FGCU (20-4 | 8-0 A-Sun) vs. Jacksonville (14-9 | 6-2 A-Sun)
FGCU Head Coach: Karl Smesko | Ken State '93 | 14^th Season at FGCU: 365-71 (83.7%) | 17^th Season as Head Coach: 426-98 (81.2%)
Jacksonville Head Coach: Yolette McPhee-McCuin | Rhode Island '04 | 3^rd Season at JU: 39-43 (47.5%)
When: Wednesday, Feb. 10 | 7 p.m.
Where: Swisher Gymnasium | Jacksonville, Fla.
Watch: ESPN3
Stats: via JUDolphins.com
Game Series: FGCU leads 17-1 since first meeting in 2008
 
 
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the winners of 13-straight games, the FGCU women's basketball team returns to Jacksonville for the second game in a week and a half's time as the Eagles face Jacksonville University Wednesday, Feb. 10. Tipoff at Swisher Gymnasium is set for 7 p.m.
 
The Eagles and Dolphins matchup for the second time in a week after squaring off at Alico Arena last Thursday. FGCU remained undefeated in Atlantic Sun Conference play with a 58-39 victory over the Dolphins in what was a battle for first place.
 
QUICK HITS:
• RAINING THREES: FGCU's 232 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 (2nd), turnover margin (8th) and assist to turnover ratio (7th). • The Eagles have held opponents to just 50.3 points per game overall this season and have allowed only 42.6 points per game against #ASunWBB foes.
• Since Whitney Knight's return from injury, FGCU has compiled a record of 14-1 with its only blemish as a five-point loss to No. 12 Mississippi State.
• FGCU is 139-13 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.
• In the latest espnW rankings, FGCU stands as the nation's No. 1 Mid-Major team.
• FGCU is 17-1 against Jacksonville since the first meeting in 2008. The team lost the first meeting in Jacksonville and is since riding a 17-game win streak against the Dolphins.
• Senior Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) stands just 14 points away from her 1,000^th point with the Green and Blue.
 
The Eagles hit the road to continue Atlantic Sun Conference play with an overall record of 20-4 and an unblemished conference mark of 8-0. The team extended the win streak to 13 games with home wins over JU and UNF over the weekend and secured its 12th-straight 20-win season overall. With the nonconference success and another strong start to the conference slate, the team currently holds an official RPI of 72.
 
Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Westwood High School/VCU) leads the team with an average of 14.4 points per game through the season's first 24 games. Atwater is also contributing 5.8 rebounds per contest and has added 78 assists and 34 steals.
 
Since her return from injury, senior Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) has averaged 11.9 points per game and with 5.5 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 14-1 record since her return with 37 3-pointers and a team-best 42 blocked shots.

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 8.2 and 10.2 points per game, respectively. Laughter and Gradinjan have combined for 99 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 league-high 113 assists and has added 5.8 points in a team-high 32.7 minutes per game. She has turned the ball over just 38 times and tops the league with an assist to turnover ratio of 2.97. The assist to turnover mark also ranks fifth nationally.
 
As a team, the Green and Blue have averaged 64.7 points per game with a 38.9 percent clip from the field. The Eagles have been narrowly outrebounded 37.2 to 36.3 boards per game but have held a heavy advantage in turnovers as the team has forced 17 turnovers per game with only 11 miscues per game to rank second nationally.
 
JACKSONVILLE
FGCU and Jacksonville previously shared the top position in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings, each with a perfect 6-0 mark in league play but the Dolphins have since lost two straight games to fall to 14-9 overall. The team is 9-0 at Swisher Gymnasium this season and holds an official RPI of 168 with a strength of schedule rating of 270.
 
The Dolphins average 65 points per game and rank third in the league and stand among the top-25 nationally with 54.4 points allowed per game. Their scoring margin of 10.5 points per contest sits just behind FGCU's scoring advantage in the league statistical standings. The Dolphins rank second in the league with a 41.4 percent clip from the floor and convert 29.1 percent of shots from long range. The 3-point shooting mark is similar to the Eagles', but the Dolphins attempt just 16 threes a game. JU pulls down 41 rebounds per game and tops the league with a rebound margin of 8.0 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 20.2 turnovers forced and 10.3 steals per game. The Dolphins also stand second in 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 three double-figure scorers for JU as she leads the team with a 52.6 percent clip from the floor and scores 10.8 points per game off the bench. Junior Sherranda Reddick paces the team with 12.3 points per game and has dished out 51 assists with a team-high 43 3-pointers. Senior Briona Brown adds 12.0 points and 6.4 rebounds per contest, while last year's A-Sun Freshman of the Year Kayla Gordon produces 9.9 points and a team-best 8.7 rebounds per game.
 
ATLANTIC SUN STANDINGS
The Eagles still boast the top league record in the A-Sun at 8-0. No other team has fewer than two losses on the year.
 

FGCU	8-0	20-4	W13
USC Upstate	6-2	15-8	W2
Jacksonville	6-2	14-9	L2
Stetson	5-3	14-8	W2
Kennesaw State	4-4	9-14	W1
North Florida	2-6	6-17	L4
NJIT	1-7	4-19	L1
Lipscomb	0-8	3-20	L17

 
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The nonconference slate put the Eagles up against five top-100 teams and eight top-125 teams, giving the Green and Blue a strength of schedule rating of 165 according to RealTimeRPI. The team's resume includes five top-110 wins with victories at George Washington (RPI No. 35) and against Auburn (No. 55), Arizona (No. 104), Akron (No. 107) and Western Michigan (No. 123). The losses to the top-tier teams came at the hands of Mississippi State (No.22), Ohio (No. 31) and Arkansas State (No. 52).
 
 
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 378 career assists.
 
FGCU CAREER ASSISTS

1	Shannon Murphy	2007-11	419
2	DyTiesha Dunson	2012-16	378
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 276 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	276
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, 60 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	1,355
4	Kelsey Jacobson	2008-12	1,251
5	Shannon Murphy	2007-11	1,185

 
 
Knight also ranks fourth in the FGCU record books with 179 career steals, 68 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	179
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	603
5	Whitney Knight	2012-16	602

 
 
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 232 long-range makes on the year. The Eagles' signature shot has produced 696 of the team's 1,553 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 Wednesday matchup at Jacksonville, the team will continue a three-game road swing over the weekend. FGCU travels to the Garden State for a Saturday afternoon bout with the league's newest member NJIT. The Eagles will continue the road trip in Spartanburg, S.C. with a Monday night matchup at USC Upstate.
 
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
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 365-71 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.5 with a mark of 139-13 (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 426-98 (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.