FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU Athletics Department has named men's and women's basketball players Marc-Eddy Norelia and DyTiesha Dunson as recipients of the FGCU Athletics Scholar-Athlete of the Month award for December.

Each month during the school year, the FGCU Athletics Communication Office and Athletic Academic staff will choose a pair of Eagles as the FGCU Athletics Scholar-Athlete of the Month. Those selected for the honor will have exhibited a combination of superior athletic and overall academic success.

Norelia (Orlando, Fla./Tulane/Olympia HS) is a communication major with a 3.31 GPA and has been named to the FGCU Athletics Department Honor Roll for having a GPA of 3.0 or higher in each of his five semesters on the Southwest Florida campus after transferring from Tulane following his freshman season.

Through 16 games this season, Norelia leads FGCU and ranks seventh in the league in scoring at 15.9 per game and is second in the A-Sun in rebounding at 8.7 per outing. Heading into conference play, the Orlando native is already just one double-double shy of matching the program's Division-I single-season record for double-doubles with seven, held by Chase Fieler in 2013-14. Norelia would already have the single-season D-I record had he secured just one more rebound versus Ohio, La Salle or Webber International.

The redshirt junior has been named the A-Sun Player of the Week on two occasions this season. He first earned the honor on Nov. 23 after averaging 22.3 points and 13 rebounds per game en route to helping the Eagles to their first three wins of the season. Against Youngstown State, Norelia poured in a career-high 34 points and secured a career-high 18 rebounds, matching the D-I program record for points and coming up one rebound shy of doing the same in the category. Then, on Jan. 4, he was named the A-Sun Co-Player of the Week after nearly averaging a double-double over another three-game span. Norelia averaged 18 points and nine rebounds per game en route to helping lead the Eagles to two wins, with the lone loss coming versus South Dakota in overtime, 89-81. Last year, Norelia was named A-Sun Newcomer of the Week once.

Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover HS) is a double major in criminal justice and psychology and holds a 3.65 GPA. She was named to the President's List for having a 4.0 GPA in the spring of 2013 and has been a member of the Dean's List for having a GPA of 3.5 or higher on five separate occasions. Like Norelia, Dunson has been named to the FGCU Athletics Department Honor Roll every semester at FGCU.

In 16 games this season, the senior guard leads the Green and Blue and ranks second in the A-Sun in assists with 4.4 per game. In her final year at FGCU, Dunson continues to climb the ranks on the career assists list, where she currently sits third all-time with 335, 85 assists shy of the all-time record. Additionally, her 2.41 assist-to-turnover ratio leads the league and ranks 29th in the nation. During the 2014-15 season, she turned in a similar assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.43 and not only led by the A-Sun, but also ranked among the top-15 in the nation at season's end. The Albany, Ga., native ranks sixth on the team by scoring 6.2 points per game and securing 3.2 rebounds per game. Recently, Dunson scored a season-high 14 points in back-to-back games versus Quinnipiac and Auburn on Dec. 28 and 30, respectively.

Entering her freshman season at FGCU, Dunson was named the Preseason A-Sun Freshman of the Year by CollegeSportsMadness.com. A year later, she was voted by the fans as the Preseason A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year.

FGCU ATHLETICS
In its 9th year as a Division-I member, FGCU has won a combined 48 conference regular season and tournament titles as a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference and Coastal Collegiate Swimming Association. In just its 5th year of D-I postseason eligibility, FGCU has made 21 total NCAA Championship appearances, and seven programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sports. Ticket information for upcoming events is available at FGCUAthletics.com/tickets or by calling 239-590-7145. Additional news and schedule information is available at FGCUAthletics.com. Follow us on Twitter (@FGCUEagles), Facebook (/FGCUAthletics), Instagram (@FGCUAthletics) and YouTube (/FGCUAthletics).
 
#FEEDFGCU
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 visitwww.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.