FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's basketball team matched the program's Division I record for wins in a season as the Eagles defeated Tulane University 73-61 Wednesday night in the WNIT's Third Round. The Green and Blue advance to the WNIT Quarterfinals with a record of 31-5 on the year, while the Green Wave's season ends at 23-12.
 
With the win, the Eagles move on to host Hofstra University Monday, Mar. 28 in the WNIT Quarterfinal at Alico Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. The Pride are 25-8 on the season with WNIT victories over Harvard, Villanova and Virginia.
 
Tickets to see the Eagles take on the Pride start at just $11 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.
 
The win pushes FGCU to a second-straight season with 31 wins and matched its best win total since making the jump to DI. The Eagles stand as one of seven teams with that many wins or more, joining Connecticut, Baylor, Notre Dame, South Carolina, Colorado State and Maryland in the elite group.
 
Senior captain DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) started the game for the Eagles with a 3-pointer from the right side and the team never looked back. The Green and Blue knocked down seven shots from distance in the first half with a shooting percentage of 44.8 percent from the floor. The Eagles extended the lead to a game-high 22 points late in the third quarter with strong offensive execution. The Tulane defense pressured the Green and Blue in the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to 11 points by capitalizing a series of FGCU turnovers. Despite the threat, FGCU held off Tulane in the final minutes and secured its 17th victory at home this season.
 
"I thought we played really well again tonight," said head coach Karl Smesko. "We got off to a good start in the first half and that helped us carry the effort through the game. Tulane kept fighting; they had a few threes in a row and just kept attacking but I liked how we finished the game. I liked how we defended and overall I was happy with our team effort. I'm really pleased with how we played tonight and how we've played in this tournament."
 
Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) led all players with 22 points and 10 rebounds on the night. The senior started the game 3-for-4 from 3-point range and made six of the team's 11 long-range shots. She also added three assists and three steals in 40 minutes on the court. Knight's offensive output was complemented by four other double-figure scorers. Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) added 14 for FGCU with four assists and eight rebounds with Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) contributing another 11 in the win. Dunson and Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) each added 10 points for FGCU for a well-balanced attack.
 
As a unit, the Eagles shot 48.2 percent on the night for the team's best shooting performance since a Nov. 23 win against FIU. FGCU sank 11-of-28 3-pointers for a 39.3 percent clip and limited the Green Wave to a 39 percent mark from the floor. Tulane outrebounded FGCU 36-32 but the Eagles held the advantage in assists, turnovers and blocks.
 
Dunson knocked down the shot from beyond-the-arc to open the game and served as a spark for the Green and Blue. Tulane consistently responded to FGCU's attack but the Eagles continued to hit shots from the perimeter to take the lead. The teams were evenly matched through the first 10 minutes but a four-point advantage in favor of FGCU came on the team's four long-range shots in that time span.
 
The teams traded buckets in the opening minutes of the second quarter before the Eagle defense stifled Tulane for a period spanning over five minutes. The Green Wave went 1-for-11 as FGCU held control and slowly extended its lead. The Eagles used a 12-2 run to end the first half and went into the break with a 33-22 advantage.
 
Tulane scored first out of halftime but the Eagles produced an 8-0 run with a layup from Atwater and back-to-back long-range makes from Knight and Gradinjan. Gradinjan's 3-pointer pushed the Eagle lead to 41-24 with four minutes played in the second half and forced Tulane into a timeout. A single free throw from Jaime Gluesing (Solon, Ohio/Solon High School) and another long-range shot from Atwater moved FGCU's lead to 21 points midway through the third quarter.
 
The Green Wave hit a pair of its own 3-pointers to stop the FGCU run but the Eagle offense maintained its momentum. The Green and Blue made seven-consecutive shots as the third quarter continued and increased its lead to a game-high 22 points with two minutes to play in the quarter. The successful run included points from Haas, Atwater and Gradinjan and gave FGCU control of the contest.
 
The Eagles went into the final stanza with a 19-point lead but the visiting team continued to fight. The Green Wave used an intense defensive press to challenge the Green and Blue and forced five turnovers over a five-minute span. Tulane scored eight points off FGCU miscues in the fourth quarter and cut the deficit to just 11 points with five minutes to play. Despite another three turnovers in the final minutes, the Eagles shot 60 percent and battled through the threat. Tulane added five points in the final 20 seconds but FGCU maintained the advantage and earned a 12-point win.
 
The trip to the WNIT Quarterfinals stands as the program's first. The Eagles stand as one of eight remaining teams competing in the postseason event and will host Hofstra in the quarterfinals in the final home game of the 2015-16 season. With a win, the Eagles would advance to the WNIT semifinals Mar. 30-31 with a location, exact date and opponent to be determined. The WNIT Championship is set for Saturday, April 2 with a 3 p.m. tipoff. The championship game will be broadcast live on CBS Sports Network from a campus site.
 
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 31 wins and counting this year, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 12-straight 20+ win seasons.  He maintains a record of 376-72 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.9 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.