NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Five players scored in double figures as the FGCU women's basketball team (19-3, 5-0 ASUN) defeated Lipscomb 68-54 in Allen Arena on Monday.

With the win, the Eagles have now won nine straight and will next host Jacksonville (15-5, 5-0 ASUN) on Saturday at 4 p.m. in a battle for first place in the conference.

Defensively, FGCU held Lipscomb to just six points over the final 12 minutes to break open a tie game. Erica Nelson made back-to-back 3-pointers with 5:20 left in the third quarter to give the Eagles a 48-38 lead, but 10 straight from Lipscomb tied it just under three minutes later.

In the ensuing minutes, Lisa Zderadicka found Tytionia Adderly for a layup, and Nelson (Kansas City, Mo./Lee Summit North HS) followed with a steal and fast break layup to put FGCU up four.

With the lead still at four, China Dow scored four points during a 6-0 run that gave the Eagles a 61-51 lead with 4:45 left. Lipscomb trimmed it to seven on a desperation 3-pointer from half-court, but didn't score again over the final 3:29.

"I thought Lipscomb played great," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "They did a good job getting the shots they wanted to get. They beat us to loose balls. Fortunately, we had a really good fourth quarter where we picked up the defensive intensity and made plays to get us going. We're going to have to get better, but I like the way we finished the game."

For the first time this season, FGCU had two players record double-doubles as Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) and Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville) each recorded 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists. It was the third double-double of the season for each player and the second in three games for Dow.

Nasrin Ulel finished third on the team in rebounds with six over 16 minutes of action.

"We weren't doing a great job on the boards, but those two grabbed 10 each, so it was good to have two kids in double figures," Smesko said. "We just have to rebound more as a team, but Ty and China did a good job on the boards, and Nas did a good job on the boards in her minutes, as well."

Adderly, who recorded a new career-high in assists, added three steals while producing her fourth double digit rebounding effort over the past six games. Dow had one block while tying her season-high in assists.

Rosemarie Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS), who played just 11 minutes due to foul trouble, finished with 10 points. She scored the first nine points for FGCU on a trio of 3-pointers, but picked up her third foul early in the second quarter and eventually fouled out with 7:45 remaining in the game.

Nelson and Taylor Gradinjan each scored a team-high 12 points. The pair each recorded three assists and two steals while they combined for six rebounds, including four from Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS).

Ulel (Murrietta, Calif./Murrietta HS) and Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS) each added five points. Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg) had four points, three steals, two assists and two rebounds.

NOTES
FGCU had entered the game having recorded three straight 90 plus point games against Lipscomb, and the 68 points was the lowest in series history for the Eagles since a 67-37 win on Jan. 21, 2013. They are now 21-0 all-time against the Bisons.

Earlier in the day on Monday, the AP voters gave FGCU three votes in their latest poll. It's the first time the Eagles have received votes in those rankings in six weeks.

Julien had her streak of 10 consecutive free throws made snapped. She finished 1-for-2 and fell back into second place on the career percentage list (.816) behind Kelsey Jacobson (.819, 2008-12). Julien, though, is now 30 points shy of 700 in her FGCU career, which has spanned 57 games.

Adderly (447) is now five rebounds shy of tying Gradinjan for seventh place on the career list. Her four offensive rebounds on Monday gave her 185 in her career and pushed her past Courtney Chihil (183, 2008-12) for seventh most all-time. She's just two shy of passing Kaneisha Atwater (186, 2013-16) for sixth.

Gradinjan, who eclipsed 1,100 career points against Lipscomb and now has 1,108, needs 28 more to pass Stephanie Haas (1135, 2012-16) for seventh most all-time. She needs two more games played to pass Katie Meador (135, 2012-16) for third most all-time, and she is seven starts shy of passing Adrianne McNally (118, 2006-10) for second most. Additionally, she needs five more made field goals to pass Kelsey Jacobson (385, 2008-12) for seventh place, and she now has 952 field goal attempts. With her 10 attempts on Monday, she passed Stephanie Haas (945, 2012-16) and is 37 shy of Kelsey Jacobson (988, 2008-12) for sixth place.

Smesko is now four games shy of coaching his 600th career game.

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COACH 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 423-85 (.832) at FGCU, including a 162-15 (.915) mark in ASUN play. Over the past six + seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 98-3 (.970) record in conference play with four undefeated seasons. 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 484-112 (.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 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.