NEWARK, N.J. – The FGCU women's basketball (23-7, 12-1 ASUN) jumped out to an early lead with a stellar first half performance to take down NJIT (10-18, 3-10 ASUN) 77-46. FGCU held the Highlanders to just 13 points, while racking up 11 threes in the first two quarters of play.

"I thought we started the game really strong," said head coach Karl Smesko. "We were guarding well, taking smart shots. I thought we had a lot of success early on against their zone. In the second half we didn't really have that same level of intensity. I give NJIT a lot of credit. They really took advantage of that in the third quarter."
 
As a unit, the Green and Blue were firing from all cylinders in terms of three-point shooting. Four Eagles – Rosemarie Julien, Taylor Gradinjan, Haley Laughter and Jessica Cattani – knocked down three threes, while eight different Eagles recorded at least one trifecta.
 
Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS/Chipola College) led the team in points with 15, followed by Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) and Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) who each collected 11. Jordin Alexander (Fisher, Ind./ Hamilton Southeastern HS/Brown) also reached double digits with 10 points and added three steals and a team-best five assists.
 
In total, the Green and Blue snagged 14 steals en route to 22 Highlander's turnovers. FGCU has forced 20 or more turnovers in four of its last five contests.
 
With Tytionia Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman) fouling out early in the third quarter, it was Mikala McGhee (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville HS/George Mason/Missouri State) who led the Eagles from the boards with eight rebounds.
 
After two scoreless minutes to start the game, Julien got hot with a pair of threes on back-to-back Eagles possessions. After a third basket from Julien gave FGCU an 8-6 lead, NJIT called a timeout. When play resumed, the Eagles continued to roll with a contested jumper from China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State) and a three-pointer from sharpshooter Laughter. Julien knocked down her third trifecta in the final two minutes of the quarter, but it was Gradinjan who finished out the period for FGCU, nailing her first triple at the buzzer for a 21-2 FGCU lead. NJIT's only points of the quarter came off a pair free throws.
 
The second quarter started a lot like the first ended – with a Gradinjan three-pointer. Cattani and Erica Nelson (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee Summit North HS/Johnson County CC) knocked down FGCU's ninth and 10th trey of the night, which increased the Eagles lead to 32 points. NJIT responded with a 7-2 run to cut their deficit to 27 before the end of the half.
 
The Highlanders started off the second half on a 6-2 run, which was put to rest with a Laughter three pointer. Minutes later, another six-point run shaved the Highlanders deficit to 22, but FGCU answered with five-straight scores of its own. As they trailed by 27, NJIT's Kelly Guarino knocked down the Highlanders' first three-pointer, sparking a seven-point run that ended the quarter at 54-34.
 
The Eagles rebounded in the fourth with nine-straight points.  The Highlanders began to claw their way back until a triple from Samantha Kisiel (Evergreen, Colo./Evergreen HS), the first of her career, set NJIT back three more points. Treys from Tayler Goodall (Columbus, Ind./Columbus HS) and Cattani followed, giving the Eagles a 31-point lead as time expired.
 
UP NEXT
The Eagles return home next week for a first place showdown against Stetson. Secure your tickets here to cheer on the Eagles as they fight for their seventh-straight regular season ASUN title.
 
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 400-80 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.3 with a mark of 156-14 (91.8 W%) in ASUN contests and has led the team to a 93-2 (97.9 W%) 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 461-107 (81.2 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.