FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's basketball team (8-6) remains perfect at home with a 71-48 win over NAIA foe St. Thomas on Wednesday night.
The Eagles averaged 46.6 percent from the floor, including 66.7 percent in the third quarter en route to a 13-point win.
"I thought it was kind of an uneven effort today," said head coach
Karl Smesko. "St. Thomas played with a lot of energy and caused us to be a little bit sloppy with the ball. I thought there were definitely points in the game where they outplayed us and I was frustrate by that, but overall I feel good with the progress of the team. We'll go into the break playing pretty good basketball, and I'm hoping when we come out of the break we can continue to improve."
Three Eagles amassed double-figure points in tonight's game.
Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS) garnered a team-high 13, while
Jordin Alexander (Fisher, Ind./ Hamilton Southeastern HS/Brown) and
Tayler Goodall (Columbus, Ind./Columbus HS) each tallied 10.
Cattani sunk three triples for the second night in a row and contributed on defense with a career-high six rebounds, but it was
China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State) who led the pack with eight boards.
The Eagles jumped ahead early, holding St. Thomas to just seven points in the first quarter by forcing five Bobcats' turnovers. FGCU started off on a 13-2 run with a pair of treys from Goodall at the shot-clock buzzer. With just under 3:30 remaining in the period, the teams split the next 10 points, giving the Green and Blue an 18-7 advantage.
FGCU went on an eight-point run to start the second quarter before the Bobcats responded with back-to-back layups. The Eagles continued to build up their lead with triples from
Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS/Chipola College) and Cattani before hitting the locker rooms for halftime up 36-18
When the teams returned from the break, FGCU began to really put the game away shooting 10-15 from the floor.
Mikala McGhee (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville HS/George Mason/Missouri State) racked up five straight points to give the Eagles their largest lead of the night by knocking down a three and following up with a layup. The redshit senior has now drained a triple in each of her last three contests.
After a jumper from
Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School), the Bobcats collected eight-straight point to cut their deficit to 25. The Eagles added baskets from
Nasrin Ulel (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta HS) and
Sydnei McCaskill (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips) to maintain their advantage and ended things with a comfortable 23-point lead as time expired.
UP NEXT
The Green and Blue continue their five-game homestand next week with the Hilton Garden Inn Classic at Alico Arena. FGCU will take on Hampton on Thursday, Dec. 29 before facing UC Riverside on Friday, Dec. 30. Tipoff for both games is scheduled for 7 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 386-79 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 in 2014-15 in just 493 career games, two games faster than UConn's Geno Auriemma, and holds a career record of 446-106 (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.
