FORT MYERS, Fla. – After a tough Thanksgiving weekend at the Gulf Coast Showcase, the FGCU women's basketball team returns to the comfort of the Nest for an afternoon game against local NAIA foe Ave Maria.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Fans can find a live broadcast of the game on ESPN3. Live stats will also be available from StatBroadcast. For those looking to attend the match and support your FGCU Eagles, tickets can be purchased online at FGCUTickets.com or by calling the university's ticket office at 239-590-7145.
 
PROMOTIONS
^ Eagles fans are encouraged to where green.
^ We will have free pizza for Dirty Birds after the game.

THE EAGLES
FGCU dropped three straight against some of the toughest competition in the nation at the Gulf Coast Showcase. The Eagles enter this weekend 2-5 after losses to #9 Ohio State, George Washington and Kent State.
 
Despite the losses, the Green and Blue gained important experience, as head coach Karl Smesko tested different lineups throughout the weekend. Rookie Nasrin Ulel (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta HS) had a coming out party, knocking down 6-of-12 three-pointers in two games. Transfer Mikala McGhee (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville HS/George Mason/Missouri State) recorded her first two starts as an Eagle and led the team with seven rebounds against Kent State.
 
JUCO transfers Erica Nelson (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee Summit North HS/Johnson County CC) and Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS/Chipola College) lead the Eagles with 68 and 61 points on the season, respectively.
 
China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State) has created problems for opposing offenses with a team-high 12 steals.
 
SCOUTING AVE MARIA
Located just 40 miles from FGCU's campus, Ave Maria faces a quick turnaround after downing St. Thomas (Fla.) 55-47 on Saturday, Nov. 3.
 
The Gyrenes returned eight from last year's squad that finished 11-15 overall and enter the weekend at 4-4.
 
Top returners for Ave Maria, Lauren Gillingham and Jasmine Bateman are each averaging double-digit points with 15.5 and 14.5 respectively. Newcomer Sarah Miller leads the Gyrenes in boards with 9.5 per game. Miller was named AMU's Athlete of the Week this week after collecting double-digit rebounds in Thursday's game against Johnson and Whales and Saturday's game versus St. Thomas.
 
SERIES HISTORY
FGCU is 1-0 all-time against the Gyrenes with the teams' only meeting taking place on Nov. 23, 2014.
 
The Eagles downed Ave Maria 102-54 with help from five double-digit scorers. As a unit, the Eagles shot 51.9 percent from the floor with a 39.5 percent clip from 3-point range, while holding Ave Maria to just 31.1 percent.
 
HITTING ONE HUNDRED
FGCU has scored 100 points or more 12 times since the 2002-03 season. The squad has made it to the century mark five times since making the jump to DI, including a 102-54 win over Ave Maria in 2014.
 
COACHING LEGENDS
FGCU's Karl Smesko and Ave Maria's Bob Batson are the first and only head coaches of their respective programs.
 
Batson entered his 41st year of coaching and ninth with the Gyrene's in 2016. Prior to his time at AMU, Batson served as head coach of South Fort Myers HS, where he compiled a record of 229-107.
 
Smesko became the Eagles' first head coach during their inaugural season in 2002-03. Since then, he's led the Eagles to seven ASUN regular season championships, three ASUN tournament championships, three NCAA tournament appearences and nine consecutive postseason berths.
 
PROTECTING THE NEST
Alico Arena stands as the second-toughest place to play in all of NCAA Division I women's basketball. The first: UConn's Gampel Pavilion.  The Eagles hold a record of 137-11 at home since making the jump to Division I in 2007-08 and have won 78 out of 80 ASUN games with the home crowd behind them.
 
RECAPPING KENT STATE
After a shaky first half, the FGCU women's basketball team was unable to overcome a 22-point deficit and fell 77-64 to Kent State in its final game of the Gulf Coast Showcase at Germain Arena.
 
The Green and Blue went just 8-of-30 from the floor in the first two quarters, but elevated their play in the second half with a 45.2 percent clip. As a team, the Eagles totaled 26 points in the fourth quarter – the most they've scored in a single quarter through the entire tournament. Unfortunately, FGCU wasn't able to get enough stops to put the game back within reach, which squandered its chances of a comeback.
 
Despite the loss, four Eagles reached double-digit points. Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS) led the pack with a career-high 15, while Ulel, Julien and Dow collected 14, 13 and 10 respectively. 42 of the Eagle's 64 points came off the bench.
 
McGhee pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, but as a unit, FGCU finished with just 26 boards compared to Kent State's 47. The Eagles gave up 14 offensive rebounds, allowing the Golden Flashes to collect 18 second-chance points.
 
UP NEXT
The Eagles face Siena at Alico Arena on Friday, Dec. 9 at 5:15 p.m., before traveling across the state to square off with FAU on Sunday, Dec. 11 at 2 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 380-78 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 441-105 (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.