AKRON, Ohio - The FGCU women's basketball will continue its road stretch of seven games over 11 days with matchups against Akron and Kent State in the Akron Classic on Friday and Saturday.

Following the conclusion of the event on Saturday, an all-tournament team and MVP will be announced.

LAST TIME OUT
FGCU used a 58-19 second half surge to rout FIU 88-52 on the road Wednesday. Nasrin Ulel and Rosemarie Julien combined for 52 points on 18-for-31 shooting (12-for-20 from 3-point range). Ulel (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta HS) produced a new career-high in scoring (28) for the second consecutive game to open the season, while Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS) poured in a season-high 24 points while getting 10 rebounds to record her first double-double at FGCU. The Eagles improved to 9-0 all-time against FIU despite trailing at halftime (33-30) for the first time in series history.

SCOUTING KENT STATE
The Golden Flashes are led by Todd Starkey, who in his first year with the program last year was named Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year for his work in guiding the team to a 19-13 record and a 222 spot improvement in RPI from the previous season. Picked to finish last in the preseason, the team won its first MAC East Division title since 2004-05 with a 13-5 record. This year, Kent State was picked to finish second in the MAC East Division.

Senior Jordan Korinek was named to the five-player Preseason All-MAC East team. She is a two-time All-MAC honoree and the only active MAC player with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds as a collegiate player. She was named Second Team All-MAC as a junior after averaging 15.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.

Overall, Kent State returns four starters from last year's team. Graduate student McKenna Stephens (8.9 PPG, 5.6 RPG) joins Korinek to form one of only two pairs of teammates who averaged at least 10.0 points and six rebounds per game in MAC play last year. Other returning starters include senior Naddiyah Cross (3.7 PPG, 3.5 APG) and junior Alexa Golden (4.3 PPG, 4.0 RPH, 47 steals).

Kent State is coming off a 55-44 win over Youngstown State on the road Tuesday in which Youngstown State led 20-18 at halftime. Golden (17), Stephens (16) and Korinek (10) led the team in scoring. The Golden Flashes opened the season with a 59-54 win over Northern Kentucky on Nov. 11. In that game, Korinek tallied 29 points behind 11-for-13 shooting from the foul line, while Ali Poole had 12 points. Both of those games have been on the road.

Following its matchup against FGCU, Kent State will face Southeastern Louisiana at 12 p.m. on Saturday - prior to FGCU's matchup against Akron.

SCOUTING AKRON
Akron, led by the program's all-time winningest coach Jodi Kest, returns starters Shaunay Edmonds, a sophomore guard, Haliegh Reinoehl, a sophomore forward, and Caitlin Vari, a sophomore forward. Seniors Greta Burry and Lauren Hung, along with junior Megan Sefcik also return. 

Edmonds was the team's starting point guard last year and averaged 7.7 points, four assists and two steals per game. Reinoehl came off the bench the first 13 games, but moved into the starting lineup the rest of the way. She led the team with 5.4 rebounds per game, while averaging 4.1 points. Vari shot 45.8 percent from the field, while Burry averaged 5.4 points and 5.2 rebounds while leading the team in field goal percentage at 50.4. Sefcik averaged 7.9 points.

The program welcomed freshmen Kynnedy Azubike, Sarah Leyendecker and Destiny Perkins this year. Sefcik led Akron in scoring in the team's 63-52 season-opening loss against Bucknell on Tuesday.

SERIES HISTORY
FGCU won the only previous matchup against Akron on Nov. 21, 2015 with an 82-64 decision on the road. Kent State defeated the Eagles 77-64 in Alico Arena on Nov. 27 last year in the only matchup in series history.

FGCU ON TOP
FGCU is one of only three non-Power 5 schools in the nation (Bucknell and Gonzaga) that can boast that both their women's and men's basketball programs won 26 games in 2016-17. In total, only nine schools accomplished the feat including Duke, Notre Dame, Michigan, South Carolina, Baylor and Florida State. Additionally, FGCU is one of only seven schools in the country which has had its men's and women's teams win at least 20 games in five-straight seasons, joining Duke, Louisville, Kentucky, Baylor, BYU and Saint Mary's.

The FGCU women's basketball program just one of six at the NCAA Division I level to win 25 or more games in each season since 2010-11. The others include: UConn, Baylor, Notre Dame, Stanford and James Madison. Only 10 schools have at least 25 wins in each of the past four seasons.
 
EXPERIENCE
FGCU returns four of five starters from last year and have added Lisa Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg), who averaged a team-high 11 PPG for Houston Baptist last year. The Eagles return 66 percent of the 71.9 PPG scored last year, or 1,737 of the 2,515 points scored. Furthermore, FGCU returns 63.2 percent of last year's rebounding production in addition to 67.8 percent of their 338 3-pointers. With Zderadicka's 276 points, the Eagles will put out a roster that features players who compiled over 2,000 NCAA Division I points last year.

