FORT MYERS, Fla. - Tytionia Adderly's sixth career double-double and a stout team defensive effort led the FGCU women's basketball team past Stetson 80-40 in the conference opener at Alico Arena on Saturday.

With the win, FGCU (15-3, 1-0 ASUN) has now won five straight and nine of 10. The Eagles, who are ranked 17th in the latest NCAA RPI poll and No. 1 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll, will host NJIT at 4 p.m. next Saturday before closing out its seven-game home stand against USC Upstate on Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. Stetson fell to 9-8 overall and 0-1 in ASUN play.

"(Tonight) was very important, especially against Stetson," Adderly said. "They're our archrival and the win was just great for all of us. It's a boost to keep going and keep winning the rest of conference play."

Defensively, FGCU set new standards this year for fewest points allowed in a half against a Division I team (17, first half) and fewest points allowed against a Division I team in a game (40). In fact, it was the fewest points the Eagles have allowed against a Division I team since a 60-31 win over NJIT on March 4, 2016. Furthermore, FGCU allowed single digits in the first three quarters before Stetson tallied 14 in the final 10 minutes.

The 80-point outing represented the most points ever scored against Stetson in series history, and the 40 points allowed was the second fewest given up in series history. The result also set a new standard in the series for largest margin of victory for either team. FGCU is now 22-4 all-time against Stetson, including wins in 17 of the past 19 outings.

Stetson's Kennedi Colclough and McKenna Beach, who are averaging a combined 25 points per game this year, were held to two and five points, respectively. The leading scorer for the Hatters, Brittney Chambers, produced 11 points, but nine of those came in the second half with the game already decided.

"We definitely wanted to contain their best players, and it takes a team effort," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "(Erica) did a great job on Chambers. She's a great scorer. Rose did a tremendous job on McKenna, and then Ty and (Taylor) Gradinjan combined to do a really good job on Kennedi."

Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) finished with a game-high 21 points, a game-high 13 rebounds and one assist on 6-for-11 shooting. She also went 2-for-4 from the 3-point line and set new career-highs for free throws made and attempted in a game (7-for-10).

It was Adderly's sixth career double-double, her 20th career double-digit rebounding performance and her second career 20-point game. She finished just one point shy of tying her career-high (22 vs Northern Colorado, Nov. 18, 2016). Six of her rebounds vs Stetson came on the offensive glass.

Rosemarie Julien added 12 points, four rebounds and a steal for the Eagles. She finished 4-for-8 from the field (2-for-4 from 3-point range) and made both of her free throw attempts. Chandler Ryan (Groveland, Ill./Morton HS) drained a trio of 3-pointers to finish with 11 points in five minutes off the bench late in the second half, while Lisa Zderadicka contributed 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and a steal.

Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS), the ASUN's preseason player of the year, has now reached double digits in scoring in 12 of 18 contests this year. For Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg), it was her fifth game of 10 or more in an FGCU uniform.

In addition to those four, Nasrin Ulel (Murrietta, Calif./Murrietta HS) chipped in eight points, five rebounds and two steals, and Jessica Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS) had seven points off the bench. Erica Nelson (Kansas City, Mo./Lee Summit North HS) had six points, a game-high five assists and four rebounds. China Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville) also finished with five points, four rebounds and four assists.

Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS), despite not scoring, inched closer to achieving more history. She competed in her 130th career game on Saturday, which ties Whitney Knight (2011-16) for sixth most in program history. She is two away from tying Sarah Hansen (2009-14) and DyTiesha Dunson (2012-16) for fourth place. Also, she's now three starts away from tying Courtney Chihil (2008-12, 111) for third most starts in program history. With 19 more minutes, she'll pass Knight (3,277) for seventh most in program history. Offensively, she needs four more 3-point field goal attempts to become just the third player in program history to reach 700 in a career.

Overall, FGCU shot 47.3 percent (26-for-55) from the field and 41.4 percent (12-for-29) from 3-point range. The Eagles, who never trailed, out-rebounded Stetson 41-22 in large part due to Adderly and also held advantages in points in the paint (28-22), points off turnovers (23-8), second chance points (13-0), fast break points (6-0) and bench points (33-15). 

FGCU is now 9-0 at home this year. Stetson, who made the WNIT last year, represented the ninth opponent the Eagles have faced this year who made either the WNIT or NCAA Tournament last year, and FGCU is now 7-2 in those games. Jacksonville the the next one up on that list.

Stetson, who came in as the ASUN's top team in free throw shooting, finished just 6-for-18 from the charity stripe.

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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 419-85 (.831) at FGCU, including a 160-15 (.914) mark in ASUN play. Over the past six seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 93-3 (.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 480-112 (.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.