FORT MYERS, Fla. – Once again, an incredible fourth quarter performance solidified a victory for the FGCU women's basketball team at the Hilton Garden Inn Classic. The Eagles (10-6) downed UC Riverside (6-6) 60-45 on Friday night to sweep the tournament at remain perfect at home on the season.
 
"Offensively, it wasn't great execution against a good defensive team, but defensively, I thought we guarded UC Riverside very well," said head coach Karl Smesko. "They've got some really good players, and we were able to contain them."
 
FGCU forced 18 turnovers, which they converted into 11 points and held the Highlanders to just seven points in the fourth quarter.
 
Three Eagles racked up double-figure scores in the contest. Tournament MVP Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) led the pack with a team-high 14 points, followed by fellow All-Tournament Team member China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State) who collected 12 and Jordin Alexander (Fisher, Ind./ Hamilton Southeastern HS/Brown) who tallied 11.
 
Mikala McGhee (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville HS/George Mason/Missouri State) helped out on the defensive end with a career-high eight rebounds and added one of the Eagles' five steals on the night.
 
Gradinjan got the Eagles rolling in the first quarter with three triples in the first five minutes of the game, but as things slowed down on the offensive end, the Highlanders caught up with the help of Rejane Verin who racked up six points early on.
 
The first four minutes of the second quarter remained scoreless with the Eagles leading 17-16. UC Riverside took control with five-straight points and maintained an advantage throughout the period. As FGCU trailed by five, a three-pointer from Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) in the final three seconds of the half narrowed the gap for the Eagles heading into intermission.
 
The Green and Blue bounced back in the third quarter with six points from Erica Nelson (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee Summit North HS/Johnson County CC) and another four from Dow, which put FGCU up by one.
 
For the second night in a row, the fourth quarter belonged to the Eagles as FGCU outscored the Highlanders 21-7 with the help of three triples from Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS/Chipola College). Dow and Nasrin Ulel (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta HS) added treys of their own as the Eagles ran away with it, capturing a 15-point win.
 
UP NEXT
The Green and Blue will start off the new year with a home contest against Savannah State on Monday, Jan. 2. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tickets can be purchased online at FGCUTickets.com or by calling the university's ticket office at 239-590-7145.
 
TOURNAMENT RESULTS
Thursday, Dec. 29
UC Riverside 51, Samford 48
FGCU 60, Hampton 49
 
Friday, Dec. 30
Hampton 63, Samford 57
FGCU 60, UC Riverside 45
 
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
MVP: Taylor Gradinjan (FGCU)
China Dow (FGCU)
Rejane Verin (UC Riverside)
Monnazjea Finney-Smith (Hampton)
Hannah Nichols (Samford)
 
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 388-79 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 449-106 (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.