FGCU (30-5) vs Tulane (23-11)
FGCU Head Coach: Karl Smesko | Kent State '93 | 14^th Season at FGCU: 375-72 (83.9%) | 17^th Season as Head Coach: 436-99 (81.5%)
Tulane Head Coach: Lisa Stockton | Wake Forest '86  | 22nd Season at Tulane:  461-226 (67.1%) | 25th Season as Head Coach: 524-253 (67.4%)
When: Wednesday, March 23 | 7 p.m.
Where: Alico Arena | Fort Myers, Fla.
Watch: ESPN3 with David Moulton and J. Webb Horton
Stats: via StatBroadcast.com
All-Time Series: First-Ever Meeting
WNIT Bracket: available here
 
FORT MYERS, Fla. – For the first time in program history, the FGCU women's basketball team will compete in the WNIT's Third Round Wednesday, Mar. 23 at Alico Arena. After securing a victory over Wake Forest in the second round, the Eagles advanced to host Tulane University in a 7 p.m. tipoff.
 
The win over the Demon Deacons gave FGCU its 30th victory of the season and pushed the Green and Blue to a second-straight 30-win season.
 
General-admission tickets to see the Eagles take on Tulane range from $10 to $30 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 institutions are $5. Complete information can be found at FGCUTickets.com.
 
Those who cannot be in attendance Wednesday can watch the game live on ESPN3 with David Moulton and J. Webb Horton on the call. 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 335 total 3-pointers made this season ranks third nationally, while the 9.6 makes per game ranks seventh among the nation's best.
-The Eagles have held opponents to just 48.9 points per game this season for the nation's second-best defensive mark. The team also ranks among the top-20 in field goal percentage defense by holding foes to a 35.4 percent clip.
-The Green and Blue is the nation's only team to rank among the top-10 in 3-point shooting and the top-50 in team defense.
-The Eagles are one of just nine teams to hit the 30-win milestone so far this season, joining Connecticut, Baylor, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Maryland, Texas, Colorado State and Oregon State.
-With a 14-0 mark in A-Sun play, FGCU is one of just six Division I teams to finish conference play without a loss, joining Connecticut, South Carolina, Colorado State, UC Riverside and Notre Dame.
-In the final espnW ranking of the year, FGCU stands as the nation's No. 1 Mid-Major team.
-Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) became the seventh player in A-Sun to repeat as Player of the Year when she picked up the league's top honor last week.
-The Eagles also picked up the league's highest academic honor this season with Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) earning her second-straight Scholar-Athlete of the Year award.
 
The Eagles entered the 2016 WNIT with a record of 28-5 on the season and moved to 30-5 Monday with a 67-48 win over Wake Forest in the second round. The record includes a 21-game win streak, the unblemished conference mark and a 12-0 record in road games. In addition, the win total stood two games higher than any other team in the 64-team field as the tournament began and continues to rise above the field.
 
FGCU secured its ninth-straight postseason appearance with a sixth-straight Atlantic Sun Conference Regular Season Championship. The Eagles went 14-0 in A-Sun action for their fourth perfect season in five years and earned the league's automatic bid to the WNIT with the regular season title.
 
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE
The nonconference slate put the Eagles up against nine top-125 teams this season to push the team to a strength of schedule rating of 61. The slate included eight teams that made the postseason last year with seven programs that finished the 2014-15 season among the top-100. Of the team's schedule this season, five opponents from the regular season appeared in the WNIT and four made it to the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Eagles compiled a record of 6-3 against the top-125 teams with notable victories at George Washington (23) and Akron (123) as well as against Auburn (57), Quinnipiac (87), Harvard (97) and Arizona (122). The triumph over GW in Washington, D.C. stands as the team's strongest win of the season as it was a true road game played without reigning A-Sun Player of the Year Whitney Knight. The Eagles were also without Knight during losses to top-50 teams Ohio (50) and Arkansas State (43), while the senior played limited minutes on doctor's orders when the team battled No. 14 Mississippi State (24) to a 65-60 finish in Puerto Rico.
 
