FORT MYERS, Fla. – In the battle for first place, the FGCU women's basketball team used a heavy defensive presence to defeat Jacksonville University 58-39 Thursday, Feb. 4 at Alico Arena. With the win, the Eagles improve to 19-4 with a perfect 7-0 mark through the first half of Atlantic Sun Conference play and maintain their position atop the conference standings. Jacksonville falls to 14-8 overall with a 6-1 record in A-Sun play and holds second place in the league.
 
Jacksonville started the game with a 4-0 lead but the Eagles responded quickly with a 12-point run to take control. Senior Katie Meador (Salem, Ill./Salem Community High School) led the team with 11-straight points to open the second quarter as FGCU increased its lead to double figures before the break. The Eagles forced 23 Jacksonville turnovers and limited the Dolphins to a 37.2 percent clip from the floor to increase the lead to a game-high 19 points late in the game and walked away with their 12th-straight win.
 
"I thought our defense was excellent with everybody contributing and playing great defense tonight," said head coach Karl Smesko. "It was a total team effort with everyone doing their job and everyone understanding the game plan. We tried to make it difficult for them to get scoring opportunities and we did a great job at that. Offensively, we had some nice stretches but overall it was a really good effort."
 
The Eagles narrowly outshot the Dolphins with a 39.7 percent success rate from the floor and converted 4-of-15 long-range shots. The Green and Blue was outrebounded 35-31 but grabbed 15 offensive rebounds for 12 second-chance points. FGCU held JU scoreless from beyond-the-arc and outscored the Dolphins in the paint 38-22.
 
Meador and Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) paced the Eagles with 16 points each, while Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) added 11 for the first-place team. Atwater pulled down a team-best seven rebounds with DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) dishing out five assists and grabbing four steals to lead the team.
 
The Dolphins forced an Eagle turnover on the game's opening possession and quickly took a 4-0 lead out of the gates but the home team responded quickly to JU's high intensity. Knight knocked down a 3-point shot from the left side and tied the game with a single free throw before Dunson, Atwater and Meador helped FGCU produce a 12-point run to claim control.  The Dolphins broke the FGCU run with a layup but Jaime Gluesing (Solon, Ohio/Solon High School) drove baseline on the team's next opportunity to force Jacksonville into a timeout.
 
After the breather, Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) grabbed a steal and took it coast-to-coast for her signature scoop shot. Haas was fouled on the layup and pushed the lead to 16-8 on the free throw.
 
The Eagles started the second quarter with a seven-point run, with all seven points from Meador. The senior put up back-to-back layups and added a corner 3-pointer to ignite the crowd of over 2,000.  Jacksonville cut the run with a single free throw, but Meador scored off an offensive rebound on the next FGCU possession to hold the momentum for the home team. The senior added another two points for 11-straight and extended FGCU's lead to 27-13 midway through the second quarter. FGCU held Jacksonville scoreless for over four minutes and allowed the Dolphins to just six points in the second stanza by limiting the team to a 28 percent clip from the floor and forcing seven JU turnovers. With the run from Meador and the strong defensive play, the Eagles took a 29-16 lead into halftime.
 
Jacksonville cut the deficit back to single digits in the opening minutes of the second half, but an Atwater drive to the rim brought the lead back to 11 points just 10 seconds later. After the JU threat, the Eagles sparked a seven-point run over a span of just 90 seconds to bring the score to 38-24 at the midpoint of the third quarter.
 
After holding a 45-31 lead at the final break, the Eagles again held JU to single digits in the fourth quarter. With buckets from Atwater, Haas, Knight and Dunson, the Green and Blue extended its lead to 19 points in the final minutes and pulled away with its 66th-straight A-Sun victory at Alico Arena.
 
The Eagles will face a quick turnaround before hosting UNF Saturday afternoon in a 4 p.m. tipoff. After the first game of the second half of the A-Sun season, the team will travel back to Jacksonville for a rematch with the Dolphins at Swisher Gymnasium. FGCU will take on JU Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. before traveling to NJIT and USC Upstate next weekend.
 
Game Notes: FGCU won its 12th-straight game of the season and is undefeated in A-Sun action since Feb. 1, 2014…Meador surpassed her previous career high of 14 points in the first half and finished with 16 points on the night…the team recorded a season-high 14 steals and forced 23 turnovers…FGCU held its foe to fewer than 40 points for the third time in the last four games…JU became the third opponent limited to zero 3-point makes this season…the team is now 17-1 all-time against Jacksonville with 17-straight wins…with two blocks against JU, Whitney Knight maintains the second position all-time in the Atlantic Sun Conference record books at 274 career blocks…DyTiesha Dunson ranks second all-time in the FGCU record books with 373 career assists (complete records available here).
 
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 364-71 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.5 with a mark of 138-13 (91 W%) in Atlantic Sun contests and has led the team to a 72-1 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 425-98 (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.