Chattanooga, Tenn. - Chattanooga used a 15-2 run to close the game and pick up a 68-61 win over the FGCU women's basketball team at The McKenzie Arena on Sunday afternoon.

FGCU (10-3), which saw its four-game winning streak snapped and lost its first true road game of the season (4-1), will now return home for seven straight - beginning with a 7 p.m. matchup against Harvard on Wednesday in the first game of the FGCU Hilton Garden Inn Classic. Chattanooga is now 7-4 and has won seven of its past eight.

"I'm disappointed with our execution and the outcome of the game," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "It's not easy to beat a good team on the road, but we were in a position to do that. We made some mistakes turning the ball over and fouling late in the game that gave them an opportunity to get back in it. And then they made the plays down the stretch to win it."

On Sunday, Chattanooga scored 14 of the game's first 16 points. Erica Nelson and Lisa Zderadicka answered with back-to-back layups to close the quarter, but the Eagles trailed by eight.

A three-point play then pushed the deficit to 11 with 5:23 left in the half, but Jessica Cattani spurred a 13-4 run to close the half and pull FGCU within two. The fifth-year senior scored nine points after entering in the second quarter, and she also assisted on a 3-pointer from Taylor Gradinjan and a layup from Tytionia Adderly, which allowed her to play a role in 14 first-half points.

Nasrin Ulel opened the final 20 minutes with a steal and a dish to Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) for a fast break layup. On the next offensive possession, she grabbed an offensive rebound and buried a 3-pointer to give FGCU its first lead of the game. 

A 7-0 run that started with Ulel's 3-pointer and resulted in a six-point lead for FGCU culminated when Nelson (Kansas City, Mo./Lee Summit North HS) made 1-for-2 at the foul line with 6:53 left in the quarter.

In the ensuing minutes, a 3-pointer from China Dow and a three-point play from Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS), along with a layup from Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg) allowed the Eagles to take a 48-44 lead through three.

Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS) and Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) hit back-to-back 3-pointers to open the fourth quarter, which gave FGCU a 54-44 lead with 6:43 left. Chattanooga trimmed its deficit a bit, but Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville) converted a layup following an offensive rebound for a 59-53 lead with 4:28 left.

After that, and despite missing a pair of free throws on its next possession, Chattanooga scored the game's next seven points to take a one-point lead with 1:30 left. Ulel (Murrietta, Calif./Murrietta HS) responded with a layup on the right side to give the Eagles the lead back with just under a minute left.

Chattanooga would answer back once again, however, with a layup and a pair of free throws to take a three-point lead with 8.3 seconds left. Following a timeout, the Eagles missed a potential game-tying 3-pointer from the right corner, and Chattanooga sealed the game from the foul line.

In all, Cattani led the Eagles in scoring for the second consecutive game by finishing with 12 points, three rebounds and two assists in just 15 minutes. She finished 4-for-8 from the field, while Dow was the second and final player in double figures with 10 points. She also added five rebounds and an assist in 22 minutes before fouling out late.

Adderly tallied eight points, 12 rebounds (six offensive) and one steal. It was her career-high fourth straight game with at least 10 rebounds after recording three straight on three occasions as a freshman last year. Six of her rebounds came on the offensive glass, and it was the second time this year she missed a double-double by two or fewer points.

Two players also set career-highs as Gradinjan blocked a pair of shots and Nelson swiped four of the team's eight steals.

Although everyone who played scored at least three points for the Eagles, including nine apiece from Nelson and Ulel, FGCU was doomed by poor shooting performances at the beginning and end of the game. In fact, in the stretch prior to the pair of layups to close the first quarter and following Dow's layup that gave FGCU a six-point lead, the Eagles shot 2-for-17 from the field. The scoreless stretch in the first quarter spanned 7:37.

In addition, FGCU finished 8-for-36 (22.2 percent) from 3-point range, which was the team's second lowest total made from long range in a game this season, as well as the second worst team 3-point percentage in a game.

FGCU is now 1-1 all-time against Chattanooga, which includes a win in Alico Arena last year. In fact, Cattani also led the Eagles in scoring that game with 15, too.

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 414-85 (.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 475-112 (.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.

TOYS FOR TOTS
The FGCU Athletics Department, FGCU Police Department, Lee County Sheriff's Office and Heroes Unlimited have teamed up to participate in a holiday toy drive. New, unwrapped toys are being collected and will be delivered to the Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida on Friday, Dec. 23. Collection boxes have been placed in the lobbies of Alico Arena, UPD and the FGCU Family Resource Center until Wednesday, Dec. 20. No toy is too small, and all toys will be wrapped prior to delivery.