FORT MYERS, Fla. - Rosemarie Julien poured in a game-high 23 points, while Lisa Zderadicka contributed 13 points off the bench as the FGCU women's basketball team stunned #20 Kentucky 70-64 in Alico Arena on Friday.

With the win, FGCU (9-2) has won three straight, while Kentucky fell to 8-2 overall. It was the second time the Eagles have knocked off a ranked opponent this year, including the 89-84 OT win over #21 DePaul on Nov. 23. Furthermore, they've now produced wins against the B1G (Illinois), Big East (DePaul) and SEC (Kentucky) this year.

"This is a hard one to talk about at the end because the game had so many different segments in it," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "The first segment we started off rattled. We couldn't catch the ball, we couldn't dribble it. We were just a little on edge. I thought Lisa (Zderadicka) came in and really settled us down, got some easy baskets off attacks. I thought her coming and making the impact she did right when she got in the game helped everything just smooth out for us."

Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS) produced her seventh straight game in double figure scoring. She finished with 23 points and three assists on 8-for-14 shooting. Despite having her streak of 17 consecutive made free throws snapped, the senior made some of the biggest plays of the game, including midway through the fourth quarter when she converted a three-point play after Kentucky had tied the game at 57.

In fact, Julien's play spurred a 9-0 run that included 3-pointers from China Dow and Tytionia Adderly that put the Eagles up 66-57 with 3:32 left. Kentucky responded with seven straight to pull within two, but Julien answered with a pair of free throws that made it a two-possession game with 39 seconds left.

Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville) then drew a charge on Kentucky's Taylor Murray. Following a turnover, FGCU's defense forced a missed 3-pointer, and Taylor Gradinjan sealed the game with a rebound and two free throws with nine seconds left.

In fact, with those two points, Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) increased her career total to 1,018, which moved her past Courtney Chihil (1,016, 2008-12) for eighth place on the program's career scoring list in the Division-I era. Next up is Stephanie Haas (1,135, 2012-16).

"I feel like Gradinjan is one of the most underrated players that we've ever had in our program," Smesko said. "She's not a huge scorer. She's a great shooter, but she does so many other things for us that often go unnoticed. She plays great defense. She can guard multiple positions. She's our best screener and cutter. Even when she's not scoring, she's playing the most minutes because of all the other things she's doing for us."

Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg) tied her season-high in scoring with 13 points off the bench on 6-for-8 shooting. The Houston Baptist transfer entered the game needing 12 points to reach 600 in her NCAA career, and she now sits at 601.

As Smesko talked about post game, it was Zderadicka who helped calm the offense down early on. Kentucky scored eight of the first 10 and 10 of the first 14 points prior to her entry, and the Eagles had committed four turnovers during that early stretch, which led to six Kentucky points.

Zderadicka got a pair of layups before Dow grabbed a rebound and dished to Gradinjan for a game-tying 3-pointer with 3:10 left in the opening quarter. Kentucky briefly took the lead back, but Zderadicka added two more layups to help the Eagles take an 18-14 lead entering the second.

Kentucky's Amanda Paschal hit a jumper to knot things up at 26 apiece with just over four minutes left in the half, but layups from Julien started and finished a 9-0 run for FGCU to close the half. 

The scoring continued to open the second half as the lead stretched to 40-26 just over a minute in. Kentucky trimmed its deficit to four with just over a minute left, but a pair of free throws from Erica Nelson and a layup from Julien gave the Eagles an eight-point advantage heading to the fourth.

Kentucky trimmed its deficit to two, and then rallied to tie the game with five minutes left, but that's when Julien's three-point play spurred the 9-0 run.

Outside of Julien and Zderadicka, Dow finished third on the team in scoring with nine while adding four rebounds, two assists and one steal. Gradinjan and Nelson (Kansas City, Mo./Lee Summit North HS) each added eight. Gradinjan also tied Julien for the team-high in assists with three, while Nelson and Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) led the way with two steals each.

In fact, Adderly led all players with 11 rebounds while adding five points. Nasrin Ulel (Murrietta, Calif./Murrietta HS) added four points to round out FGCU's scoring among its seven-member rotation.

FGCU will be back in action on Sunday at home against Ave Maria (10-0) at 2 p.m. 

NOTES
Friday's win over Kentucky marked the fourth different SEC team FGCU has defeated in program history, joining Auburn (2015), LSU (2012) and Florida (2008). Overall, the Eagles now have 13 wins over Power 5 teams since 2010. Additionally, FGCU is now 10-2 against Power 5 teams in Alico Arena.

Kentucky's Maci Morris entered Friday's game averaging 16.7 PPG. She had reached double figures in each game and was averaging 57.4 percent from 3-point range coming in. Behind Julien and FGCU's defense, though, she was held to a season-low six points in 33 minutes.

In the current membership of the ASUN, FGCU becomes the first team to defeat Kentucky, who was previously 7-0 against the conference.

Friday marked the first-ever matchup between FGCU and Kentucky.

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 413-84 (.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 474-111 (.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.

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.