LAS VEGAS - Erica Nelson scored a season-high 19 points, but the FGCU women's basketball team fell to Belmont 75-65 in the finale of the Play4Kay Showcase at Mandalay Bay on Saturday night.

With the loss, FGCU (6-2) finished fourth among eight teams in the tournament. The Eagles will be back in action on on Dec. 3 at Abilene Christian. Belmont (5-2) finished third.

"We had too many defensive breakdowns to beat a very good team," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "Belmont played great basketball and beat us to the ball for extra possessions."

FGCU got the bulk of its scoring from Nelson (Kansas City, Mo./Lee Summit North HS) and Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS) as the duo combined for 35 of the team's 65 points.

Nelson shot 7-for-15 from the field for her 19 points while adding four rebounds and two assists. Julien shot a perfect 6-for-6 from the field, including a 4-for-4 performance from 3-point range, to finish with 16 points.

Outside of those two, Chandler Ryan (Groveland, Ill./Morton HS) scored a season-high seven points in seven minutes off the bench. She made 5-for-5 from the foul line and did all of her damage over the game's final 12 minutes.

Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS), who hit her second and final 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to pull FGCU within four, finished fourth on the team in scoring with six while adding two assists and one steal.

Tytionia Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) led the team with eight rebounds while adding four points, and China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville) added four points and seven rebounds before fouling out late in the third quarter.

FGCU scored the game's first four points, but Belmont rallied to take a 14-8 lead. Julien made back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game, but the Bruins closed the opening quarter on a 5-0 run. A sluggish start in the ensuing quarter allowed Belmont to open up a 25-16 lead three minutes in.

Julien made another 3-pointer, and Dow followed with a pair of free throws to pull the Eagles within four, but Belmont took a 36-26 lead into the break.

FGCU had four players with at least two fouls at halftime, including Dow with three, and it hampered them. After Belmont opened up the second half on a 5-0 run to take a 41-26 lead, the Eagles started to make a run behind eight straight points from Nelson, but Dow fouled out late in the quarter as Belmont led by nine.

Ryan entered shortly thereafter and made four free throws before the close of the quarter to trim the deficit to seven. Gradinjan's 3-pointer then trimmed it to four to open the final quarter, but Belmont went on a 10-0 run to take a 67-53 lead with 7:01 left, and the Bruins never led by fewer than 10 the rest of the way.

TIDBITS
Gradinjan now has 981 points as she looks to become just the ninth player in program history to record 1,000 career points in the Division-I era.

With the conclusion of the Play4Kay Showcase, FGCU completed a stretch of seven games over 11 days on the road. The road trip includes one more game at Abilene Christian on Dec. 3, but the Eagles will head home prior to that game. Following that single game, FGCU will host three straight at home from Dec. 5-10.

FGCU's 26 points in the first half was the third lowest total for the team in any half this year behind the 25 in the second half against Kent State on Nov. 17 and the 24 in the opening half against Siena on Nov. 20.

Bill Laimbeer, a two-time NBA champion who is one of just 19 players in NBA history to record at least 10,000 points and rebounds in a career, was in attendance at the game. He was recently announced as the president of basketball operations and head coach of the WNBA's newest team in Las Vegas. They will be playing their home games on the same court that FGCU played this weekend - the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

PLAY4KAY
The Play4Kay Showcase 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.

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 410-84 (.830) 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 471-111 (.809). 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.