FGCU (18-4 | 6-0 A-Sun) vs. Jacksonville (14-7 | 6-0 A-Sun)
FGCU Head Coach: Karl Smesko | Walsh '97 | 14^th Season at FGCU: 363-71 (83.4%) | 17^th Season as Head Coach: 424-98 (80.8%)
Jacksonville Head Coach: Yolette McPhee-McCuin | Rhode Island '04 | 3^rd Season at JU: 39-41 (48.7%)
When: Thursday, Feb. 4 | 7 p.m.
Where: Alico Arena | Fort Myers, Fla.
Watch: ESPN3
Stats: via Statbroadcast
Game Series: FGCU leads 16-1 since first meeting in 2008
Game Notes: FGCU  |  Jacksonville
 
 
FORT MYERS, Fla. – In a game set to determine the Atlantic Sun Conference leader, the FGCU women's basketball team will host league foe Jacksonville University Thursday, Feb. 4 at Alico Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. as the Eagles and Dolphins face off for the first of two meetings in the next seven days.
 
GAME DAY ACTION
Tickets are still available and can be purchased by visiting FGCUAthletics.com/tickets, calling the Ticket Office at 239-590-7145 or by visiting the Alico Arena Ticket Office.
 
All FGCU home games will be streamed live via ESPN3 this season with David Moulton and J. Webb Horton on the call Thursday night. Live stats will be available through FGCUStats.com, while fans can also find live, in-game updates on Twitter by following @FGCU_WBB.
 
QUICK HITS:
• RAINING THREES: FGCU's 214 total 3-pointers made this season ranks fifth nationally with the 9.7 makes per game standing as the nation's seventh-best mark.
• In addition to the 3-pointers, FGCU ranks among the nation's best in scoring defense (5th), turnovers per game (3rd), turnover margin (12th) and assist to turnover ratio (8th).  
• The Eagles have held opponents to just 50.8 points per game overall this season and have allowed only 42.0 points per game against #ASunWBB foes.
• Since Whitney Knight's return from injury, FGCU has compiled a record of 12-1 with its only blemish as a five-point loss to No. 12 Mississippi State.
• FGCU is 137-13 in A-Sun contests since 2007 with just one loss since the 2011-12 campaign. The team boasts three perfect seasons in the last five years has won five-straight regular season championships with six overall since joining the A-Sun. Currently, the team is undefeated in conference action since Feb. 1, 2014 and has won 65-straight games against A-Sun opponents at Alico Arena.
• In the latest espnW rankings, FGCU stands as the nation's No. 1 Mid-Major team.
• FGCU is 16-1 against Jacksonville since the first meeting in 2008. The team lost the first meeting in Jacksonville and is since riding a 16-game win streak against the Dolphins.
 
The Eagles continue Atlantic Sun Conference play at Alico Arena with an overall record of 18-4 and an unblemished conference mark of 6-0. The team began extended the win streak to 11 games with a win at UNF last weekend and will take on the league's only other unbeaten team Thursday night in JU. With the nonconference success and another strong start to the conference slate, the team currently holds an official RPI of 71.
 
Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Westwood High School/VCU) leads the team with an average of 14.6 points per game through the season's first 22 games. Atwater is also contributing 5.6 rebounds per contest and has added 75 assists and a team-best 33 steals.
 
Since her return from injury, senior Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) has averaged 11.8 points per game and has led the paced the team with 5.7 rebounds per game. The reigning A-Sun Player of the Year earned her first start of the year against Quinnipiac and has guided the team to a 12-1 record since her return.

Sophomores Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day) and Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) have also contributed heavily on offense for the Green and Blue with 8.7 and 10.6 points per game, respectively. Laughter and Gradinjan have combined for 94 of the team's 3-pointers and currently rank as two of top long-range shooters in the conference.
 
Senior captain DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) has dished out a team-high 103 assists and has added 5.8 points in a team-high 32.8 minutes per game. She has turned the ball over just 37 times and tops the league with an assist to turnover ratio of 2.78. The assist to turnover mark also ranks 10th nationally.
 
