NEWARK, N.J. – The FGCU women's basketball team held NJIT to just 32 points Saturday afternoon at the Fleisher Athletic Center and moved to 10-0 in Atlantic Sun Conference play with a 53-32 victory. The Eagles stand at 22-4 overall after the afternoon victory, while the Highlanders fall to 4-21 with a 1-9 league mark.
 
The win in Newark stands as FGCU's 15th straight of the season and 39th straight against an A-Sun foe. The team holds' the nation's second-best win streak against conference opponents, behind only UConn, and is one of just five teams nationwide undefeated on the road this season.
 
The Highlanders played FGCU close in the first quarter but the Eagles increased their offensive efficiency and took a double-figure lead at halftime. FGCU extended the advantage to a game-high 21 points late in the third quarter with help from three double-figure scorers and limited the Highlanders to just 12 made field goals on the day.
 
"We're competing on the defensive end every night, but we need to get to a place where we start making more shots," said head coach Karl Smesko. "NJIT mixed up their defense and we got some good looks but we weren't shooting the ball well. They were able to stay in the game because we didn't make the shots we needed to. I think early in the second half we were able to make some easy baskets and get to the spots we wanted to be and that ended up bring the difference."
 
As a unit, the Eagles shot 34.5 percent and limited the Highlanders to a 29.3 percent mark. FGCU made seven 3-pointers and went 8-for-9 from the free throw line. The team outrebounded NJIT 36-28 and forced 19 turnovers, while losing the ball just 11 times in the 40-minute contest. The Eagles scored 20 points on NJIT miscues.
 
Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) and Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) led the Green and Blue with 13 points each. The season high mark for Haas stands as a further milestone as the senior scored her 1,000th career point in the second quarter. Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds high School) added 12 points for FGCU with a team-high six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
 
Knight won the tip and put the Eagles on the board with a layup right away but the Highlanders responded with a 3-pointer to take their only lead of the game. The Eagles pushed ahead with the advantage with successful free throws on each of the next three possessions. NJIT added a second long-range shot but Knight knocked down a shot from the corner to push FGCU's lead to 10-6 in the opening minutes of the contest.
 
After a timeout, the Highlanders increased their defensive intensity and limited FGCU's shot opportunities. The Eagles continued to move the ball well on the perimeter but were unable to get good looks at the basket. NJIT took advantage of FGCU's dry spell and cut the deficit on a string of successful possessions. The Highlanders tied the game at 12 in the last minute of the first quarter but the Eagles reclaimed the lead with two more successful free throws from Katie Meador (Salem, Ill./Salem Community High School).
 
Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) started the second quarter for the Green and Blue with a corner 3-pointer. The Highlanders knocked in two free throws but the Eagles held the home team scoreless from the floor for a four-minute span. During that time, the Eagles saw points from Knight and Atwater to push the score to 23-14. Soon after, Haas drove baseline to give FGCU its first double-figure lead and forced the Highlanders into a timeout midway through the second quarter.  The layup marked Haas' 1,000th career point at FGCU.
 
The Highlanders put together four-point run after the timeout but Haas cut the streak with a 3-pointer from the right side, bringing the score to 28-18. The teams traded empty possessions to finish the quarter and the Eagles went into the break with the 10-point advantage.
 
The Eagles shot just 32 percent from the floor in the first half with a 23.5 percent clip from 3-point range but sank 8-of-9 free throw attempts and capitalized for 13 points on NJIT's 12 turnovers.
 
Jaime Gluesing (Solon, Ohio/Solon High School) produced back-to-back layups as FGCU carried its momentum into the second half. NJIT knocked down a 3-pointer on its first possession but the Eagles used an eight-point run from Haas and Atwater to extend the advantage to 40-23 four minutes in.
 
The Eagles shot 60 percent from the floor in the third quarter and extended the lead to a game-high 21 points at the end of the period. The fourth quarter stood as a defensive battle on both ends as FGCU limited the Highlanders to just two points – both from the free throw line – in the 10 minute span. The Eagles added just four points in the final stanza but maintained the heavy advantage through the final whistle and took a 21-point victory in Newark.
 
FGCU will endure another quick turnaround as the team travels to Spartanburg, S.C. to take on USC Upstate Monday, Feb. 15 in a 7 p.m. tipoff. The Eagles will return to Southwest Florida for home games against Kennesaw State and Lipscomb next weekend and will finish the regular season at Stetson on Feb. 27.
 
Game Notes: Stephanie Haas became the ninth player in program history to hit 1,000 career points, joining teammates Kaneisha Atwater and Whitney Knight…FGCU won its 15th-straight game of the season and is undefeated in A-Sun action since Feb. 1, 2014…the 39-game win streak in conference play stands as the nation's second-best streak behind only UConn…the Eagles are now 3-0 all-time against the Highlanders with two wins this season……the Eagles are one of 10 teams nationwide undefeated in conference play, joining Connecticut, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Colorado State, Albany, New Mexico State, Arkansas State, Penn and UC Riverside……with two blocks at NJIT, Whitney Knight maintains the second position all-time in the Atlantic Sun Conference record books at 284 career blocks and is just six away from the record…DyTiesha Dunson ranks second all-time in the FGCU record books with 381 career assists…Jaime Gluesing played in her 127th career game Saturday afternoon and is just five games shy of the FGCU games played record (complete records available here).
 
TICKET SALES
Single-game tickets for all FGCU women's basketball games are on sale.  Fans can purchase tickets online at FGCUAthletics.com, over the phone at 239-590-7145 or in person at the Alico Arena Box Office.
 
SMESKO
Head coach Karl Smesko earned his fifth-consecutive Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year award after a successful 2014-15 campaign. Under his direction, the team compiled a Division I program best record of 31-3, including a 14-0 mark in conference action and earned its first-ever national ranking. The team earned its third NCAA Tournament appearance as a seven seed and won its first ever DI NCAA Tournament game against No. 10 Oklahoma State. With 31 wins in the 2014-15 season, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 11-straight 20+ win seasons.  He maintains a record of 367-71 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.5 with a mark of 141-13 (91 W%) in Atlantic Sun contests and has led the team to a 77-1 record in conference play in the last five seasons.  The six-time Atlantic Sun 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 428-98 (81.1 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.