WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – After a tough game against Quinnipiac, the FGCU women's basketball team turned things around and will return home from its first road trip with a win. The Eagles (1-1) downed Hartford (1-1) 70-63 for their first victory of the season with four players tallying double-digit points.
The Green and Blue led by as many as seven points in the first half until the Hawks went on an 8-1 run to take control of the game 19 seconds before the end of the second quarter. The Eagles returned to the court down 32-31, but were able to tie it up after just two minutes of play. FGCU outscored the Hawks 39-31 in the second half, including seven-straight points in the last three minutes of play to win the game 70-63.
Forward Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) led the team in scoring with 18 points, marking the second-highest total of her career. The redshirt-sophomore was transcendent from beyond the arc, knocking down 4-of-8 from three-point land. Guards Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) and Erica Nelson (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee Summit North HS/Johnson County CC) each posted 15 points, while Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS) added 10.
Nelson was the assist-leader for the Eagles with seven, while freshman Tytionia Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman) led the team with 12 total boards.
"I thought we did a better job taking care of the ball in the second half, and a lot of our players stepped up and made big shots," said head coach Karl Smesko. Erica and Haley made some big shots, and then Jessica just had a tremendous second half."
In the first quarter, the Eagles earned a six-point lead after threes on back-to-back possessions from Laughter and Cattani, which pushed the score to 16-10. The Hawks fired back, hitting a jumper before the end of the period. Early in the second quarter, FGCU took its largest lead of the half, as Gradinjan hit a shot from beyond the arc to put the Eagles up 23-16. The advantage got cut back to three after Hartford went on a 7-3 run. Despite scores from Cattani and Nelson, the Hawks continued to control the floor, jumping ahead 32-31 before the teams hit the locker room for halftime.
Hartford was the first team to score points in the second half, but another three-pointer from Cattani tied things up at 34-all. The teams swapped scores until a steal from transfer China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State) set up another shot for Gradinjan from three-point land, putting FGCU ahead by three. The Eagles went up by six on the first possession of the fourth quarter, and increased their advantage to eight – the Eagles largest lead of the night – when Laughter hit her fourth basket from behind the arc. Down by eight, the Hawks refused to quit. With the help of four scores from Deanna Mayza, Hartford tied things up at 61-all with just over three minutes remaining, but FGCU took care of business, ending the game with 9-2.
UP NEXT
The Eagles will return to Fort Myers for their home opener against FIU on Tuesday, Nov. 15th. FGCU holds a 7-0 record over the Panthers all-time and has come out on top in seven of its last eight home openers. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
SMESKO
Head coach Karl Smesko earned his sixth-consecutive Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year award with a successful 2015-16 campaign and was named the espnW Mid-Major Coach of the Year. Under his direction, the team has compiled two-straight 30-win seasons with four perfect ASUN regular-season slates in the last five years. The team earned its first top-25 ranking and a third NCAA Tournament appearance as a seven seed last season where FGCU won its first ever DI NCAA Tournament game against No. 10 Oklahoma State. With 30 wins and counting this year, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 12-straight 20+ win seasons. He maintains a record of 379-74 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.7 with a mark of 145-13 (91.7 W%) in ASUN contests and has led the team to a 81-1 record in conference play in the last five seasons. The six-time ASUN 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 439-100 (81.5 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.
