FORT MYERS, Fla. – With a crowd of 3,307 in attendance, the FGCU women's basketball team outlasted Hofstra University by a 61-46 score to advance to the WNIT Semifinals Monday, Mar. 28 at Alico Arena. With the quarterfinal victory, the Eagles improve to 32-5 for the program's best Division I win total, while Hofstra's season ends at 25-9.
 
The Eagles advance in the WNIT Semifinal to face The University of Michigan Thursday, Mar. 31. FGCU will host the Wolverines of the Big Ten in an 8 p.m. tipoff at Alico Arena. Michigan is 21-13 on the season and defeated Wright State, Bucknell, San Diego and Temple to advance to the semifinal round. The winner of Thursday's matchup will advance to the 2016 WNIT Championship which is set for Saturday, April 2 at a campus site.
 
Tickets to see the Eagles take on the Wolverines start at just $12 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 Eagles held Hofstra to a 22.2 percent clip in the first quarter to take the lead right away. FGCU extended its lead to double-figures in the second quarter with a heavy advantage on the glass but the Pride responded in the third to cut the deficit back to single-digits. The Eagles ultimately outscored Hofstra 14-6 in the final stanza with a 6-0 advantage in the final five minutes to take the 15-point win.
 
"I thought we played a great first half," said head coach Karl Smesko. "Defensively, we followed the game plan and we executed at a high level. This is a team that is excellent in getting the ball back in transition but I thought we did a great job getting back and getting matched up and slowing down their offense. I give Hofstra a lot of credit. They showed a lot of fight from the very beginning. They made it a tight game in the third quarter but fortunately our defense picked it up in the fourth quarter and we hit some big shots down the stretch."
 
Seniors Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood high School/VCU) and Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) led the charge for the Green and Blue with 19 and 16 points, respectively. Atwater pulled down nine rebounds with two assists and a steal, while Knight recorded her eighth double-double with 14 rebounds and an additional three assists, two blocks and a steal.
 
As a team, the Eagles shot 35.9 percent on the night and held Hofstra to a 29.3 percent mark from the floor. FGCU went 8-for-26 from 3-point range and limited the Pride to a 1-for-16 performance, while outrebounding Hofstra 52-35. The total mark stands as a season-high for the Green and Blue with the 17-rebound advantage standing just one shy of the team's best mark against a DI opponent this season.
 
The teams were slow to start as two free throws from Knight served as the only points of the first two minutes. FGCU and Hofstra traded layups before back-to-back buckets from Jaime Gluesing (Solon, Ohio/Solon High School) and Atwater pushed FGCU ahead 8-2. Hofstra followed with consecutive layups of its own to cut the deficit briefly but Katie Meador (Salem, Ill./Salem Community High School) produced seven-straight points for FGCU to give the home team a nine-point lead. Hofstra added its only 3-pointer of the night late in the first quarter and FGCU went into the first break with a 15-9 advantage.
 
Atwater and Knight combined for a 6-1 run to start the second quarter and pushed FGCU's lead to double-figures on a long 3-pointer from Knight. The Pride was quick to respond with a layup on its next possession but the Eagles continued to maintain the game's momentum. FGCU sparked a 10-2 run midway through the second quarter that extended the advantage to 17 points with another 3-pointer from Knight. The teams traded layups in the final seconds as the Green and Blue went into halftime with a 35-20 advantage.
 
FGCU extended its lead to a game-high 18 points to open the third quarter with a corner 3-pointer from Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School), but the heavy lead was short lived. Hofstra responded with six-straight points and went on to outscore FGCU 20-12 in the quarter. With the run, the Pride cut the deficit to just five points late in the quarter and threatened the Eagle's advantage.
 
With a 47-40 lead entering the final stanza, the Eagles reclaimed control in the opening minutes of the quarter. Seniors DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School), Atwater and Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) scored five-straight for FGCU to push the lead back to double figure but Hofstra again responded with four-straight points to bring to score to 52-44 with seven minutes to go. After a pair of Hofstra free throws with 6:22 on the clock, the Eagles held the Pride scoreless to end the game. FGCU saw a combined six points from Atwater and Knight in that span to increase the advantage back to 15 points and hold on for another double-figure victory.
 
The team will endure a quick turnaround with the WNIT Semifinal set for Thursday night at 8 p.m. The trip to the WNIT Semifinal stands as the program's first. The Eagles stand as one of four remaining teams competing in the postseason event, joining Michigan, Oregon and South Dakota. With a win, the Eagles would advance to the WNIT Championship against the winner of Wednesday's Oregon-South Dakota matchup. The final 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 a DI program-best 32 wins and counting this year, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 12-straight 20+ win seasons.  He maintains a record of 377-72 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 437-99 (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.