ESTERO, Fla. – The FGCU women's basketball team suffered a devastating 76-47 loss to George Washington on day two of the Gulf Coast Showcase at Germain Arena. The Green and Blue slides to 2-4 on the season, while the Colonials improve to 4-2.
 
From the get-go, the Eagles looked outpaced by the Colonials, who put up eight points before FGCU got on the board, but the Eagles' failure to work together and convert the opportunities they did get into points is what ultimately allowed George Washington to run away with the game.
 
"If you're not ready to compete on every play and you're playing a team as good as George Washington, this is the kind of thing that can happen to you," said head coach Karl Smesko. "Hopefully our kids will learn from that, but it was obviously a disappointing performance from us. The mentality wasn't right from the very beginning. Obviously, it's hard to have a lot of team cohesion and play well together when there are four or five new kids on the floor, but I still think we can do better than we did today."
 
The team's lone returning starter Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) fought to keep the Eagles in the game, knocking down a pair of three-pointers and battling her way to a team-high nine points. Gradinjan was later assisted by China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State) who collected nine of her own with the help of a six-point run in the third quarter.  
 
FGCU couldn't quite get going in the first quarter, trailing by as many as 15 points after shooting 28.6 percent from the floor. Things continued to slide in the second after a 6-0 run gave the Colonials a 20-point lead. As the end of the half neared, the Eagles gained some momentum back with back-to-back threes from Gradinjan and Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS). FGCU trailed by 17 as they headed to the locker room for halftime.
 
The beginning of the third quarter looked a lot like the beginning of the game as George Washington continued to outwork the Eagles. With 5:32 remaining in the quarter, Dow came out with intensity and provided a spark with six unanswered points. The Eagles momentum didn't last long after a series of foul shots and a layup from Ciara Washington put George Washington up by 30 – its largest lead of the night. The teams swapped scores before FGCU cut the gap to 29 as time expired.
 
UP NEXT
The Green and Blue will have one final shot to come away with a win at Germain Arena when they face Kent State on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 11 a.m. to wrap up the Gulf Coast Showcase.
 
GULF COAST SHOWCASE DAY 2
WKY 79, Kent State 73 (OT)
GW 76, FGCU 47
Baylor 104, DePaul 72
To Go:
Ohio State vs. Syracuse 7:30 PM
 
SMESKO
Head coach Karl Smesko earned his sixth-consecutive ASUN 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 in 2014-15 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 380-77 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.2 with a mark of 145-13 (91.7 W%) in ASUN contests and has led the team to an 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 441-104 (80.9 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.