FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's basketball team (24-8, 12-2 ASUN) overcame an uncharacteristically slow start to top North Florida (10-20, 3-11 ASUN) 59-42 in the ASUN Tournament Quarterfinals at Alico Arena. The victory advances the Eagles to the semifinal round, where they will host third-seeded Jacksonville. Tipoff on Wednesday is set for 7 p.m., and the game will air live on ESPN3.
 
General-admission tickets are now on sale to Wednesday's game by visiting FGCUTickets.com. Those looking to attend are strongly encouraged to secure their seats in advance, including FGCU students' free tickets. Fans can also call 239-590-7145 or visit the Alico Arena Ticket Office to secure their tickets or acquire additional information.
 
After shooting 5-of-28 from the field for just 18 first-half points, No. 2 FGCU exploded in the second half with 41 points off a 51.9 percent shooting performance en route to an 17-point victory over the seventh-seeded Ospreys.
 
Senior transfer Jordin Alexander (Fisher, Ind./ Hamilton Southeastern HS/Brown) played a large role in the comeback with 10 second-half points. She finished with a team-leading 14, while Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS/Chipola College) and Erica Nelson (Lee's Summit, Mo./Lee Summit North HS/Johnson County CC) each added 11.
 
Defense is undoubtedly what helped FGCU stay in the game early, despite such a poor shooting performance. As usual, Tytionia Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman) led the Eagles with 12 boards, including five offensive rebounds. Collectively, the Eagles recorded nine steals including three from China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville/Middle Tennessee State)
 
"Obviously this was a game where we had to rely on our defense because offensively, we had a really bad first half," said head coach Karl Smesko. "We didn't shoot it well. We didn't work together well to create opportunities, so we understand that we're going to have to play better offensively if we're going to get past this next round. But the second half was much better. People started knocking down shots. Jordin got us going. Taylor Gradinjan started knocking down threes. Ty (Adderly) got us extra possessions and a couple baskets, so it was a good second half. Hopefully in a couple days we can play two good halves because that's what it's going to take."
 
After nine fast points in the first quarter, including a Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Day School) triple, the Eagles' offense became stagnant. FGCU sat scoreless in the final seven minutes of the period as North Florida worked it's way up to nine points of it's own for a tied score.
 
The teams exchanged free throws to start the second. Finally, four minutes into the quarter, a layup from UNF's Simone Brown broke the field goal drought on the court. The Eagles scored their first basket of the period with 4:28 remaining off a triple by Nelson, but the Osprey responded with a three of their own and converted four more freebies before leaving the court with a 21-18 lead at the end of the half.
 
After a layup from Tesh Hanson gave North Florida its largest lead of the night, the Eagles went on a 12-0 tear, which included six points from Alexander and a pair of Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) threes. Leading by six, the Eagles finished the quarter with a Nelson steal setting up a buzzer-beating layup by Adderly.
 
A 6-2 Eagles run started off the fourth quarter, giving FGCU a 41-29 lead. UNF's Brown responded with a three-point play, but the Green and Blue continued to hammer it home with four points from Nelson and a Julien triple. With a 20-point advantage, FGCU began to sub out its starters. UNF racked up three more points before time expired.
 
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 402-81 at FGCU for a win percentage of 82.8 with a mark of 158-15 (91.3 W%) in ASUN contests and has led the team to a 95-3 (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 463-108 (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.