NASHVILLE – With a career 3-point performance from senior Whitney Knight, the FGCU women's basketball team made a season-high 15 3-pointers and earned a 71-39 win Sunday afternoon at Lipscomb University. FGCU won its ninth-straight game with the victory at Allen Arena and moved to 16-4 on the season with a 4-0 mark in Atlantic Sun Conference play, while the Bisons fell to 3-16 with a 0-4 conference record.
 
The Eagles shot 50 percent from 3-point range in the first quarter, with five makes on five attempts from Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School). The long-range advantage helped the Eagles take a seven-point lead to open the game and extend the advantage to double figures before the break. Knight added two more 3-pointers in the second half, with four others converting from long range to consistently increase the lead in the remaining time. Knight finished with a season-best 25 points to lead all players and set a career-high with seven 3-pointers en route to the 32-point win.
 
As a unit, the Eagles shot 41.4 percent from the floor with a 38.5 percent clip from beyond-the-arc. The team knocked down a season-best 15 3-pointers and held the Bisons to a 30.2 success rate overall with just two makes from long range on 14 attempts. FGCU outrebounded Lipscomb 41-34 overall but held a 12-9 advantage on offensive boards for 13 second-chance points. The Eagles also held an 18-12 advantage on turnovers and dished out 19 assists with 10 steals.
 
Knight led all players with the season-best mark of 25 points. The senior went 7-for-10 from 3-point range and added a pair of layups. She also contributed four rebounds, four assists, four steals and a block with no turnovers in 26 minutes on the court. Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) also scored double figures in the win with 12 points in just 17 minutes. Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) and Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wisc./Muskego High School) each added nine points for the Green and Blue. Cattani went 3-for-6 from distance with all points coming in the fourth quarter.
 
"After a little bit of a rocky start to the season, we've played better and that's definitely been encouraging," said head coach Karl Smesko after the team's sixth road victory of the year. "Whitney coming back from injury was a great boost for us. She was really outstanding for us in the first half today and helped us build a lead but as a team, the beginning of the second half was when we played our best basketball."
 
Knight's stellar performance started early in the contest as the senior won the tipoff and gave the Eagles a quick 6-2 lead on back-to-back long-range makes. The Bisons held close with long jumpers but were unable to stifle Knight and the strong shooting. Knight ultimately went 5-for-5 from 3-point range in the first quarter alone to lead FGCU to a 17-10 lead after the first stanza.
 
Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) extended the FGCU advantage to double figures to open the quarter with another long-range shot but the Bisons responded quickly with mid-range jumpers on consecutive possessions. The Eagles extended the lead back to 11 points at 25-14 with a 3-pointer from Haas and a fast-break layup from Knight. The teams traded buckets in the final three minutes of the half, making way for a 29-18 advantage in favor of FGCU at halftime.
 
The Eagles extended the lead quickly in the third quarter as Knight matched her season-high 19 points on a layup and Gradinjan pushed the ball in transition for another easy basket.  After a Lipscomb layup, Gradinjan scored another five-straight points to push FGCU ahead 38-20. The Eagles went 6-for-8 to start the second half and pushed their lead to 19 points midway through the third quarter.
 
Knight helped extend the advantage with a spectacular pass to Haas and knocked down her seventh 3-pointer of the game with one minute to play in the third. Knight's contributions plus single free throws from Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) and Jaime Gluesing (Solon, Ohio/Solon High School) brought the score to 53-29 after three quarters.
 
The fourth quarter saw 3-pointers from Haas, Cattani and Tayler Goodall (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North High School) as the Eagles extended the lead to a game-high 32 points and eventually earned the 71-39 win.
 
With schedule changes due to Winter Storm Jonas, the Eagles' originally scheduled Monday night game against Kennesaw State will now be played Tuesday, Jan. 26 at 2 p.m.  The team will continue the three-game road swing with a game at UNF on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 2 p.m.
 
Game Notes: FGCU won its ninth-straight game of the season and is undefeated in A-Sun action since Feb. 1, 2014…the team is now 19-0 all-time against Lipscomb…Knight went 5-for-5 from 3-point range in the first quarter and finished with a career-high 7 long-range makes on 10 attempts…the senior was three points shy of her career high of 28 points (set Nov. 28, 2014 against Clemson)…with one block on the day, Whitney Knight maintains the second position all-time in the Atlantic Sun Conference record books at 266 career blocks…DyTiesha Dunson ranks second all-time in the FGCU record books with 357 career assists (complete records available here)…
 
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 361-71 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.5 with a mark of 135-13 (91 W%) in Atlantic Sun contests and has led the team to a 71-1 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 422-98 (81.1 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.