FORT MYERS, Fla. – Behind the aggressive play of China Dow, the FGCU women's basketball team (9-6) rallied in the fourth quarter to take down Hampton (5-7) in its first game of the Hilton Garden Inn Classic at Alico Arena. With the win, the Eagles remain perfect at home with a 7-0 record.
 
Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State) came off the bench and matched career highs in points (14) and rebounds (8). Most of her work was done in the fourth quarter as the Kentucky native collected 11 points, two rebounds an assist and a steal to rally the Eagles back from a three-point deficit at the end of the third to an 11-point victory
 
"I think she made a huge difference," said head coach Karl Smesko. "She's tough to stay in front of. She was doing a good job penetrating and had some tough finishes. Not just the scoring, but we also rebounded the ball better when she was in the game. Today, I don't think we win if we don't have her performance. It was definitely exciting to see and hopefully we'll see more of that to come."
 
Despite Dow's fourth quarter performance, the Eagles offense struggled to maintain pace and create scoring opportunities throughout the game. Hampton's physical defense managed to hold FGCU to just 38.9 percent from the floor – its lowest field goal percentage at home so far this season.
 
"They're just a well-coached defensive team, and that's why they usually win this conference," Smesko continued. "Even in years when they don't have great scorers, they guard people every night, and they did a great job guarding us. I just wish we had made it more difficult for them. Tomorrow will be interesting because we play another really good defensive team, but they do it in a different way. Our execution and movement offensively is going to have to be a lot better."
 
Even though they had trouble putting points on the board in the first three quarters, the Green and Blue kept things tight by playing stingy defense. Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) contributed in that department, pulling down eight rebounds and adding two steals and a block. Gradinjan also put up 11 points for the Eagles, giving the redshirt junior her sixth double-digit performance of the season.
 
Both teams got off to a sluggish start in the first quarter. FGCU and Hampton swapped leads six times in the first 10 minutes of the game, culminating in a two-point lead for the Eagles going into the second.
 
Early in the second quarter, back-to-back three pointers from Hampton gave the Pirates a six-point advantage. FGCU retaliated with a 10-point run off layups from Dow and Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS/Chipola College) followed by triples from Gradinjan and Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School). Hampton battled back with a three from Monnazjea Finney-Smith before the teams hit the locker rooms with FGCU leading 28-27.
 
In the third quarter, the Eagles struggled to contain Hampton's perimeter shooters, allowing the Pirates to sink three more shots from beyond the arc. FGCU kept things tight with three-pointers from Gradinjan and Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS), and although Hampton maintained a 43-40 lead at the end of the third, the Pirates began to feel pressure as several players were racking up three and four fouls.
 
Dow took advantage in the fourth quarter by driving the ball at Hampton players who were already in foul trouble. After forcing Pirates forward Kaylah Lupoe to foul out, Dow was consistently able to find open lanes to the hoop for shots. The red-shirt junior racked up 11 points in the fourth quarter alone to guide the Eagles to a 60-49 win.
 
UP NEXT
The Green and Blue will continue tournament play when they take on UC Riverside tomorrow at 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at FGCUTickets.com or by calling the university's ticket office at 239-590-7145.
 
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 387-79 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 448-106 (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.