FORT MYERS, Fla. – With the ASUN regular-season title on the line, the FGCU women's basketball team hosts Florida-foe Stetson on Saturday Night at 7 p.m. The Green and Blue will honor its senior class prior to the game.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Fans can follow a live broadcast of both games on ESPN3. Live stats will also be available from StatBroadcast. For those looking to attend the game and support your FGCU Eagles, tickets can be purchased online at FGCUTickets.com or by calling the university's ticket office at 239-590-7145.
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE
With a win over Stetson, FGCU will clinch its seventh-straight ASUN regular-season title and capture the No. 1 seed in the ASUN Championship, which would guarantee the Eagles home-court advantage throughout the tournament.
 
With a loss, the Stetson Hatters would claim the regular-season crown, and FGCU would fall to the 2 seed.
 
ASUN Championship Schedule At Alico Arena:
Quarterfinals: Friday, Mar. 3, at 7 p.m.
*Semifinals: Wednesday, Mar. 8, at 7 p.m.
*Final: Sunday, Mar. 12, at 3 p.m.
*Pending a victory in the previous round
 
Tickets are on sale now for the quarterfinal game, and with a sellout crowd expected, fans are encouraged to secure their seats in advance by visiting FGCUTickets.com, stopping by the Alico Arena Ticket Office during normal business hours or by calling 239-590-7145.
 
SENIOR NIGHT
Fans are encouraged to arrive early, as we will be honoring our FGCU women's basketball seniors prior to the game. This year we say goodbye to four Eagle seniors, Haley Laughter, Jordin Alexander, Mikala McGhee and Sydnei McCaskill, as well as two team managers Michael Tolvo and Noah Poloniecki.
 
THE GREEN AND BLUE
> With a win tonight, the Eagles could earn their seventh-straight ASUN regular season championship.
>  The last time FGCU faced Stetson, Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS/Chipola College) led the team with a monstrous 36 points, which set a new Division I single game record for the Eagles and marked the most points from an ASUN player this season.
> FGCU enters the weekend riding a 75-game conference win streak at Alico Arena.
> The Eagles' RPI jumped from 144 to 97 since conference play began.
> FGCU has forced nearly twice as many turnovers as they've committed in league play (256 forced compared to 134 committed).
> The Eagles collected their 400th win as a program against USC Upstate last week.
 
SCOUTING STETSON
> Stetson is riding a 12-game winning streak into Fort Myers, Fla. on Saturday night as the Hatters look for their first regular season title in team history. A win would also give the Hatters the No. 1 seed.  
> The Hatters are the only team in the ASUN to average over 70.0 percent from the free throw line this season. They enter the weekend ranking sixth in all of Division I women's basketball at 78.6 percent.
> The Hatters will bring the toughest defense in the ASUN to FGCU on Saturday. Stetson is holding opponents to just 36.5 percent shooting from the field in league play, 34.1 from three.
> Stetson is outscoring its opponents by 170 points in first quarters this year (511-341). The Hatters have led after the first quarter in all 13 ASUN games, and in 22 of the team's 28 games this year. Stetson is 20-2 in those games, including a loss to FGCU.
 
KEY PLAYERS
1 Sarah Sagerer - Sagerer enters the weekend ranked sixth overall in the NCAA with those 88 blocks, seventh with 3.14 blocks per game. She has seven conference games this season with three or more, including three vs. FGCU.        
 
10 Brianti Saunders - Saunders ranks second in the ASUN in scoring at 16.0 points per game. She became just the seventh player in ASUN history to record her 1,900th career point last weekend.
 
23 Breana Bey - Bey leads the ASUN shooting 58.2 percent from the field, 20th in the NCAA this week.
 
PROTECTING THE NEST
Alico Arena stands as the second-toughest place to play in all of NCAA Division I women's basketball. The first: UConn's Gampel Pavilion. 
 
The Eagles hold a record of 148-11 at home since making the jump to Division I in 2007-08 and have won 84 out of 85 ASUN games with the home crowd behind them.
 
#RAININGTHREES
The team's moniker Raining Threes isn't just for show. FGCU has made an incredible 4,373 3-pointers in 15 seasons for an average of nine per game. The Eagles are riding a 365-game streak with at least one three ball and have made a long-range shot in 480 of 481 games in program history.
 
HOME SWEET HOME
FGCU has not fallen in an ASUN game at Alico Arena since Jan. 8, 2009.  That's 75-straight ASUN wins at home over a span of 7 years - the longest active streak in the nation.
 
FGCU is a perfect 15-0 at home so far this season.
 
ASUN SUCCESS
The Eagles joined the ASUN for the 2007-08 season and immediately saw success among the conference ranks. The team has won six-straight regular-season championships with a record of 110-5 over that span. The Eagles have won seven total regular-season championships and have never finished lower than second in the final conference standings. FGCU holds a record of 157-14 all-time in conference games and maintains a 94-2 record in ASUN games played at Alico Arena (including postseason). Since earning postseason eligibility during the 2011-12 season, the Eagles have won three of four ASUN Tournament Championships.
 
FLORIDA FOES
Since transitioning to Division I in 2007, the Eagles hold a record of 87-20 over teams from the state of Florida.
 
ASUN LEADERS
This season the Eagles are leading the ASUN in scoring offense (72.9) scoring defense (55.3 pg), assists (15.5 pg), FG made (786), 3pt FG made (305), 3pt FGs per game (10.3) and turnover margin (7.13).
 
THREES ON THE SEASON
The Eagles have made the third most three-pointers in the NCAA so far this season with 305 in 30 games. Their average of 10.3 per contest ranks fifth in the nation.
 
TEAM                           3FG MADE
1. Washinton                311
2. FGCU                       305
3. Saint Francis (PA)    297                
4. Sacramento St.        268
5. Idaho                        267
 
TEAM                          3FG PER GAME
1. Saint Francis (PA)  11.0
2. Washington            10.4
3. Sacramento St.      10.3
4. FGCU                     10.3
5. Idaho                      10.2
 
SMESKO'S OFFENSE
The Eagles run a motion offense with five equal parts constantly moving to create the best shots. Don't be surprised to see five 'G's in the starting lineup as 11 of the team's 15 players are listed as guards.
 
ASUN STANDINGS
SCHOOL                     ASUN    OVERALL
Stetson*                      12-1       23-5
FGCU*                        12-1       23-7
#3 Jacksonville*          10-3       21-7
#4 Kennesaw State*   7-6         8-19
NJIT                            3-10      10-18
North Florida               3-10      10-18
USC Upstate               3-10      6-22
Lipscomb                     2-11      9-19
 
* - Clinched a home game in ASUN Championship
 
RECAPPING NJIT
FGCU jumped out to an early lead with a stellar first half performance to take down NJIT, 77-46. FGCU held the Highlanders to just 13 points, while racking up 11 threes in the first two quarters of play.
 
As a unit, the Green and Blue were firing from all cylinders in terms of three-point shooting. Four Eagles - Julien, Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS), Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) and Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS) – knocked down three threes, while eight different Eagles recorded at least one trifecta.
 
Julien led the team in points with 15, followed by Gradinjan and Laughter who each collected 11. 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 McGhee (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville HS/George Mason/Missouri State) who led the Eagles from the boards with eight rebounds.
 
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 401-80 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.4 with a mark of 157-14 (91.8 W%) in ASUN contests and has led the team to a 94-2 (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 462-107 (81.3 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.