LAS VEGAS - The FGCU women's basketball team has started the season 5-0, but the toughest test of the season so far awaits them in the opener of the Play4Kay Showcase on Thursday - #21 DePaul. The matchup is one of four games on Thursday as part of the eight-team event at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, and the tournament runs through Saturday.

Play4Kay Showcase
The second annual Play4Kay Showcase at Mandalay Bay Events Center supports the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, an organization that funds women's cancer research. The event is being organized by bd Global.

FGCU, which has received the 38th most votes in the USA Today Coaches Poll and is the #2 ranked team in the latest CollegeInsider.com Women's Mid-Major poll, will open the tournament with a 3:30 p.m. ET matchup against #21 DePaul, which has made the NCAA Tournament 15 straight seasons. The Eagles are guaranteed to play three games in three days. On the second day, they will play either Ohio State or Memphis.

The event itself features six teams that made the NCAA Tournament last year. The field includes: FGCU (ASUN Champion, 26-9); Belmont (Ohio Valley Champion, 27-6), DePaul (Big East Champion, 27-8), Gonzaga (West Coast Champion, 26-7); Kent State (MAC East Champion, 19-13), Ohio State (B1G Champion, 28-7), Stanford (2017 Final Four, 32-6) and Memphis (28-7).

The schedule for the opening round of the women's tournament on Thursday, Nov. 23 is as follows:

3:30 p.m. ET – DePaul vs. FGCU
6:00 p.m. ET – Ohio State vs. Memphis
8:30 p.m. ET – Stanford vs. Kent State
11:00 p.m. ET – Gonzaga vs. Belmont

Consolation games will be played Friday, Nov. 24 at 3:30 p.m./6 p.m. ET followed by the semifinals at 8:30 p.m./11 p.m. ET Saturday's championship game will be at 11 p.m. ET.

The tournament promotes the Play4Kay initiative, a grassroots fundraising campaign for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. Play4Kay's primary fundraising support comes from women's basketball teams across the country that dedicate games throughout the season to raise funds and awareness for the Kay Yow Cancer Fund. The charity was founded in 2007 from the vision of the organization's namesake Kay Yow, a former N.C. State head women's basketball coach who endured three bouts with breast cancer. Despite the disease, she coached for 38 years, recording more than 700 wins, making 20 NCAA Tournament appearances, 11 trips to the Sweet 16 and a Final Four berth in 1998. In 1988, she coached the United States to an Olympic gold medal. She was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 1987 before succumbing to the disease on January 24, 2009. The Kay Yow Cancer Fund has since raised more than $5.28 million for women's cancer research and to assist the underserved. For her achievements on and off the court, Coach Yow is enshrined in both the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame and the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

For complete information, visit www.play4kayshootout.com or follow on Twitter at @NeonHoops.

Broadcast Info
FloHoops will offer live and on-demand coverage of the Play4Kay Showcase. The games will stream online exclusively at FloHoops.com. To access the live event coverage and replays of the Play4Kay Showcase, users must sign up to become FloPRO subscribers on FloHoops.com. Members get access to all live events and replays, upcoming original documentary content, technique videos and more. Yearly subscribers also gain access to premium content across the FloSports network of sites.

The cost to join is $29.99 per month, or $12.50 per month payable yearly at $150. For a link to the tournament stream, visit here.

The Green and Blue
FGCU enters the Play4Kay Showcase at 5-0, which is the second best start in program history at the Division-I level behind the 2010-11 team's 14-0 start. The team is coming off a 63-50 win over Siena on the road that featured a comeback from 10 points down in the third quarter. Outside of that game, FGCU has beaten Illinois, Kent State, Akron and FIU.

Nasrin Ulel (Murrietta, Calif./Murrietta HS) leads four players in double figures for FGCU at 16.2 PPG. She is shooting .537 from the field overall and .594 from 3-point range. Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) checks in second in scoring at 12.2 per game while shooting .395 from 3-point range. China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville), who poured in season-high 20 points and grabbed a career-high 12 rebounds in the win over Siena, averages 11.4 PPG and is second on the team in rebounds at 5.6 per contest. Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS) is the fourth in double figure scoring at 11 per game. She has the third most 3-pointers made (12) on the team.

Lisa Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg), who leads the team with 17 assists, is the team's 5th-leading scorer at 7.8 per game. Tytionia Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Treasure Coast HS) is the team's leading rebounder with nine per game, and she also averages 6.4 PPG. Erica Nelson (Kansas City, Mo./Lee Summit North HS) averages six PPG and has totaled 14 assists, which is second on the team behind Zderadicka. Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS) is 7-for-17 from 3-point range this year and averages 5.6 PPG.

The trio of Alyssa Blair (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie HS), Chandler Ryan (Groveland, Ill./Morton HS) and Liberty Brown (Forney, Texas/Dallas Bryan Adams HS) have combined for 15 points this year, as well.

FGCU has outscored its opponents 398-288 this year. All five wins have come by double digits and four of the five have been by 18 or more.

Scouting DePaul
DePaul enters the Play4Kay Showcase with a 3-1 record. The lone loss came to Northern Colorado in the season opener, and they've defeated Oklahoma 111-108 in OT, Delaware State 110-71 and Saint Louis 86-78.

The Blue Demons are averaging 98.8 PPG as a team.  They are attempting 42 3-pointers per contest and have compiled a 59-for-168 (.351) average from long distance. Ashton Millender leads six players in double digit scoring at 20 PPG. The others are Mart'e Grays (16.5), Amarah Coleman (14), Tanita Allen (12.8), Kelly Campbell (10.8) and Chante Stonewalle (10.3). 

Defensively, DePaul is giving up 87.8 PPG. They are also being outrebounded 41 to 40.3 per game and allowing opponents to shoot 123-for-251 (.490), including a 21-for-65 (.323) total from 3-point range.

Series History
FGCU and DePaul have met just once with the Blue Demons picking up a 60-58 win on Nov. 22, 2012 in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Gradinjan scored eight points in that game as a true freshman. For the full recap, visit here.

Play4Kay Showcase Schedule
All times E.T.
Thursday Nov. 23
FGCU vs DePaul, 3:30 p.m.
Ohio State vs Memphis, 6 p.m.
Stanford vs Kent State, 8:30 p.m.
Gonzaga vs Belmont, 11 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 24
FGCU/DePaul loser vs Ohio State/Memphis loser, 3:30 p.m.
Stanford/Kent State loser vs Gonzaga/Belmont loser, 6 p.m.
FGCU/DePaul winner vs Ohio State/Memphis winner, 8:30 p.m.
Stanford/Kent State winner vs Gonzaga/Belmont winner, 11 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 25
7th/8th Place Game, 3:30 p.m.
5th/6th Place Game, 6 p.m.
3rd/4th Place Game, 8:30 p.m.
Championship, 11 p.m.

Up Next
Following this weekend, FGCU will head back home for a bit before traveling to Texas to face Abilene Christian on Dec. 3 at 2 p.m. The team returns home for a three-game stretch Dec. 5-10 with matchups against Southeastern, #22 Kentucky and Ave Maria.

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 409-82 (.833) 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 470-109 (.812). 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.