the first round of the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time.
 
With Saturday's victory, Florida State upped its overall NCAA Tournament record to 15-13. The 2015 installment of the Big Dance marks the Seminoles' 14th appearance.
 
Florida State's four losses have come in the form of a pair against Notre Dame (71-58 Mar. 8; 74-68 Jan. 2), one game at North Carolina (71-63, Feb. 12) and a nonconference setback at Washington (80-68, Nov. 27).
 
Junior center Adut Bulgak is the focal point of Florida State's operation. The Edmonton, Alberta, native leads all scorers with 12.4 points per game and finished 23rd in ACC scoring this season. Not only is she the club's leading scorer, she also leads the Seminoles in steals with 53 and is one of the nation's best rebounders. Bulgak averages 9.6 boards per game and went into Saturday's first-round game as the 44th-most prolific rebounder in college basketball. The 6-foot-4 junior was the ACC's fifth-best rebounder this season. She has also managed to knock down 23-of-69 shots from beyond-the-arc, touting the fourth-most makes from behind the arc this year.
 
Redshirt senior guard Maegan Conwright is second on the squad in scoring with 11.8 points per game and is one of two primary distributors of the basketball. Conwright has handed out 109 total assists while second-year guard Leticia Romero owns the Seminoles' best mark in that category with 113.
 
Conwright is Florida State's best shooter from beyond the arc, converting at a clip of 35.6 percent with 64 makes on 180 attempts this season. Romero joined the Seminoles midway through the season after being deemed immedietly eligible by the NCAA. She has averaged 10.4 points per game in 21 games and has started the last 14 games for FSU.
 
Sophomore forward Ivey Slaughter is one of FSU's inside threats with the second-most boards on the team at 6.2 and is Florida State's third-leading scorer with 11.2 points per game. Slaughter has gone to the line a team-best 151 times, sinking 107 attempts. From the floor, the Macon, Ga., native is converting at a 51.4 percent clip.
 
As a unit, Florida State entered the postseason with the 20th-most potent offense in the game. The Seminoles have scored 76.2 points per game to rank second in the ACC. On the other end of the court, Florida State is just as dangerous. The Seminoles boast the 31st-best squad defensively, holding opponents to 56.7 ppg. With those figures, FSU sports the eighth-best scoring margin in the nation, owning a +19.5 difference in scoring per contest.
 
Florida State's top unit, statistically, is its offensive rebounding. The Seminoles have pulled down 17.2 offensive rebounds per contest and boast the sixth-most proficient figure in the nation. FGCU hopes to break up FSU's stingy 3-point defense, which ranks 31st in the country and limits opponents to 28.4 percent from three-point land.
 
Head coach Sue Semrau has risen to the top of her profession this season, collecting both ESPNW Coach of the Year and ACC Coach of the Year honors. Semrau, in her 18th season at the helm of the Seminole women's basketball program, heads into Monday's game with a 346-217 record and a 61.4 win percentage. 2015 marks Semrau's 11th trip to the NCAA Tournament with Florida State, including her 10th in the last 11 seasons.
 
ALL-TIME MEETINGS
FGCU holds a 0-2 record against the Seminoles all-time. The team faced Florida State in its first ever Division I game and followed with a trip to The Tucker Center a year later. FGCU fell 93-53 in the first time around but cut the deficit to 81-62 in the second meeting. The 93-53 loss still stands as the Eagles' worst loss in program history.
 
ALL-CONFERENCE ACCOLADES
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. Following a successful run in the A-Sun Tournament, Knight, Atwater and Cobb all earned spots on the All-Tournament Team with Knight earning MVP honors. Knight led all players with 39 points through three games, while Cobb and Atwater each chipped in 36.
 
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Eagles last appeared in the NCAA Tournament three seasons ago when the team earned the A-Sun's automatic bid in its first season with postseason eligibility after transitioning from DII. As the no. 12 seed in 2012, the Eagles faced no. 5 St. Bonaventure at the Tucker Center.
 
The Eagles challenged the favored team and produced an 11-point lead late in the second half but saw as it slipped away in the final minutes of regulation. St. Bonaventure tied the game and forced the contest down to the wire.
With 1.1 seconds on the clock, FGCU forced a Bona turnover and reclaimed possession of the ball for the final play but were unable to get the shot off in time. The Eagles ultimately fell to the Bonnies 72-65 in overtime.
 
A season ago, the Eagles again earned the No. 12 seed and faced No. 5 Oklahoma State in West Lafayette, Ind. but again fell in overtime.
 
With a familiar venue and a familiar foe, the Eagles made the third time the charm to pick up their first DI NCAA Tournament win Saturday over Oklahoma State.
 
UP NEXT
With a win over Florida State, the Eagles would advance to the Sweet Sixteen in Greensboro, N.C. and would face the winner of the No. 3 Arizona State/No. 11 Arkansas-Little Rock matchup on Friday, Mar. 27.
 
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.