VERMILLION, S.D. – Despite 27 fourth-quarter points, the FGCU women's basketball team's comeback fell short in Saturday's WNIT Championship at the University of South Dakota. The Eagles fell 71-65 in front of a crowd of 7,415 fans at the DakotaDome and conclude the 2015-16 season with a program-best record of 33-6. South Dakota earned its first-ever WNIT Championship and finished the season at 32-6.
 
"I thought it was a great game. South Dakota is a great team and this was a great atmosphere to play a game in," noted head coach Karl Smesko. "We got off to a good start but didn't finish the half well. I like how we battled back but we had a few break downs defensively and they knocked down big threes under pressure. We couldn't come back after they extended the lead the last time. I'm really proud of this team. We knew we would need a tremendous effort to beat this team here and we gave ourselves that opportunity we just couldn't do it."
 
The teams traded the lead eight times in the early goings before the Coyotes used an 8-0 run late in the first half to take a 31-27 lead into halftime. The home team carried the momentum into the second half and started with a 10-2 run. The hot streak gave USD its largest lead of the game midway through the third quarter but the Eagles were quick to challenge the 'Yotes.
 
Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) and DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) created a spark for the Green and Blue to cut the deficit back to seven points but the home team kept the Eagle run to just five points. Dunson and Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) brought the score to 43-38 in the final minutes of the third but again USD responded with a layup to keep the seven-point advantage at the final break.
 
Senior Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) took control in the fourth quarter and scored 19-straight for the Green and Blue. Atwater's intensity helped FGCU cut the deficit back to two points with five minutes to play but the 'Yotes intensity increased when facing the challenge.
 
FGCU was held scoreless for a two-minute span as South Dakota maintained control late in the game. The 'Yotes knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers near the two-minute mark to push the score to 64-55 and saw the program's largest crowd ever erupt. The Eagles added points from Atwater and Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wisc./Muskego High School) in the final minute but the home team went 7-for-9 from the free-throw line as time wound down to maintain the lead and take the six-point victory for the WNIT title.
 
As a team, the Eagles shot 36.9 percent with a 31.8 percent clip from 3-point range, while allowing the 'Yotes to a 42.4 percent success rate overall. Both teams knocked down seven long-range shots, with USD holding a slight advantage from the free-throw line. Defensively, the 'Yotes outrebounded the Eagles 48-31 but FGCU held the edge in blocks and turnovers with a season-high 10 shots swatted and one shy of its season low in seven miscues.
 
Atwater led all players with 25 points in her final game with the Green and Blue. She scored 19 of those points in the fourth quarter and added three assists. Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) added 12 points for FGCU two long-range shots and a team-high six rebounds. Haas rounded out the team's double-figure scorers with 11 points and also had six rebounds.
 
Knight matched her program record with nine shots blocked on the day. The Atlantic Sun Player of the Year was limited offensively but pulled down five rebounds and recorded two of the team's four steals.
 
Despite the loss, FGCU concludes one of its most successful seasons in program history, with the 33 wins representing the most in Division I program history and falling one shy of the all-time mark. The eight seniors on the roster made two NCAA Tournament appearances and won four-straight A-Sun Regular Season titles. The team stands as FGCU's first DI squad to play in a national title game.
 
FGCU finishes the 2016 WNIT with a record of 5-1 and moves to 8-6 in six appearances in the tournament. This season, the team defeated Bethune-Cookman, Tulane, Wake Forest, Hofstra and Michigan at home before traveling to Vermillion for Saturday's quick turnaround.
 
The season concludes as the 12th-straight for FGCU with more than 20 wins. The Eagles have won 30 games in each of the last two seasons and have made nine-straight postseason appearances.
 
The 2015-16 team will be celebrated Wednesday, April 6 at the annual women's basketball banquet. Seats are still available and can be reserved by contacting Allison Bass at abass@fgcu.edu or at 239-590-7107.
 
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 378-73 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 439-100 (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.