FORT MYERS Fla. – Just two days after a decisive home victory against Siena, the FGCU women's basketball team hits the road to take on in-state rival FAU in Boca Raton, Florida.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Fans can find a live broadcast of the game at FAUsports.tv. Live stats will also be available from Gametracker.
 
THE GREEN AND BLUE
FGCU travels to FAU after winning two in a row at Alico Arena. The Green and Blue have been particularly dangerous on defense, forcing 61 turnovers in the past two games combined and holding both Siena and Ave Maria to under 45 points.
 
Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) and China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State) lead the team with 17 and 16 steals respectively, as the Eagles have forced opponents to an averaged 20.0 turnovers per game.
 
Offensively, FGCU spreads the ball around with five players averaging more than 8.0 points per game.  Erica Nelson (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee Summit North HS/Johnson County CC) tops the roster with 91 points on the season, while Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS/Chipola College) trails closely behind with 87.
 
After missing four games with an injury, sharpshooter Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) returned to the lineup against Siena and immediately changed the dynamic of the Eagles' offense.  The redshirt-sophomore owns a team-high 12.0 points per game and is a consistent long-range threat averaging 46.4 percent from the perimeter.
 
SCOUTING FAU
^ Of the six opponents from 2015-16 that FGCU faces this season, FAU is the only team that defeated the Eagles last year.
^ The Owls hold a 3-1 record at home in 2016-17.
^ FAU is 40.9 percent from the floor and average 6.5 3-pointers per game, which is fifth in Conference USA.
^ The Owls have already faced against ASUN competition this season, falling to North Florida in double-overtime by a score of 95-88 in November.
^ FAU is averaging 20.9 turnovers per game – the most in Conference USA.
 
KEY PLAYERS
5 Raven Doyle - Doyle is averaging 10.1 points and a team-best 8.1 rebounds per game. Her .492 field goal percentage ranks second on the team.  
15 Sasha Cedeno - Cedeno leads the team with 12.5 points per game and saw her first double-double of the season as she broke her career highs in both points (24) and rebounds (10) against Arizona.
34 Katelyn O'Reilly – FAU added a reliable shooter in O'Reilly, who is averaging 51.9 percent from the floor so far this season. The rookie owns a team-high eight steals on the season.
 
SERIES HISTORY
FGCU holds a 0-1 all-time record overall FAU. The Eagles fell to the Owls 62-55 in the teams' only meeting on Nov. 17, 2015. For FGCU, the game marked the team's first home loss in almost two years.
 
The Eagles and the Owls traded the lead on 14 occasions through the 40-minute battle with neither team ever leading by more than 10 points. FGCU took a 32-25 lead into the break but was stifled in the third quarter and shot just 17.6 percent from the field as FAU outscored the Eagles 18-8. The teams matched scores five times in the fourth quarter but the Owls shot 46.7 percent to the Eagles' 28.6 percent in the final 10 minutes and ultimately pulled away with a seven-point victory.
 
RECAPPING SIENA
Behind a strong defensive effort, the FGCU women's basketball team downed the Siena Saints by a score of 66-42 in the first game of a double header with men's basketball on Friday night. The Eagles have now won two in a row and move to a 4-5 record, while the Saints slide to 2-6.
 
FGCU held Siena to its lowest score of the season and collected almost one third of its points (21) off of 27 Saints' turnovers.
 
Julien kept pressure on Jackie Benitez, allowing the Saints' lead scorer to just six points. The JUCO transfer also led the Eagles with a career-high 17 points, including three triples. Her pair of steals early in the first quarter set the pace for FGCU's defense.
 
Laughter returned to the Eagles lineup after sitting out four games with an injury and immediately made an impact. Defensively, she picked up two steals and a career-high two blocks, while adding 11 points in just 20 minutes of action.
 
FLORIDA FOES
Since transitioning to Division I in 2007, the Eagles hold a record of 81-19 over teams from the state of Florida.
 
RAINING THREES
The team's moniker Raining Threes isn't just for show. FGCU has made an incredible 4,148 3-pointers in 14 seasons for an average of nine per game. The Eagles are riding a 344-game streak with at least one three ball and have made a long-range shot in 459 of 460 games in program history.
 
UP NEXT
The Eagles will return to the Nest on Wednesday, Dec. 14 for a 7 p.m. game against North Carolina A&T. Last season, FGCU downed the Aggies 60-36 in its season opener.
 
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 382-78 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.0 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 443-105 (80.8 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.