FORT MYERS Fla. – The FGCU women's basketball team (21-7, 10-1) put on a show at Alico Arena, knocking down 20 long range shots en route to a 98-50 win over Lipscomb (5-21, 2-9) on Monday night. The Eagles' 20 triples tied for third-most all-time by an FGCU team in a single game. The program record is 22.
 
With the win, the Eagles remain perfect at the Nest with a 15-0 record at Alico this season. Another ASUN victory in front of the home crowd also extends FGCU's streak to 75-straight conference wins at home. The Eagles have not fallen in a regular-season ASUN game at Alico Arena since Jan. 8, 2009.
 
"I thought it was a really good game for us in terms of getting the ball to shooters and knocking down shots," said head coach Karl Smesko. "Obviously they played zone for 95 percent of the game, and we were able to move the ball on them and get it to open people. A lot of people were knocking down shots. Haley (Laughter) and Jessica (Cattani), in particular, did a great job from behind the arc. I thought we played good defense for most of the game, and it was a good win."
 
As a unit, the Eagles gave an outstanding offensive performance shooting 31-of-64 (48.4 pct.) from the field and 20-of-48 from three. Defensively, FGCU recorded its 15th game this season with double-figure steals and eighth game with 40-plus rebounds.
 
Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) shot lights out from long-range knocking down 7-of-11 threes, just one shy of a program record, and finishing with a total of 21 points. Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS) matched Laughter with a career-high 21 of her own, including 4-of-5 makes from beyond the arc.
 
Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) and Nasrin Ulel (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta HS) also got hot from three-point land with four triples each. Gradinjan finished with 12 points, while Ulel amassed 13 in just 10 minutes of play.
 
Reigning ASUN Newcomer of the Week Tytionia Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman) continued to crush the boards, recording her second double-double in a row with 12 point and 13 rebounds. The Eagles freshman also added three steals, but it was Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS/Chipola College) who led the Green and Blue in the category with four.
 
Sydnei McCaskill (Orlando, Fla./Dr. Phillips) served as a key distributor for FGCU, dishing out a career-high nine assists.
 
Laughter started the night off with a bang, draining four triples in the first seven minutes of action. With the help of an additional three-pointer from China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State), FGCU started off with a comfortable 17-5 lead. Lipscomb was able to cut its deficit to 11 before Gradinjan knocked down the Eagles' sixth trey of the quarter. FGCU followed up with a layup from Julien resulting in a 24-8 advantage at the end of the first.
 
After Lipscomb opened the second quarter with a layup, the Eagles went on a 10-point tear, highlighted by back-to-back threes from Gradinjan. FGCU continued to combine stingy defense with precise shooting to gain a 32-point lead going into halftime.
 
When play resumed, the teams split the first 14 points out of the break. About halfway through the quarter, FGCU got hot again and went on an 11-point run, which included three more treys, two from Laughter and one from Cattani. The Bisons responded with 7-straight points of their own, but FGCU finished the period with a 39-point cushion after an Ulel three-pointer.
 
The Bisons found no answers for the Eagles shooters in the fourth quarter, as Ulel and Cattani knocked down three triples each, bringing the Eagles grand total to 20 on the night. The Green and Blue maintained a 48-point lead as time expired.
 
UP NEXT
The Eagles fly north next weekend for their final regular season roadtrip. FGCU will face USC Upstate on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 5 p.m. before squaring off with NJIT on Monday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m.
 
SMESKO
Head coach Karl Smesko earned his sixth-consecutive ASUN Coach of the Year award with a successful 2015-16 campaign and was named the espnW Mid-Major Coach of the Year. Under his direction, the team has compiled two-straight 30-win seasons with four perfect ASUN regular-season slates in the last five years. The team earned its first top-25 ranking and a third NCAA Tournament appearance as a seven seed in 2014-15 where FGCU won its first ever DI NCAA Tournament game against No. 10 Oklahoma State. With 30 wins and counting this year, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 12-straight 20 win seasons.  He maintains a record of 399-80 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.3 with a mark of 153-14 (91.6 W%) in ASUN contests and has led the team to a 91-2 (97.8) record in conference play in the last five seasons.  The six-time ASUN Coach of the Year earned his 400th career win in 2014-15 in just 493 career games, two games faster than UConn's Geno Auriemma, and holds a career record of 460-107 (81.1 W%).  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 raise awareness.