FORT MYERS, Fla. – After a historic 2014-15 season, the FGCU women's basketball team ends the year among the nation's top-25 teams in the USA Today Coaches' Poll. With 147 points, the Eagles earned the No. 21 position in the final poll of the season, as announced following the NCAA National Championship.
The Green and Blue concluded the monumental season with a record of 31-3 overall. The win total set an FGCU Division I record and included 14 Atlantic Sun Conference wins and a 26-game win streak. After producing a 27-2 record during the regular season and picking up their fifth-straight A-Sun Championship, the Eagles improved with three convincing victories in the 2015 A-Sun Championship tournament and earned a program-best seventh seed for the 2015 NCAA Tournament. In a rematch of the 2014 event, the Eagles took on no. 10 Oklahoma State on Saturday, Mar. 21 in Tallahassee and earned a thrilling 75-67 win over the Cowgirls for the program's first-ever win in the Division I NCAA Tournament. The team's season ultimately came to an end with a 65-47 loss to No. 7 Florida State, who challenged No. 3 South Carolina in the Sweet Sixteen.
As of the NCAA's last update, FGCU stands at 15 in the official RPI. The team ranked as high as 13 throughout the year, to set a new standard in FGCU athletics. This year's team picked up notable wins over No. 25 George Washington, Quinnipiac, Wichita State, Arkansas State, Cal-State Northridge and Southern Miss. in nonconference action before defeating rival Stetson and Northern Kentucky twice in conference play. Those marquee wins gave FGCU a record of 9-2 against the RPI's top-100 teams, with the only loss aside from FSU coming in double overtime to Ohio State, who stands at 27 in the RPI and finished the year just ahead of FGCU in the Top-25. The Eagles' record against the RPI's top-50 stands at 5-2.
With the No. 21 ranking, the Eagles stand ahead of Texas, Rutgers, South Florida and George Washington in the Coaches' Top-25.
The Eagles return all but two graduates for the 2015-16 season including the team's top three scorers in A-Sun Player of the Year
Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School), First-Team All Conference member
Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) and
Stephanie Haas (Avon Lakes, Ohio/Magnificat High School).
| AP Top-25 |
| 1 | Connecticut (32) | 38-1 | 800 |
| 2 | Notre Dame | 36-3 | 768 |
| 3 | South Carolina | 34-3 | 726 |
| 4 | Maryland | 34-3 | 714 |
| 5 | Baylor | 33-4 | 641 |
| 6 | Tennessee | 30-6 | 637 |
| 7 | Florida St | 32-5 | 635 |
| 8 | Arizona St | 29-6 | 533 |
| 9 | North Carolina | 26-9 | 516 |
| 10 | Louisville | 27-7 | 504 |
| 11 | Iowa | 26-8 | 388 |
| 12 | Duke | 23-11 | 382 |
| 13 | Oregon St | 27-5 | 371 |
| 14 | Stanford | 26-10 | 346 |
| 15 | Princeton | 31-1 | 334 |
| 16 | Kentucky | 24-10 | 328 |
| 17 | Dayton | 28-7 | 318 |
| 18 | Mississippi St | 27-7 | 256 |
| 19 | Gonzaga | 26-8 | 190 |
| 20 | Ohio State | 24-11 | 152 |
| 21 | FGCU | 31-3 | 147 |
| 22 | Texas | 24-11 | 133 |
| 23 | Rutgers | 23-10 | 120 |
| 24 | South Florida | 27-8 | 83 |
| 25 | George Washington | 29-4 | 77 |
Others receiving votes: Chattanooga 61, DePaul 52, Arkansas-Little Rock 51, Texas A&M 49, Seton Hall 20, Syracuse 17, UCLA 8, Iowa State 8, Oklahoma 7, West Virginia 7, California 6, James Madison 4, Western Kentucky 3, Green Bay 3, St. John's 2, Miami (FL) 2, Tulane 1
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 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 347-66 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 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 406-94. 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.
