FORT MYERS, Fla. - Down four with 3:51 left, the FGCU women's basketball team closed the game on an 18-5 run to pick up an 87-78 win over South Dakota State in Alico Arena on Friday.

Both teams entered the game ranked among the top three in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll with South Dakota State ranked 2nd. The Jackrabbits are now 10-4, while the Eagles improved to 13-3 overall and have now won three straight entering Saturday's 7 p.m. home matchup against Florida Memorial.

"I thought it was a great basketball game, really exciting," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "It had big runs by both teams. South Dakota State was really impressive. They made us pay for every mistake we made. If we had a miscommunication, the ball got to that miscommunication, and they knocked down shots at a high percentage.

"It's hard to believe we could beat them when they're 14-for-25 from three because they're so good. Fortunately for us, we were able to win rebounding and turnovers, so we were able to get a few possessions from them." 

LATE RALLY
Over the final five minutes, the Eagles finished 7-for-7 from the field and 5-for-6 from the foul line. South Dakota State's Madison Guebert, who went 6-for-10 from 3-point range, hit one from long range to give her team a 73-69 lead with 3:51 left.

Lisa Zderadicka answered on the other end with a layup, and South Dakota State called a timeout up two. However, Rosemarie Julien swiped a pass out of the break and went the distance for a game-tying layup.

The Eagles then drew a charge and forced a rare miss from 3-point range from Guebert, while getting back-to-back 3-pointers from China Dow and Taylor Gradinjan for a six-point lead. After South Dakota State responded with a layup, Dow buried another triple, grabbed a steal and made a pair of free throws to push the lead to 84-75 with 49 seconds left.

"I thought the crucial swing was China and Gradinjan hitting the 3-pointers back to back," Smesko said. "That put them under a little pressure to have to score. They were very efficient offensively, but we made some defensive plays in the last couple minutes."

South Dakota State, which shot 15-for-25 from the field and 5-for-9 from 3-point range in the second half, finished 2-for-6 with three turnovers over the final 3:51. Meanwhile, FGCU started 5-for-21 from the field and 0-for-13 from 3-point range in the final 20 minutes before finishing 7-for-7. Gradinjan's 3-pointer with 5:06 left spurred the rally.

LEADERS
Five players reached double figures in scoring for FGCU, led by Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS), who had 18 points, five rebounds and two steals. She finished 5-for-11 from the field, and it was her sixth game with at least 18 points this year. Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) added 17 points, six rebounds and three assists. She finished just one shy of her season-high in scoring.

Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville) added 17 points, four rebounds and tied her season-high with three steals while adding two assists. With her output, the redshirt senior eclipsed 800 career points. Tytionia Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) finished one rebound shy of a double-double while totaling 11 points, nine rebounds and three steals.

Erica Nelson (Kansas City, Mo./Lee Summit North HS) contributed 10 points and tied a career-high with seven assists. Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg) chipped in six points, three assists and two rebounds. Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS) and Nasrin Ulel (Murrietta, Calif./Murrietta HS) added five and three points, respectively.

BACK AND FORTH
South Dakota State opened the fourth quarter by scoring on its first eight possessions before FGCU's rally.

FGCU held a 30-14 lead with 1:01 left in the opening quarter. After seeing that margin trimmed to four, the Eagles took a 49-35 lead following five straight points from Cattani late in the half. However, the Jackrabbits hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull within eight at the break.

The lead was as large as nine on four occasions in the third quarter, but South Dakota State hit its third straight basket to close a quarter to pull within six entering the final quarter. Macy Miller's layup with 6:13 left gave the Jackrabbits its first lead since the opening minutes. It was the first of two four-point leads for her team in the quarter.

NOTES
For Nelson, this was the third time in her career she's recorded seven assists.

FGCU, which has now won three straight and seven of its past eight games, outscored South Dakota State in the paint (38-30), off turnovers (30-15), on second chance points (17-9) and in bench points (28-9). The game featured three ties and four lead changes.

Against South Dakota State, FGCU's 87 points was the fifth most in a game this season. Their 30 first quarter points was the fifth highest of any quarter, as well, while the .526 field goal percentage was second best in a game. On top of that, the team shot 16-for-20 (.800) from the foul line, which was the third time the team has reached at least that percentage.

South Dakota State got 61 of its 78 points from three players - Miller (24), Guebert (22) and Myah Selland (15). Four others scored at least three points as they tied Ohio State for the most 3-point field goals made (14) against FGCU this year. On the flip side, the Jackrabbits only had 23 rebounds - the fewest in any game against FGCU this year. The Eagles outrebounded them by eight on Friday.

FGCU is now 2-0 all-time against South Dakota State. The other victory came on Nov. 29, 2013 in an 84-59 win in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The Eagles are scheduled to make a trip to Brookings, South Dakota next season.

With her 17 points, Gradinjan now has 1,067 in her career. She moved past Kate Schrader (1,062, 2005-07) for eighth place on the program's career scoring list. Next up is Stephanie Haas (1,135, 2012-16).

Gradinjan, who also moved past Adrianne McNally (128, 2006-10) for seventh most games played on Friday, is also within striking distance of moving up the following lists: field goals made, field goals attempted, 3-point field goals made and 3-point field goals attempted.

FOLLOW ALONG
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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 417-85 (.831) 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 478-112 (.810). 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.