MACON,  Ga. – On the heels of the team's sixth-straight Atlantic Sun Regular Season Championship, the FGCU women's basketball team earned three of the league's five major postseason awards, as announced by the conference Wednesday afternoon. Senior Whitney Knight was honored as A-Sun Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season, while classmate DyTiesha Dunson earned the A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year nod and head coach Karl Smesko was named Coach of the Year for the seventh time in eight seasons.
 
In addition to the major awards, Knight and classmate Kaneisha Atwater were both unanimously selected to the All-Conference First Team.
 
Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) becomes the league's seventh two-time honoree and gives FGCU the league's top nod for the fourth-straight year as Sarah Hansen holds the 2013 and 2014 Player of the Year titles. Knight and Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) both earned First-Team honors last season, while Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) is recognized by the league's head coaches for the first time after a tremendous senior season.
 
"It is great to see our players each such high recognition," said Smesko of the team's honors. "It is very impressive to see Whitney overcome her injury and repeat as Player of the Year. She is such a great all-around player. Kaneisha is such a valuable piece to what we do both offensively and defensively and she had another great year. DyTiesha has been an unsung hero for us and it is great to see her defensive effort recognized."
 
After missing the first eight games of the season while battling a foot injury, Knight picked up right where she left off upon return with 16 points and 10 rebounds at Providence on Dec. 12. In her 21 games on the court this season, Knight led all players with 13.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. Knight scored 10 or more points on 15 occasions with three 20-point performances this season including a season-high 25 at Lipscomb on Jan. 24. The versatile guard also recorded five double-doubles on the year, including in three of the team's last four games.
 
During her senior campaign, Knight shot 35.4 percent from the floor with 55 makes from 3-point range and an 83.3 percent success rate from the free-throw line. Defensively, Knight pulled down 168 rebounds this season with 53 boards in the team's last six games. The 6-3 guard tops the team and the league with 65 blocks and ranks 33rd nationally, despite playing just 70 percent of the season. Knight also became the A-Sun's all-time leader in career blocks this season and currently stands at 299 through her four-year career. Even with limited playing time, Knight also ranks among the league's top-five in scoring as well as total steals and 3-pointers made.
 
The team went 20-1 with a 19-game win streak with Knight on the court this season and outscored opponents by an average of 63.2 to 46.4 points per game.
 
In addition to the Player of the Year accolade, Knight picked up her third-consecutive First Team All-Conference honor this season.
 
Dunson picks up her first A-Sun award this season as the Defensive Player of the Year. She becomes FGCU's first defensive honoree since Brittany Kennedy took home the award after the 2013 season.
 
Dunson contributed 5.6 points per game for the Eagles this year with a league-best assist to turnover ratio of 3.21. The assist to turnover mark ranks fifth among all NCAA Division I players and been a crucial element to the team's offensive success this season. However, Dunson's defensive prowess has helped the team to a standout season on the other end of the court.
 
Led by Dunson, the Eagles have held opponents to just 49.3 points per game this season for the nation's second-best scoring defense. The Green and Blue has also limited foes to a 35.7 percent success rate from the floor with just 25.3 percent of shots made from 3-point range. Dunson has served as one of the team's strongest on-the-ball defenders and ranks among the league's top-10 with 44 steals on the year.
 
Atwater joins Knight on the First Team with her second-consecutive appearance on the all-conference list. In her third year with the Green and Blue, Atwater led all players with 13.7 points per game and added 5.5 rebounds per contest. The senior scored 10 points or more on 22 occasions with five outings at 20 or more points. Atwater produced one double-double this season with 22 points and 11 rebounds in a pivotal road win at George Washington. Atwater became FGCU's eighth player to hit 1,000 career points this season and now stands as one of three players on the current team to surpass the milestone.
 
The Florida native grabbed 41 steals on the season with 90 assists and led the team with 85 makes from the free-throw line. Atwater finished the regular season ranked near the league's top-10 in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals and served as a strong contributor for FGCU on offense and defense.
 
In his 14th year at the helm of the Eagles, Smesko guided the team to a record of 26-4 this year with a 19-game win streak to conclude the regular season. Smesko led the team to its fourth perfect A-Sun slate in five seasons and its second-straight unblemished A-Sun record with a 14-0 conference record . The Eagles are receiving votes in both the USA Today Coaches' Poll and the AP Top-25 and hold an official RPI of 62.
 
