FORT MYERS, Fla. - Five players scored in double figures as the FGCU women's basketball team (16-3, 2-0 ASUN) cruised past NJIT 90-66 in Alico Arena on Saturday.
With the win, FGCU tied its season-best winning streak at six. The first chance to extend it will be Monday at 7 p.m. against USC Upstate at home. The Eagles are now 10-0 at home this year and have won 10 of the past 11.
Jessica Cattani scored a game-high 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting - all from 3-point range. Four others - Erica Nelson, Nasrin Ulel, Rosemarie Julien and China Dow - added 13 points apiece. Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville) teamed with Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS) and Lisa Zderadicka (9) to produced 38 points off the bench for the Eagles.
"Almost every time she was open, she knocked down a shot," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said of Cattani's performance. "She was a big spark to the offense. We shot the ball ok, not great from three, and that made it a competitive game for a long time."
NJIT remained close for nearly the game's first six minutes and trailed by just one with 4:22 left in the quarter, but Taylor Gradinjan made her second of two consecutive 3-pointers and Dow followed with a pair of free throws to spur a 7-0 run that finished a 20-11 quarter.
Julien opened the second quarter with a layup to cap a 10-0 run, and the lead stretched to 17 nearly four minutes in following a 3-pointer from Nelson (Kansas City, Mo./Lee Summit North HS). The lead hovered around there for the rest of the half, although NJIT hit a pair of free throws with less than a second left to trim the margin to 14.
FGCU gradually stretched its lead to open the second half and led by as many as 31 following a layup from Dow with 3:50 left in the third quarter. The Eagles led by at least 20 over the game's final 16 minutes.
Outside of the points, Ulel (Murrietta, Calif./Murrietta HS) added three rebounds, three steals and an assist, while Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS) had a rebound, an assist, a block and a steal. Dow led the team with eight rebounds while adding an assist and a steal.
Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg) finished with seven assists - one shy of her career-high - and added two rebounds, as well. Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) tallied eight points, two rebounds and two assists, and Tytionia Adderly had five points, six rebounds and three steals.
For Cattani, her five 3-pointers tied her career-high set against Florida Memorial on Dec. 30. She has made at least one from long range in eight straight and is 23-for-40 (.575) from the 3-point line during that stretch. On top of that, she's reached double digits in five of those eight for an average of 12.6 per game.
The Eagles, who didn't see anyone play more than 25 minutes, forced 24 turnovers from the Highlanders, which led to 25 points going the other way. They also out rebounded the visitors 10-3 on the offensive glass, which led to an 11-5 advantage in second chance points.
The game, which was sponsored by NCH Healthcare System, represented the fourth time FGCU has forced at least 24 turnovers in a game this year. The Eagles are now 7-0 all-time against NJIT.
Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) is now three rebounds shy of passing Katie Meador (422, 2012-16) for eighth place on the program's career list. Ulel, a sophomore guard, needs just five more points to double her scoring total from last year. She has at least one 3-pointer in 15 of 19 games this year. Gradinjan needs seven more made field goals to eclipse Kate Schrader (376, 2005-07) for eighth on the career list. She now has 260 career 3-pointers, eclipsed 700 career attempts on Saturday and broke a tie with Whitney Knight (130, 2011-16) for sixth most career games played with 131. One more would tie her with Sarah Hansen (2009-14) and DyTiesha Dunson (2012-16) for fourth place.
FOLLOWÂ ALONG
For up-to-the-minute information and behind-the-scenes access to the women's basketball program, follow @FGCU_WBB on Twitter and Instagram and like us on Facebook at /FGCUWBB.
COACHÂ SMESKO
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko rallied the 2016-17 Eagles to their seventh-straight 25-win campaign, which culminated in the team's fourth NCAA tournament appearance in six seasons of eligibility. The seven-time ASUN Coach of the Year was named the espnW Mid-Major Coach of the Year in 2015-16 following a run that witnessed the Eagles finish a best-ever 33-6. Over a five-year stretch starting in 2011-12, FGCU racked up four ASUN seasons with a perfect record and capped the run with back-to-back 30 plus win seasons. In 2014-15, the team earned its first top-25 ranking and another NCAA Tournament trip as a seven seed, where FGCU won its first ever NCAA Division-I Tournament game against No. 10 Oklahoma State. With 26 wins in 2016-17, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 13-straight 20-win seasons. He maintains a record of 420-85 (.831) at FGCU, including a 161-15 (.914) mark in ASUN play. Over the past six + seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 95-3 (.969) record in conference play. Smesko earned his 400th career coaching win in 2014-15 in just 493 career games, two games faster than UConn's Geno Auriemma. He holds a career head coaching record of 481-112 (.811). 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 CAUSEÂ
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.