As a team, the Green and Blue have averaged 64.5 points per game with a 38.6 percent clip from the field. The Eagles have been narrowly outrebounded 37.6 to 36.6 boards per game but have held a heavy advantage in turnovers as the team has forced 16.7 turnovers per game with only 11.2 miscues per game to rank third nationally.
 
JACKSONVILLE
FGCU and Jacksonville share the top position in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings, each with a perfect 6-0 mark in league play. The Dolphins are 14-7 on the year with an eight-game win streak that dates back to a Dec. 30 win against South Carolina State. The team previously fell to USF, UNC Wilmington, Bowling Green, Wake Forest, Syracuse and Florida State and picked up early season wins against Dartmouth, Edward Waters, FIU and Bethune Cookman. The team is 4-6 in road games this season and holds an official RPI of 179 with a strength of schedule rating of 328.
 
The Dolphins average 66.4 points per game and rank second to FGCU and among the top-20 nationally with 53.7 points allowed per game. Their scoring margin of 12.7 points per contest sits just behind FGCU's scoring advantage in the league statistical standings. The Dolphins rank second in the league with a 42.1 percent clip from the floor and convert 30 percent of shots from long range. The 3-point shooting mark matches the Eagles', but the Dolphins attempt just 16 threes a game. JU pulls down 40.8 rebounds per game and tops the league with a rebound margin of 8.2 boards per outing. The team's defensive efforts have led them to double-figure wins this season as the Dolphins rank among the nation's top-25 with 20.9 turnovers forced and 10.6 steals per game. The Dolphins also lead the league with 3.4 blocked shots per contest.
 
Yolett McPhee-McCuin's squad went 12-17 last season with a 6-8 mark in conference play but returns all five starters from last year's team and has seen strong production from Florida transfer Christin Mercer. Mercer is one of four double-figure scorers for JU as she leads the team with a 51.9 percent clip from the floor and scores 10.7 points per game off the bench. Junior Sherranda Reddick paces the team with 12.7 points per game and has dished out 49 assists with a team-high 41 3-pointers. Senior Briona Brown adds 12.2 points and 6.2 rebounds per contest, while last year's A-Sun Freshman of the Year Kayla Gordon produces 10.6 points and a team-best 8.9 rebounds per game.
 
ATLANTIC SUN STANDINGS
The Eagles and Dolphins boast the top league records in the A-Sun, each at 6-0. No other team has fewer than two losses on the year.
 

FGCU	6-0	18-4	W11
Jacksonville	6-0	14-7	W8
USC Upstate	4-2	13-8	L1
Stetson	3-3	12-8	L1
Kennesaw State	3-3	8-13	W1
North Florida	2-4	6-15	L2
NJIT	0-6	3-18	L13
Lipscomb	0-6	3-18	L15

 
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The nonconference slate put the Eagles up against seven top-100 teams and nine top-120 teams, giving the Green and Blue a strength of schedule rating of 156 according to RealTimeRPI. The team's resume includes five top-110 wins with victories at George Washington (RPI No. 31) and against Auburn (No. 68), Arizona (No. 95), Akron (No. 103) and Western Michigan (No. 109). The losses to the top-tier teams came at the hands of Mississippi State (No.33), Ohio (No. 25) and Arkansas State (No. 55).
 
MILESTONES MOUNTING
With such an experienced squad, several players on the team are within reach of program and conference records.
 
Dunson leads the team and ranks second in program history with 368 career assists.
 
FGCU CAREER ASSISTS

1	Shannon Murphy	2007-11	419
2	DyTiesha Dunson	2012-16	368
3	Megan Jones	2002-05	338
4	Adrianne McNally	2006-10	335
5	Courtney Chihil	2008-12	328

 
Whitney Knight tops the FGCU record book with 272 blocked shots in her career and is climbing the A-Sun records this season.
 
ATLANTIC SUN CAREER BLOCKS

1	Jessica Bobbit	Belmont 05-09	290
2	Whitney Knight	2012-16	272
3	Katie Beth Pate	Lipscomb 03-07	264
4	Albena Branzova	FIU 91-95	250
5	Denise Hogie	CoC 91-93	248

 
On the offensive end, Knight currently stands third all-time in career points, 84 points from the second position on the list.
 