WITH WHITNEY
The 2016 A-Sun Player of the Year missed the first eight games of the season while battling a foot injury but picked up right where she left off upon return with 16 points and 10 rebounds at Providence on Dec. 12. In 26 games on the court, Knight has led all players with 12.9 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. She also tops the team and the league with 84 blocks in her 26 games played. During her recovery, the team faced tough competition in Ohio, Akron, Arkansas State, George Washington and Harvard and amassed a 5-3 record to start the year. With Knight, the team is 24-2 and has outscored opponents by an average of 63.4 to 46.3 points per game.
 
ATLANTIC SUN HONORS
In the days leading up to the A-Sun Tournament, the league announced its major award winners, highlighted by the Green and Blue. Knight was honored as A-Sun Player of the Year for the second-consecutive season, while classmate DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) 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 (Fort-Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) were both unanimously selected to the All-Conference First Team. Knight earned her third First Team accolade, with Atwater taking the honor for the second-straight year.
 
On the academic side, Haas was named the A-Sun Scholar-Athlete of the Year for the second year in a row, while Dunson and Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) joined Haas on the All-Academic Team.
 
THE GREEN AND BLUE
Atwater currently tops FGCU's three double-figure scorers at 14.1 points scored per game through the 35-game season season. Atwater has added 5.8 rebounds per contest with 98 assists and 48 steals. Since her return from injury, Knight has added 12.9 points per game with a team-high 7.0 rebounds. Knight has blocked 84 shots so far this season with 68 shots made from the perimeter. Gradinjan has also contributed double-digits for the Eagles with 9.8 points per contest. The strong shooter has made a team-best 84 3-pointers this season and ranks third in the league.
 
Dunson has facilitated the offense with 168 assists on the year. Dunson's assist to turnover ratio of 3.5 currently tops the nation, while the total assist mark stands just six away from the FGCU single-season record.
 
As a unit, the Eagles have scored 64.4 points per game, while holding opponents to just 48.9 points per contest. The defensive mark ranks second nationally, only behind Connecticut. FGCU has converted 38.5 percent of shots with 9.6 makes from 3-point range per game. The Eagles have been narrowly outrebounded 37.7 to 36.7 boards per game but hold a heavy advantage in turnovers as the squad has forced 17 miscues per game with only 10.4 turnovers of its own. The margin of 6.2 ranks seventh nationally, while the limited number of turnovers is the country's second-best mark.
 
WNIT HISTORY
2016 marks FGCU's sixth appearance in the WNIT with its first since the 2013 season. FGCU fell 65-41 to Winthrop at Alico Arena in its last appearance but improved its WNIT standing this season. The Eagles are now 5-5 all-time in WNIT games with wins over Drexel, George Washington, USF and now Bethune-Cookman and Wake Forest. The team advanced to the second round in 2008, 2009, 2011 and 2016 and will appear in its first-ever third-round game Wednesday.
 
ROAD WARRIORS
The Eagles are known nationally for their success at home, but this season the team is excelling away from Southwest Florida as well. FGCU holds a 12-0 record in games played on the home court of its opponent with an average margin of victory of over 19 points. The team has held foes to just 49.2 points per game with a 35.5 percent clip from the floor. The road slate this year includes a win in Washington, D.C. over A-10 power George Washington (while Knight was out with injury). The Eagles are one of just three teams nationwide with an unblemished record on the road, joining Connecticut (14-0) and South Carolina (11-0).
 
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 since making the jump to Division I. With a home win over Auburn to end 2015 and another victory over an ACC foe in Wake Forest, the team has picked up 12 total wins against the BCS programs.  – SEC: Auburn (Dec. 30, 2015), LSU (Dec. 28, 2012), Florida (Nov. 14, 2008); ACC: Wake Forest (Mar. 21, 2016) 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 topped the Atlantic Sun with 9.6 3-pointers made her game and 335 long-range makes on the year. The Eagles' signature shot has produced 1,005 of the team's 2,255 points on the year. On the national stage, the total 3-pointers made rank fifth among the NCAA's 349 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.
 
THE TULANE GREEN WAVE
Tulane earned an at large bid to the WNIT this season and stands at 23-11 on the season after thrilling wins over Alabama and Georgia Tech in the first two rounds. The Green Wave finished fifth in the American Athletic Conference with a record of 11-7. The nonconference slate included notable wins over LSU, Virginia and Ole Miss, while the team was challenged by Memphis, Temple USF and Connecticut in league play.
 
