FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's basketball team (6-5) sealed its fourth win in a row on Wednesday night with a 67-41 result over North Carolina A&T (1-8) at Alico Arena.
 
With the 26-point victory, the Eagles have outscored opponents by more than 20 points in three of their last four games and held their competitors to 50 or less in the last four straight.
 
The Eagles defense allowed N.C. A&T to just a 28.8 percent clip and forced 19 turnovers from the Aggies. Offensively, FGCU went 26-for-65 (40.0 pct.) including 10 makes from three-point land. N.C. A&T had just one make from behind the arc.
 
"Fortunately, we played pretty good defense, so we made it tough for them to score," said head coach Karl Smesko. "Offensively, we didn't execute very well. We obviously didn't shoot very well with the exception of (Taylor) Gradinjan, who shot it very well tonight. She came up big for us. Jessica Cattani started making good passes against the zone and finding people behind the zone to get us some easy baskets. I thought Tytionia (Adderly) did a good job for us off the bench. We were having some trouble rebounding, and when we put her in she did a great job on the boards and was able to get us a couple baskets."
 
Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) was transcendent from beyond the arc with a season-high five triples en route to a 16-point performance on the night – just one point shy of matching her season high.
 
Meanwhile, Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS) found ways to create opportunities under the basket, collecting a career-high seven assists and adding eight points of her own.
 
Even though she saw just 15 minutes of action, Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman) led FGCU on the boards with seven rebounds. The Eagles' rookie is averaging a team-best 6.4 boards on the season.
 
With Erica Nelson (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee Summit North HS/Johnson County CC) limited with a minor injury, Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) made her first start since last January and responded with seven points and a steal for the Eagles.
 
FGCU started to roll in the first quarter with threes from Gradinjan, Laughter and Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS/Chipola College), giving the Eagles a nine-point lead. With less than a minute to go in the quarter, the Aggies were able to cut their deficit to seven thanks to a layup from Whitney Martin.
 
FGCU padded its advantage in the beginning of second with back-to-back Gradinjan triples, but the Eagles' allowed N.C. A&T to remain close by committing seven turnovers in the quarter. The teams hit the locker room for halftime with FGCU leading 29-19.
 
After the break, FGCU began hitting its stride by limiting mistakes and making smarter passes. The Eagles quickly climbed to a 14 advantage after another three from Gradinjan – her fourth of the game – and points off a fast break by Julien.
 The Aggies answered with scores on back-to-back possessions. As the quarter went on, China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State) got hot under the net, popping up three straight layups for six unanswered points.
 
The Eagles started the fourth with a 20-point lead. The Aggies scored the first points of the quarter, but FGCU hit right back with an 11-1 run that included triples from Cattani and Jordin Alexander (Fisher, Ind./ Hamilton Southeastern HS/Brown) – her first as an Eagle. Despite a pair of last-minute baskets from the Aggies' Quenswayla Story, FGCU held on to a decisive 26-point victory as time expired.
 
UP NEXT`
The Eagles travel north on Saturday, Dec. 17 to face the Big Ten's Illinois for the first time in history. Tipoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
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 384-78 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.1 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 445-105 (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 raise awareness.