JACKSONVILLE, Fla – The FGCU women's basketball team (18-6, 7-0 ASUN) remains undefeated in the ASUN after downing UNF (8-14, 1-6 ASUN) 68-51 on Thursday night.
 
With the win, FGCU ties its record of 44-straight regular season ASUN victories. The streak stands as the second-longest regular season conference win streak in the NCAA behind UConn, which has won 64-straight.
 
After trailing by 26 at the half, the Ospreys nearly made a comeback in the third quarter, but were shut down in the fourth by three three-pointers from Mikala McGhee (St. Louis, Mo./Pattonville HS/George Mason/Missouri State).
 
"I thought we were playing really well through the last 15 minutes of the first half, said head coach Karl Smesko.  "We were moving the ball, taking smart shots. Then in the third we started making some bad decisions, which let UNF get going. Mikala's threes in the fourth quarter helped us get back some separation."
 
McGhee went 4-of-7 from three-point land on the night and finished the game with a career-high 12 points. China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State) matched McGhee with 12 of her own, but it was Jordin Alexander (Fisher, Ind./ Hamilton Southeastern HS/Brown) and Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS/Chipola College) who led the team in scoring with 13 each.
 
Twenty-five of the Eagles points were scored off of the Osprey's 25 turnovers, as five Eagles tallied multiple steals. Alexander led the pack with three.
 
FGCU found its shot early, firing off three triples in the first four minutes of play. The teams swapped the next eight baskets until another three from Julien gave FGCU a 21-13 lead. Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) finished off the quarter with a jumper at the buzzer, which increased the Eagles' lead to an even 10 points.
 
After an Ospreys layup to start the second, FGCU racked up six-straight points, including a Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) trey. Later in the period, another three from Laughter sparked a 12-point Eagles run. This time, FGCU beat the buzzer with a jumper from Alexander, which ended the quarter at 47-21 in favor of the Eagles.
 
The third quarter started with four-straight points for UNF. After a jumper from Alexander, the Eagles were shut out for the final six minutes of the quarter as the Ospreys went on a 10-point run.
 
McGhee got FGCU going again in the fourth with a three-pointer, but UNF immediately responded with a trey of its own. A layup from Tesh Hanson brought the Osprey within 10-points, but back-to-back trey from McGhee created separation for FGCU. At 58-42, the Green and Blue went on a 10-point run, highlighted by a three from Julien. UNF scored seven more points as time expired.
 
UP NEXT
The Eagles face Jacksonville for the second time this season on Saturday, Feb. 4. Tipoff is scheduled for 1 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 397-79 at FGCU for a win percentage of 83.4 with a mark of 152-13 (92.1 W%) in ASUN contests and has led the team to an 88-1 (98.9) 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 458-106 (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.