FORT MYERS, Fla. – Backed by 49 first-half points and a season-high 16 3-pointers, the FGCU women's basketball team sailed to its 18th-straight win against Lipscomb University Monday night at Alico Arena. With the win, the Eagles move to 25-4 on the season with an unblemished 13-0 mark in Atlantic Sun Conference play. The Bisons fall to 5-23 with a 2-11 league record.
 
DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) set the tone for the Green and Blue early with a corner 3-pointer on the team's first possession. The Eagles shot 53 percent in the first quarter and added six made free throws on six attempts to take a 15-point lead after 10 minutes. The home team saw five 3-pointers from four different players in the second stanza as the Eagles extended their lead to 29 points at the break. The Bisons held FGCU to a 25 percent clip in the third quarter to cut the deficit briefly but the Eagles knocked down another four long-range shots to push the advantage to a game-high 41 points and took the 91-52 victory in front of the home crowd.
 
"I thought we really played well, especially in the first half," said head coach Karl Smesko. "Lipscomb is a really tough team to defend and holding them to 20 points in the first half was a really good team effort. I thought offensively we had a higher level of activity tonight and we shot the ball much better, which made things fun for our team."
 
As a unit, the Eagles shot 45.6 percent from the floor for the best shooting percentage in a game since Nov. 23 when the team converted 48.4 percent of its shots. The team knocked down long-range shots at a rate of 41 percent and went 13-for-15 from the free throw line. FGCU outrebounded Lipscomb 43-34 and forced 14 turnovers with just eight of its own, while dishing out a season-high 25 assists with eight steals and four blocks.
 
Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) led all players offensively with 18 points on the night. The sophomore knocked down four 3-pointers and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) produced her third-straight double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and added five assists and three blocks. Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) and Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) also contributed double figures for the Eagles with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Dunson facilitated the high-powered offensive by matching her career-high nine assists in just 22 minutes on the court.
 
In all, 11 different players scored for the Green and Blue with seven contributing to the 3-point total.
 
Dunson started things off for the Green and Blue with a corner 3-pointer on the game's opening possession. Lipscomb responded with a layup on its first chance, but sparked by a Jaime Gluesing (Solon, Ohio/Solon High School) layup, the Eagles constructed an eight-point run to take control right away. With 3-pointers from Haas and Knight, FGCU went ahead 20-7 midway through the first quarter. Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) and Haas combined for another five points to finish the quarter, giving FGCU a 15-point lead after 10 minutes of play.
 
The teams traded baskets to open the second stanza but back-to-back long-range shots from Laughter put FGCU ahead 25 points midway through the quarter. Lipscomb added five points right away but the Green and Blue saw consecutive 3-pointers from Knight, Haas and Gradinjan to end the half.
 
After shooting 56.7 percent in the first half with a 53.3 percent clip from 3-point range, the Eagles went into the break with a 49-20 advantage.
 
The Bisons rebounded after halftime and held the Eagles to a 25 percent success rate in the third quarter. With the stifling defense, Lipscomb outscored FGCU 18-16 in the third quarter and brought the score to 65-38 with 10 minutes to play.
 
The teams traded opportunities in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter before a Laughter 3-pointer sparked another offensive threat for the home team. Haas followed with a traditional 3-point play with six minutes to go before freshman Tayler Goodall (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North High School) sank back-to-back 3-pointers near the mid-point of the quarter. FGCU allowed the Bisons to eight points in the last five minutes but a layup from Laughter and two free throws by senior Bethany Murrell (Palestine, Ind./New Palestine High School) pushed the Eagle lead to 41 points in the final minute.
 
The Eagles' quest for their fourth perfect conference season in five years continues this weekend as they travel to DeLand to take on the Stetson Hatters Saturday, Feb. 27 in the final regular season contest of the year. The Green and Blue has already secured its sixth-straight A-Sun Championship and the No. 1 seed in the A-Sun Tournament but will look to finish the year with a 19th-straight win.
 
Game Notes: FGCU won its 18th-straight game of the season and is undefeated in A-Sun action since Feb. 1, 2014…the 42-game win streak in conference play stands as the nation's second-best streak behind only UConn…the Eagles are one of nine teams nationwide undefeated in conference play, joining Connecticut, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Colorado State, New Mexico State, Arkansas State, Penn and UC Riverside……FGCU has won 69-straight games against A-Sun foes at Alico Arena…with 10 rebounds against Lipscomb, Whitney Knight took over the third position in the FGCU all-time rebound records at 649…Knight now stands nine rebounds away from the second place on the list…DyTiesha Dunson ranks second all-time in the FGCU record books with 396 career assists, 23 away from the all-time leader…Jaime Gluesing played in her 130th career game Monday and is just three games shy of the FGCU games played record.
 
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 last season. 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 24 wins and counting, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 12-straight 20+ win seasons.  He maintains a record of 369-71 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.9 with a mark of 143-13 (91.6 W%) in Atlantic Sun contests and has led the team to a 79-1 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 430-98 (81.4 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.