KENNESAW, Ga. – The FGCU women's basketball team started a Tuesday matinee at Kennesaw State with a 14-0 run and never relinquished the lead en route to a 78-47 win at the KSU Convocation Center. With its 10th-straight win, the team moves to 17-4 on the season with a perfect 5-0 record in Atlantic Sun Conference play. The Owls drop to 7-13 with a 2-3 mark against league foes.
 
The Eagles opened the game with a 14-point run, while holding the Owls scoreless for the first six and a half minutes of the contest. KSU added a pair of points from the charity stripe and a single layup in the first quarter as FGCU took a 20-point lead after 10 minutes. FGCU shot 45.7 percent in the first half and held the Owls to a 16 percent clip from the floor to extend the lead to 47-17 lead at the break. The Eagles maintained the lead through the final whistle with points from 11 different players and took home its second 30-point victory of the weekend road trip.
 
"Kennesaw changed defenses a few times but I thought we did a good job adjusting to that and getting some good shots," noted head coach Karl Smesko. "We made a lot of good decisions with the ball today and we did a good job on the defensive end aside from fouling too much."
 
As a team, the Eagles shot 36 percent overall with 12 made shots from the perimeter, while holding the Owls to a 28.9 percent success rate. The team outrebounded KSU 51-33 with a 21-5 advantage on the offensive glass and produced 15 second-chance points. The Eagles forced 15 turnovers for 17 points and went 12-for-19 from the free throw line.
 
Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) once again led the Green and Blue with 13 points on the day, all coming in the team's stellar first quarter. Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wisc./Muskego High School) also produced a career-high 13 points with Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) and Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) putting up 12 and 11 points, respectively. DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Albany High School) recorded a season high eight rebounds with a career-best mark of four steals and seven assists.
 
FGCU got off to a quick start as Knight won the tipoff and Atwater turned the first possession into two points. Knight followed with six-straight points of her own before Atwater and Gradinjan added back-to-back layups to bring the score to 12-0. Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) added to the run on a fast break near the three-minute mark to push FGCU's lead to 14-0 and force Kennesaw into a timeout.
 
Out of the breather, KSU broke the scoring drought with two shots from the free-throw line, but Haas and Atwater combined for seven-straight points for the Green and Blue to bring the score to 21-2. KSU scored its first two points from the floor with 1:33 left to play in the quarter as FGCU extended its lead to 25-4 after the first 10 minutes of action
 
The teams traded points to open the second quarter but the Owls were unable to cut the deficit to any fewer than 20 points. The Eagles maintained the advantage and finished the second period with a 12-0 run to extend the lead to 47-17 at the break.
 
FGCU began the second half in a shooting slump, making just two of its first 12 opportunities but held the Owls to just three makes in the first six minutes. Midway through the third quarter, the Eagles held a 53-24 advantage with points from eight different players.
 
Sydnei McCaskill (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips High School/Georgia) and Jaime Gluesing (Solon, Ohio/Solon High School) added long-range makes for the Green and Blue to finish the third quarter as FGCU held a 61-29 lead with 10 minutes to play.
 
The fourth quarter saw a combined 17 points from Cattani and Tayler Goodall (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North High School) as the Eagles pushed the lead to a game-high 36 points and ultimately finished with the 31-point advantage.
 
After the two-game road trip, the Eagles will return to Southwest Florida for just a few days before traveling to Jacksonville for a Saturday matchup with the University of North Florida. Tipoff against the Ospreys is set for 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 30.
 
Game Notes: FGCU won its 10th-straight game of the season and is undefeated in A-Sun action since Feb. 1, 2014…the team is now 17-2 all-time against Kennesaw State…Dunson produced a career-high four steals…with two blocks on the day, Whitney Knight maintains the second position all-time in the Atlantic Sun Conference record books at 268 career blocks…DyTiesha Dunson ranks second all-time in the FGCU record books with 364 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 362-71 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.5 with a mark of 136-13 (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 423-98 (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.