In her 22nd season, head coach List Stockton's team boasts two double-figure scorers. Sophomore Kolby Morgan tops the team with 17.3 points per game and scored 22 in the win over Georgia Tech. Morgan had made 63 3-pointers this season and leads the team with 77 steals on the year. Junior Leslie Vorpahl adds 10.7 points per contest and ranks among the nation's top-20 with 186 assists this season. Vorpahl adds 64 made from beyond-the-arc with a team-high 39.5 percent clip from distance. Seniors Chinew Duru and Tierra Jones also contribute heavily to the Green Wave's success, each with a shooting clip above 50 percent. Jones tops the team with 5.6 rebounds a game, while Duru has swatted a team-best 46 shots through the team's 34 games.
 
In all, Tulane averages 64.5 points per game with opponents scoring 62.4 points a contest. The Green Wave shoots at a success rate of 42.1 percent and pulls down 35.8 rebounds a game.
 
MILESTONES MOUNTING
With such an experienced squad, several players on the team hold and are within reach of program milestones.
 
Dunson leads the team and recently took the top spot in program history with 433 career assists.
 
FGCU CAREER ASSISTS

1	DyTiesha Dunson	2012-16	433
2	Shannon Murphy	2007-11	419
3	Megan Jones	2002-05	338
4	Adrianne McNally	2006-10	335
5	Courtney Chihil	2008-12	333

 
Knight tops the FGCU record book with 318 blocked shots in her career and took over the top spot in the league records Saturday, Feb. 20.
                                                                                                                                                                           
ATLANTIC SUN CAREER BLOCKS

1	Whitney Knight	2011-16	318
2	Jessica Bobbit	Belmont 05-09	290
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 passed Adrianne McNally to move to second all-time with 21 points scored Feb. 20.
 
FGCU CAREER POINTS

1	Sarah Hansen	2009-14	1,901
2	Whitney Knight	2011-16	1,513
3	Adrianne McNally	2006-10	1,415
4	Kelsey Jacobson	2008-12	1,263
5	Shannon Murphy	2007-11	1,185

 
Knight now stands tied for second in the FGCU record books with 199 career steals, with one more she will stand only behind Hansen in three different categories.
 
FGCU CAREER STEALS

1	Sarah Hansen	2009-14	249
2	Courtney Chihil	2008-12	199
	Whitney Knight	2011-16	199
4	Shannon Murphy	2007-11	168
5	Brittany Kennedy	2011-13	148

 
Knight entered the 2015-16 season with 516 career rebounds and will continue to climb the FGCU records. She recently moved to second all-time in the record books, behind only Hansen.
 
FGCU CAREER REBOUNDS

1	Sarah Hansen	2009-14	887
2	Whitney Knight	2011-16	701
3	Adrianne McNally	2006-10	658
4	Robyn Swain	2002-04	640
5	Courtney Chihil	2008-12	603

 
Gluesing tops the squad with 136 games played through a four-year career. The senior matched Sarah Hansen's all-time appearances record in the Quarterfinal and became FGCU's all-time leader in the A-Sun Semifinal game, while Haas and Meador also stand in the program's top-five.
 
FGCU CAREER APPEARANCES

1	Jaime Gluesing	2012-16	136
2	Stephanie Haas	2012-16	135
3	Sarah Hansen	2009-14	132
4	Katie Meador	2012-16	131
5	Adrianne McNally	2006-10	128

 
UP NEXT
With a win Wednesday, the Eagles will advance to the WNIT Quarterfinals against Hofstra University – who defeated Virginia 65-57 Tuesday night. The quarterfinal will take place Mar. 26-28 at campus sites with date and time to be determined following Wednesday's contest.
 
SMESKO
Head coach Karl Smesko earned his sixth-consecutive Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year award with a successful 2015-16 campaign and was named the espnW Mid-Major Coach of the Year. Under his direction, the team has compiled two-straight 30-win seasons with four perfect A-Sun regular-season slates in the last five years. The team earned its first top-25 ranking and a third NCAA Tournament appearance as a seven seed last season where FGCU won its first ever DI NCAA Tournament game against No. 10 Oklahoma State. With 30 wins and counting this year, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 12-straight 20+ win seasons.  He maintains a record of 375-72 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.8 with a mark of 145-13 (91.7 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 436-99 (81.5 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.