FORT MYERS, Fla. – After 11 lead changes, the FGCU women's basketball team (17-6, 6-0) outlasted Jacksonville (16-5, 5-1) 60-57 in a rematch of last year's ASUN Championship. The Eagles victory gives the Green and Blue sole possession of first place in the ASUN standings and hands JU its first conference loss of the season.
 
"It was definitely more of a defensive game and a defensive struggle and a fight for every loose ball," said head coach Karl Smesko. "We just feel good that we were able to win on a day where we weren't shooting it well from three."
 
"Jacksonville is a really good team, and I don't know how many times they're going to lose in conference. So if we hadn't won this one, we would've put ourselves in a really tough position. This was a must-win, and we squeaked it out."
 
With the win, the Eagles not only remain undefeated in league play, but they hang on to a perfect 12-0 record at home and notch their 11th-straight victory, tying for the seventh longest active win streak in the nation.
 
The Eagles have now won 43-straight regular season ASUN contests, with their last loss taking place on Feb. 1, 2014 against Northern Kentucky. As it stands, FGCU is just one win away from tying its all-time record of 44 consecutive conference victories. The only team in the nation with a longer streak is the UConn Huskies.
 
Jordin Alexander (Fisher, Ind./ Hamilton Southeastern HS/Brown) played a season-high 38 minutes because of her effectiveness shutting down JU's lead scorer, Sherranda Reddick. Reddick, who entered the game averaging 18.3 points per contest, walked away with just eight on the night.
 
China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State) also caused problems for Jacksonville's offense, tallying three steals, a block and a team-high eight rebounds for FGCU.
 
From the other end of the floor, Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS/Chipola College) led the Green and Blue with 18 points, including a pair of crucial three-pointers.
 
Erica Nelson (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee Summit North HS/Johnson County CC) and Alexander also reached double-figure scores with 15 and 11 respectively.
 
The physical tone of the game was set early as the teams combined for eight points and seven fouls the first five minutes of play. With a 6-2 FGCU lead, the Eagles and the Dolphins split the next eight points. An 8-2 run by Jacksonville, gave the Dolphins a two-point lead heading into the second quarter.
 
The Dolphins continued to roll at the start of the second, jumping out to a five-point advantage. Finally, Julien knocked down the first three-pointer of the game to shift momentum back in favor of FGCU. The Eagles briefly regained the lead after a pair of free throws from Alexander. After a jumper from Reddick put Jacksonville back on top, Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) silenced the opposition with another Eagles triple. The Dolphins knocked down a three of their own to reclaim the advantage, but with one second to go in the half, Alexander was fouled on a lob from the perimeter and converted 2-of-3 freebies to give FGCU a 31-30 lead before the teams hit the locker rooms.
 
Julien collected five fast points out of the break, extending FGCU's lead, but Jacksonville's Christin Mercer responded with five points of her own, knotting things up at 36. The teams swapped baskets seven times in a row, raising the score to 44-all. The third quarter came to an end after Julien laid one up to give FGCU a 46-44 lead.
 
Julien doubled down at the start of the fourth with another layup, but the Eagles' four-point advantage was quickly negated after back-to-back baskets from Jacksonville. With 5:35 left to play, a make from Kayla Gordon gave Jacksonville a 50-49 lead. FGCU answered with a basket of its own and held onto a one-point lead with 1:19 remaining. Nelson widened the gap with a four-point run, and with 14 seconds remaining, a pair of free throws from Alexander solidified the Eagles win.
 
UP NEXT
The Green and Blue travel to Jacksonville next weekend to take on the Ospreys of UNF on Thursday Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. before once again facing JU on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 1 p.m.
 
SMESKO
Head coach Karl Smesko earned his sixth-consecutive ASUN 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 ASUN 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 in 2014-15 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 396-79 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.4 with a mark of 151-13 (92.1 W%) in ASUN contests and has led the team to an 87-1 (98.9) record in conference play in the last five seasons.  The six-time ASUN Coach of the Year earned his 400th career win in 2014-15 in just 493 career games, two games faster than UConn's Geno Auriemma, and holds a career record of 457-106 (81.2 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.