Smesko has compiled a record of 371-71 at FGCU for a remarkable win percentage of 83.9 with a mark of 145-13 in Atlantic Sun contests and has led the team to a 81-1 record in conference play in the last five seasons. He stands as one of only four active Division I coaches with win percentages above .800, joining UConn's Geno Auriemma, Baylor's Kim Mulkey and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer in the elite group. Smesko earned his 400th career victory last season and holds a career mark of 432-98 with an overall win percentage of 81.5. He has led the Green and Blue to six-straight A-Sun Regular Season Championships with seven titles in the last eight seasons. Smesko's teams have also won the A-Sun Championship three times in the last four seasons for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Last year, Smesko guided the Eagles as 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 26 wins and counting this season, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 12-straight 20+ win seasons.
 
The Ohio native has coached 23 All-Conference award winners at the Division I level with 10 first-team members, including Atwater and Knight. Smesko's seven Coach of the Year awards match FIU's Cindy Russo as the most for any A-Sun coach. Russo was honored seven times over a 10-year span from 1988 to 1998.
 
Smesko, Knight, Dunson and return to Alico Arena as the No. 1 seed in the 2016 A-Sun Tournament. FGCU will host No. 8 NJIT Friday, Mar. 4 with a 7 p.m. tipoff and will continue with home court advantage through the three-game tournament.
 
General-admission tickets to see the top-seeded Eagles take on the Highlanders are just $10 and are available via FGCUTickets.com or through the FGCU Ticket Office. FGCU students with a valid Eagle ID are admitted free of charge, while students from other A-Sun institutions are $5. Complete information can be found at FGCUTickets.com.
 
Barring an upset in Friday's Quarterfinal matchup, the Eagles will take on the winner of the No. 4 Stetson/No. 5 Kennesaw State game on Wednesday, Mar. 9, while the 2016 A-Sun Championship game is set for Sunday, Mar. 13 at 2 p.m. All Tournament games can be viewed live on ESPN3.
 
2015-16 A-SUN POSTSEASON AWARDS
Player of the Year: Whitney Knight, FGCU
Defensive Player of the Year: DyTiesha Dunson, FGCU
Freshman of the Year: McKenna Beach, Stetson
Tri-Newcomer of the Year: Christin Mercer, Jacksonville; Claire Ioannidis, UNF; Breana Bey, Stetson
Coach of the Year: Karl Smesko, FGCU
 
Atlantic Sun First Team All-Conference

Pos.	Name	School	Cl.	Hometown
*G/F	Whitney Knight	FGCU	Sr.	Winston-Salem, N.C.
*G	Kaneisha Atwater	FGCU	Sr.	Fort Pierce, Fla.
G	Sherranda Reddick	Jacksonville	Jr.	Jacksonville, Fla.
*C	Brittany Starling	USC Upstate	Sr.	Sumter, S.C.
*G	Brianti Saunders	Stetson	Jr.	Hilliard, Fla.

* - Denotes unanimous selection to first team
 
Atlantic Sun Second Team All-Conference

Pos.	Name	School	Cl.	Hometown
G	Briona Brown	Jacksonville	Sr.	Haines City, Fla.
F	Christin Mercer	Jacksonville	Jr.	Douglasville, Ga.
F	Jasmine McAllister	Kennesaw State	Sr.	Memphis, Tenn.
G	Brittany Clency	USC Upstate	Sr.	Greensboro, N.C.
F	Breana Bey	Stetson	Jr.	Jersey City, N.J.

               
Atlantic Sun All-Freshman Team

Pos.	Name	School	Hometown
*G	McKenna Beach	Stetson	Cape Coral, Fla.
G	Jasmyn Brown	Jacksonville	Haines City, Fla.
*F	Allison Johnson	Kennesaw State	Norcross, Ga.
*G	Kelly Guarino	NJIT	Thiells, N.Y.
G	Myka Johnson-Matthews	Stetson	Upper Marlboro, Md.

* - Denotes unanimous selection to freshman team
 
SMESKO
Head coach Karl Smesko earned his sixth-consecutive Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year award after a successful 2015-16 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 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 26 wins and counting this year, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 12-straight 20+ win seasons.  He maintains a record of 371-71 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.9 with a mark of 145-13 (91.6 W%) in Atlantic Sun contests and has led the team to a 81-1 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 432-98 (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.
                        
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