FORT MYERS, Fla. – With another strong third-quarter performance, the FGCU women's basketball team moved to 2-0 in Atlantic Sun Conference action with a 54-43 win over USC Upstate Saturday afternoon at Alico Arena. As the winners of seven-straight games, the Eagles move to 14-4 on the year, while the Spartans fall to 10-7 with an even 1-1 mark in league play.
 
The teams traded the lead five times in the first half with Upstate's offensive intensity holding control of the game. The visiting team maintained the advantage for the majority of the first two quarters and sent the Eagles into halftime trailing 29-26. The deficit did not last long past the break as the Eagles increased their efficiency and used a 10-2 run over a five-minute span to take a 41-33 lead late in the third. The Green and Blue ultimately outscored USC Upstate 28-14 in the second half to seal the team's seventh home victory of the season.
 
"This was another really competitive game," noted head coach Karl Smesko. "Upstate played a great first half and we didn't execute defensively at the level we were hoping for during that time. During the second half, I thought our defense was excellent, much better than the first half. Our defense bailed us out on a day where we didn't shoot it as well as we like."
 
As a unit, the Eagles shot 33.8 percent from the floor and held the Spartans to a 28.8 percent success rate – 10 percent worse than their season average. FGCU made nine 3-point attempts and limited Upstate to no points from beyond-the-arc but allowed the Spartans to make 13-of-20 free throws. The Spartans outrebounded the Eagles, 44-41, and turned the ball over 13 times compared to FGCU's seven miscues.
 
Senior Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) led all players with 15 points on the afternoon, while Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) and Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) each contributed 12 points. Knight also added nine rebounds, five assists and five blocks in 36 minutes on the court. DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) led the team with a career high 10 rebounds and added seven points and seven assists.
 
USC Upstate was quick to start the contest and took a 4-0 lead on a mid-range jumper and a pair of free throws. The Spartans extended the deficit to 6-2 before the Eagles sparked a 7-0 run to claim a 9-6 lead four minutes in. The FGCU run included a jumper from Dunson, a 3-pointer by Atwater and a Gradinjan layup. Upstate responded right away and traded the lead with the home team twice in the quarter with neither team taking more than a four-point advantage. After 10 minutes, the Spartans held a 16-14 lead with six made shots from the charity stripe.

Upstate went ahead 20-14 in the first minute of the second quarter before FGCU's long-range attempts starting falling. Dunson knocked down a shot to bring the score to 20-17 before Gradinjan and Knight followed in the next three minutes to give the home team the lead. The Eagles held Upstate scoreless for over five minutes and created a 10-0 run to go ahead 24-20 with four minutes left in the first half but were unable to take complete control. The Spartans added a seven-point run to finish the half and went into the break with a 29-26 advantage.
 
After trading baskets in the opening minutes of the second half, FGCU sparked a run as Atwater drove through man-to-man pressure and pushed the Eagles ahead 33-31. Following Atwater's drive, FGCU saw layups from Jaime Gluesing (Solon, Ohio/Solon High School) and Gradinjan and an Atwater long-range shot to give the Eagles their largest lead yet at 41-33. The Spartans added a 3-point play in the final minutes of the quarter but with one more Atwater layup, the Eagles went into the final quarter with a 43-36 lead.
 
Upstate cut the deficit back to five points early in the fourth, but a Dunson jumper sparked another offensive surge for the Green and Blue. Gradinjan followed with a layup before Knight produced a seven-point spurt of her own to add to an 11-2 run against the Spartans midway through the final quarter. With the run, the Eagles extended the lead to a game-high 14 points with four minutes remaining. The visiting team added three more successful free throws in the final three minutes to bring the game to its final score of 54-43 in favor of FGCU.
 
The Eagles will take a quick turnaround before hosting the A-Sun's newest member, NJIT. The team's first-ever meeting against the Highlanders is set for Monday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. NJIT is 3-14 this season with a 0-2 record in league play. The team fell to Upstate at home 58-41 and battled to a five-point loss at Stetson Saturday afternoon.
 
Game Notes: The Eagles are now 72-1 all time in Atlantic Sun Conference games played at Alico Arena with 63-straight wins…Dunson ranks second all-time in the FGCU record books with 348 career assists (complete records available here)…FGCU is now 14-2 all-time against USC Upstate with nine-straight wins and is 9-0 against the Spartans at home….
 
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. 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 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 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 game 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 359-71 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.4 with a mark of 133-13 (91 W%) in Atlantic Sun contests and has led the team to a 69-1 record in conference play in the last five seasons.  The six-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year earned his 400th career win last season in just 493 career games, two games faster than UConn's Geno Auriemma, and holds a career record of 420-98 (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.