FGCU CAREER POINTS

1	Sarah Hansen	2009-14	1,895
2	Adrianne McNally	2006-10	1,415
3	Whitney Knight	2012-16	1,331
4	Kelsey Jacobson	2008-12	1,251
5	Shannon Murphy	2007-11	1,185

 
Knight also ranks fourth in the FGCU record books with 174 career steals, 73 away from the program record.
 
FGCU CAREER STEALS

1	Sarah Hansen	2009-14	247
2	Courtney Chihil	2008-12	197
3	Whitney Knight	2012-16	174
4	Shannon Murphy	2007-11	168
5	Brittany Kennedy	2011-13	145

 
Knight entered the 2015-16 season with 516 career rebounds and will continue to climb the FGCU records. She currently stands fifth all-time and is on pace to finish second in the record books.
 
FGCU CAREER REBOUNDS

1	Sarah Hansen	2009-14	882
2	Adrianne McNally	2006-10	658
3	Robyn Swain	2002-04	640
4	Courtney Chihil	2008-12	601
5	Whitney Knight	2012-16	593

 
POWERFUL WINS
After defeating the Pac-12's Arizona in Puerto Rico before the holidays, the Eagles have now defeated at least one team from each of the Power Five conferences. With a home win over Auburn to end 2015, the team has picked up 11 total wins against the BCS programs.  – SEC: Auburn (Dec. 30, 2015), LSU (Dec. 28, 2012), Florida (Nov. 14, 2008); ACC: Clemson (Nov. 28, 2014) Virginia Tech (Dec. 16, 2012/Dec. 21, 2011/Nov. 25,2010), Big Ten: Michigan State (Nov. 19, 2011), Indiana (Dec. 21, 2010); Big 12: Oklahoma State (Mar. 21, 2015); Pac-12: Arizona (Dec. 20, 2015)
 
RAINING THREES
FGCU tops the Atlantic Sun with 9.7 3-pointers made her game and 214 long-range makes on the year. The Eagles' signature shot has produced 642 of the team's 1,420 points on the year. On the national stage, the total 3-pointers made rank fifth among the NCAA's 344 teams, while the makes per game mark stands at seventh. The team has consistently ranked among the nation's top 3-point shooters and held the NCAA single-game record with 22 made on 41 attempts until recently when Sacramento State hit 25. The Eagles led the nation during the 2012-13 season with 342 long-range makes and followed with 319 in the 2013-14 season. That mark 342 now stands as the third-best performance in NCAA history. The team also sank 10.7 3-pointers per game in that season, an average that also stands as the third-best overall mark.
 
UP NEXT
Following the Thursday matchup against Jacksonville, the team will host UNF as the second round of Atlantic Sun action begins. The Eagles will travel back to Jacksonville next week for a Wednesday night bout against the Dolphins at Swisher Gymnasium before traveling to NJIT and USC Upstate next weekend.
 
For up-to-the minute information on the FGCU women's basketball team, stay tuned to FGCUAthletics.com and follow the official Twitter of FGCU women's basketball at @FGCU_WBB.
 
 
TICKET SALES
Season tickets for the 2015-16 season are still available. Ticket packages range from $133 for general admission to $366 for club-level seating. A complete breakdown is below. Fans can secure their season tickets by calling the FGCU Ticket Office at 239-590-7145 Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. or by emailing tickets@fgcu.edu.
 
For reserved seating, membership to the Eagles Club may be required depending on priority level. The Eagles Club is the official booster organization for FGCU Athletics which provides financial support for each of the Eagles' 15 Division-I programs. For a detailed seating map and additional ticket information, visit FGCUAthletics.com/Tickets.
 
Priority 1: $266
Priority 2: $166
General Admission: $133
 
Faculty and staff members as well as alumni association members interested in season tickets receive a 20 percent discount on packages. Combination packages with the FGCU men's basketball team are also available through the Ticket Office.
 
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 363-71 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.5 with a mark of 137-13 (91 W%) in Atlantic Sun contests and has led the team to a 71-1 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 424-98 (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.
 
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.