WAITING IN THE WINGS
In addition to Zderadicka, FGCU added three transfers who will sit out this year due to NCAA Division I transfer rules who either led their school in scoring or finished in the top three last year. Davion Wingate (Atlanta, Ga./Stephenson) tied for the team-high in scoring at 11.8 PPG for Stony Brook; Keri Jewett-Giles (Fort Myers, Fla./Dunbar HS) tallied 9.0 PPG for Southern Miss; and Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian HS) poured in a team-high 13.1 PPG for Wagner en route to NEC Rookie of the Year recognition. Kerstie is the daughter of the late Bobby Phills, who played for the Cleveland Cavaliers and Charlotte Hornets.

EXPERIENCED SQUAD
Among eligible players, this year's roster features six upperclassmen, including five seniors and one junior. Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) is the elder statesman on the team with this being her sixth year following two ACL tears to start her career. Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wisc./Muskego HS) and China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville) are both fifth-year seniors, while Erica Nelson (Kansas City, Mo./Lee Summit North HS) and Julien are in their second season at FGCU following two years at Johnson County CC and Chipola College, respectively, and each player won an NJCAA national title. Zderadicka is a fourth-year junior.

OVERTIME HISTORY
FGCU is 6-6 all-time in the NCAA Division I era in overtime games. Three of those games have come against Stetson, and the Eagles hold a 2-1 record in those. The most recent overtime game was a 74-67 loss to Stetson on Feb. 25, 2017.
 
HEAD COACH KARL SMESKO
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko, who earned his 400th career victory on Feb. 21, 2015 with a win over USC Upstate, is now 33 wins away from 500 in his coaching career. He won his 400th in just 493 games. That's two faster than legend Geno Auriemma. His game preparation is one of the most crucial factors in the Eagles' all-time success. Last season, the Eagles went 10-4 in games when he had four or more days to prepare. Overall, in 15 seasons, Smesko holds a record of 153-25 in games with extra time to go over the film just one more time for a winning percentage of 86 percent.
 
SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
The 2017-18 schedule potentially boasts 11 postseason teams from last year with seven that made The Dance and six that played in the WNIT. The guaranteed opponents that made the NCAA Tournament last year include Chattanooga, DePaul and Kentucky, while the WNIT teams include South Dakota State, Kent State, Abilene Christian, Harvard, Jacksonville and Stetson. Also, FGCU is one of eight teams in the Play4Kay Shootout in Las Vegas. Including the Eagles, there are six teams that made the NCAA Tournament last year in it including Ohio State, Stanford, Gonzaga, Belmont and DePaul (FGCU's opening round opponent).
 
MID MAJOR POWER
FGCU, which received seven votes in the first USA Today Coaches Poll of the 2017-18 season, opened at # 8 in the women's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25. Following the win over Illinois, the Eagles have jumped all the way to #4 - just behind Green Bay, Gonzaga and South Dakota State, respectively.
 
SUCCESS AT HOME VS POWER-FIVES
FGCU has previously hosted 11 teams from a power five conference including Michigan, Wake Forest, Auburn, Virginia, Virginia Tech, LSU, Michigan State, Indiana, Florida State and Florida. Of those 11 previous contests, the Eagles earned wins in eight - defeating Michigan, Wake Forest, Auburn, Virginia Tech, LSU, Michigan State, Florida and Indiana.
 
NEXT UP
Following this weekend's action, FGCU will stay on the road and head to Loudonville, N.Y. to face Siena on Monday at 7 p.m. After that, the team will participate in the Play4Kay Shootout in Las Vegas Nov. 23-25. That tournament begins with a 3:30 p.m. matchup against DePaul on Nov. 23.

FOLLOW ALONG
For up-to-the-minute information and behind-the-scenes access to the women's basketball program, follow @FGCU_WBB on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook at /FGCUWBB.

COACH SMESKO
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko rallied the 2016-17 Eagles to their seventh-straight 25-win campaign, which culminated in the team's fourth NCAA tournament appearance in six seasons of eligibility. The seven-time ASUN Coach of the Year was named the espnW Mid-Major Coach of the Year in 2015-16 following a run that witnessed the Eagles finish a best-ever 33-6. Over a five-year stretch starting in 2011-12, FGCU racked up four ASUN seasons with a perfect record and capped the run with back-to-back 30 plus win seasons. In 2014-15, the team earned its first top-25 ranking and another NCAA Tournament trip as a seven seed, where FGCU won its first ever NCAA Division I Tournament game against No. 10 Oklahoma State. With 26 wins in 2016-17, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 13-straight 20-win seasons.  He maintains a record of 406-82 (.832) at FGCU, including a 160-15 (.914) mark in ASUN play. Over the past six seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 93-3 (.969) record in conference play. Smesko earned his 400th career coaching win in 2014-15 in just 493 career games, two games faster than UConn's Geno Auriemma. He holds a career head coaching record of 467-109 (.811). 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.

IRMA RELIEF DONATIONS
In the wake of Hurricane Irma, many individuals and families throughout Southwest Florida are still in desperate need of assistance. To aid in those relief efforts, FGCU Athletics will be collecting donations at all Eagle home games for the immediate future. Donation items most needed include: non-perishable food, clothing, household items and first-aid supplies. Additionally, those unable to attend upcoming home games can drop off donations in canisters located in the Alico Arena lobby. All donations will be given to those hardest hit in Lee and Collier counties.