JACKSONVILLE – The FGCU women's basketball team picked up its 11th-straight win Saturday afternoon with a 65-38 victory against the University of North Florida. With the team's eighth road win, the Eagles move to 18-4 overall and 6-0 in Atlantic Sun Conference play, while UNF drops to 6-15 and 2-4 in league action.
 
FGCU held the Ospreys to single-digits in the first two quarters of play and limited the home team to a 24 percent clip from the floor in the first half to take the lead early on. The Eagles consistently increased the advantage and held off a brief third-quarter run by UNF to keep control of the game. FGCU sank 12 3-pointers and recorded just six turnovers to take home the win.
 
"I was really happy with our defensive effort," said head coach Karl Smesko. "We struggled to execute the offense as well as we wanted to. UNF played a matchup zone and were aggressive but we took care of the ball today and that helped us a lot."
 
As a unit, the Eagles shot 35.8 percent and held the Ospreys to 29.6 percent in the 40-minute affair. The Green and Blue converted 27.7 percent of its 3-point attempts and dished out 17 assists. The Ospreys held a slight advantage on the glass with a 42-41 rebound performance.
 
Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) led the team with 15 points, all from 3-point range and was one of eight players to score for the Green and Blue. Senior DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) contributed a season-high 14 points with four rebounds and four assists, while Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) added eight points with six rebounds, three assists and four blocks. Katie Meador (Salem, Ill./Salem Community School) pulled down a team high seven rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
 
The home team won the tipoff and took a quick five-point lead on a 3-pointer and a drive to the rim, but the Eagles responded quickly with back-to-back 3-pointers from Knight and Gradinjan. Jaime Gluesing (Solon, Ohio/Solon High School) added to the team's long-range total with a shot from the top of the arc to give FGCU a 9-5 lead in the opening minutes.
 
UNF brought the deficit back to two points on a drive but a Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) 3-point play, a Gradinjan corner 3-pointer and a jumper from Knight pushed FGCU's lead to 17-7 in the final minutes of the first quarter. The teams traded points in the final seconds as the Green and Blue took a 19-9 advantage into the first break.
 
The second quarter started slow for both teams, with neither team scoring from the floor in the first four minutes. Meador cut the dry spell with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc and helped the team hold UNF to just three points in the first nine minutes of the quarter. The Eagles saw 3-pointers from Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) and Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wisc./Muskego High School) before the end of the stanza as the team took a 30-14 lead into halftime.
 
Dunson drove to the rim on the opening play of the second half to spark a hot streak for the Eagles. Gradinjan and Atwater followed with five-straight points to force UNF into a timeout, before Dunson grabbed a steal and converted for a fast-break layup to push the FGCU run to nine points in a span of 90 seconds.
 
After trading long-range shots, Dunson and Laughter put together another five-point spurt to push the Eagle advantage to 47-17 midway through the third quarter. A Dunson three-point play gave FGCU a 50-17 lead but it was the last points the team scored in the quarter as the Ospreys sparked a run of their own. UNF scored 11-straight points to finish out the third quarter and cut the deficit to 50-28 with 10 minutes left to play.
 
Gluesing opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer from the left corner as FGCU outscored the Ospreys 15-10 in the final 10 minutes to seal the 27-point win in Jacksonville.
 
The Eagles return to Southwest Florida Thursday, Feb. 4 for a pivotal A-Sun matchup against the league's only other undefeated team – Jacksonville University. The Eagles and Dolphins will face off at 7 p.m. at Alico Arena as both teams look to improve to 7-0 in conference play. JU defeated Stetson 69-49 Saturday afternoon and is 14-7 this season.
 
Game Notes: FGCU won its 11th-straight game of the season and is undefeated in A-Sun action since Feb. 1, 2014…the Eagles committed a season low six turnovers in the game…the team is now 17-2 all-time against UNF…Dunson matched her season-high with 14 points on the day…with four blocks against UNF, Whitney Knight maintains the second position all-time in the Atlantic Sun Conference record books at 272 career blocks…DyTiesha Dunson ranks second all-time in the FGCU record books with 368 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 363-71 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.5 with a mark of 137-13 (91 W%) in Atlantic Sun contests and has led the team to a 72-1 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 424-98 (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.