FORT MYERS, Fla. – An ASUN regular-season crown has eluded the FGCU women's basketball team (23-8, 12-2 ASUN) this year after a heartbreaking 64-67 loss to in-state foe Stetson (24-5, 13-1 ASUN) at Alico Arena on Saturday night. In one of the most physical ASUN outings of the season, the teams battled to a 54-54 finish at the end of regulation before the Eagles fell just shy of their seventh-straight title.
 
After 10 lead changes, seven ties and nearly identical statistics, head coach Karl Smesko stressed the importance of capitalizing on each play.
 
"We just didn't make the last play," said Smesko. "We were in a position to win the game, and we just came up a little short. I thought our kids played hard. There were just a few too many mental mistakes to win the game. I'm sure there are a lot of plays down the stretch that we'll be reliving. It's at any point during the game – a defensive breakdown, some wasted opportunities. We just needed one more play. Now we'll see how we bounce back from this."
 
While a conference loss at Alico Arena feels out of character for the Eagles, there was nothing uncharacteristic about the energy in the building and effort on the court. The fierce performance was lead by Erica Nelson (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee Summit North HS/Johnson County CC) who racked up a team-high 17 points despite foul trouble. Jordin Alexander (Fisher, Ind./ Hamilton Southeastern HS/Brown) and China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State) also carried their weight offensively with 15 and 12 points, respectively.
 
On the defensive end, Alexander, who battled through all 45 minutes of the game, held the Hatter's lead scorer Brianti Saunders to just eight points after averaging 15.7 on the season.
 
Once again, Tytionia Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman) crushed the boards, pulling down a career-high 18 and adding 11 points for her fourth double-double of the season. With the regular season coming to an end tonight, Adderly will finish her freshman year with a league-best 123 rebounds in conference play.
 
"She's an exceptional rebounder – a very tough kid, a very competitive kid," Smesko said. "I knew she'd give us a lot. She didn't play very much the first time we played them and we got outrebounded badly. This time the rebounds were pretty even, largely because of the job she did on the boards."
 
The first quarter set the pace for what was about to be a long and physical night of ASUN basketball at Alico Arena. Stetson jumped out to an early lead, but was never able to separate from the Eagles by more than four points. Alexander got the Eagles started from three with a long-range make, but FGCU still trailed 19-16 at the end of the period.
 
The first minutes of the second quarter were scoreless until Stetson ended the draught with points from Saunders. FGCU responded with a nine point run, highlighted by a three from Nelson, which gave the Eagles their first lead of the night at 25-24. The crowd fell silenced momentarily as Stetson swished a trey of its own, but Nelson turned right around and knocked down a second to reclaim the one-point advantage. Unfortunately, it would be the last basket of the half for the Eagles, as Stetson finished the quarter with three-straight field goals and a 33-28 lead.
 
A basket at the beginning of the third quarter gave the Hatters their largest lead of the night at 35-28. The Eagles remained scoreless throughout the first three minutes of the half, but rattled off five-straight points once they got going. FGCU continued to chisel away at its deficit with a three-pointer from Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS/Chipola College) and briefly recaptured the lead with an Alexander layup. Stetson's Brittney Chambers answered with a layup of her own as the quarter came to an end.
 
Trailing by one, the Eagles immediately regained their advantage with a basket from Adderly to start off the fourth. Feeding off the crowd's energy, Dow began using her physicality to power her way to the rim for three layups, each of which was answered by a basket from the Hatters. With two minutes remaining, back-to-back jumpers from Stetson's Breana Bey gave the Hatters a one-point lead. As time ticked away, Dow swiped it from Saunders, setting up Alexander for her signature midrange jumper. Leading 54-53 with 45 seconds remaining, a foul allowed the Hatters to tie the game. After seemingly running out of time, :02 seconds were added to the clock, giving Smesko one last attempt to draw up a play to win the game in regulation. Excitement in the stadium reached an all-time peak as Dow inbounded the ball perfectly, chucking it under the net to Julien who just barely missed the shot.
 
The teams swapped the first eight points in overtime before Stetson took the lead on a Chambers jumper. As the clock ran down, the Eagles were forced to start fouling, but stayed within one possession thanks to a layup from Dow. Trailing 64-61, a foul was called on the Eagles for stepping over the line while inbounding, which returned possession to Stetson and ultimately ended the game.
 
Despite a valiant effort, the loss seemed to have struck more of a chord with Eagles fans and players because the showdown marked the last regular season home game for four FGCU seniors who were honored prior to tipoff. Although the outcome was disappointing, for some, it may have ignited even more of a fire as we head into postseason play.
 
"I want it a lot," said points-leader Nelson after the game, "just from my year not winning (a championship) at Johnson County and just wanting to experience that with the seniors. Like Jordi, just seeing her face after made me hurt even more because she's out here playing 45 minutes – that's the whole game. Just seeing her…it hurt me for her, so I want to do it for her and everybody else in this senior class."
 
The Eagles will have an opportunity to take the first step towards capturing that conference championship when FGCU plays host to North Florida in the first round of the ASUN Tournament on Friday, March 3. Tip off at Alico Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. Fans can secure their tickets by logging on to FGCUTickets.com, calling 239-590-7145 or by visiting the Alico Arena Ticket Office.
 
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 401-81 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.2 with a mark of 157-15 (91.3 W%) in ASUN contests and has led the team to a 94-3 (96.9 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 462-108 (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.