BROOKINGS, S.D. - South Dakota State (1-1), the No. 2 ranked mid-major team in the nation according to CollegeInsider.com, used a 21-2 run midway through the game to hand the FGCU women's basketball team (0-1) a season-opening 80-62 loss in Frost Arena on Friday night.

"We gave up some easy baskets," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said of his team's performance. "On offense, we were standing around too much and holding the ball too long. We weren't really moving it, working together to create shots. And (SDSU) went on that big run to start the second half and then the crowd got behind them. They started playing with a lot of energy, and we never really made a run to get back into the game after the first few minutes of the second half."

After a great start that saw the Green and Blue jump out to a 22-12 lead through one, South Dakota State trimmed its deficit to one with three minutes left in the first half. Lisa Zderadicka responded with a pair of free throws, and after a defensive stop that included a block from Destiny Washington-Mabon, the Eagles got a 3-pointer from Chandler Ryan to take a 35-29 lead with 2:02 left.

Following that, however, the Jackrabbits scored 21 of the game's next 23 points. The only points during the run came on a pair of free throws from Keri Jewett-Giles with seven seconds left in the second quarter. Behind a game-high 25 points from Macy Miller, South Dakota State then scored the first 14 points of the second half.

The Eagles never got the deficit into single digits the rest of the way. FGCU appeared to have a chance to make a push following a 6-0 run late in the third quarter that included a bucket and a free throw from Kerstie Phills and another 3-pointer from Ryan (Groveland, Ill./Morton HS) cut it to 10, but a quick 4-0 run in the final 38 seconds squelched that.

After the team's 22-point first quarter in which they shot 6-for-12 from the field, FGCU went 13-for-41 the rest of the way for just 40 points. The Green and Blue was aided by a 14-for-16 performance from the foul line, led by a 6-for-8 finish from Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg).

FGCU was led in scoring by Ryan, who had 12 points - all from the 3-point line. Zderadicka added 10 points, four rebounds and a team-high four assists, while four others scored at least seven. Tytionia Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) led the team in rebounds with six along with her nine points, while Washington-Mabon (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North HS) had a game-high five blocks along with three points and four rebounds. Her effort represented the most blocks in a game by an FGCU player since April 2, 2016 when Whitney Knight had nine against South Dakota in the WNIT championship game.

Freshman forward Tanner Bryant (Washington Court House, Ohio/Miami Trace HS) came off the bench in the fourth quarter and scored five points, including the game's final points via a 3-pointer at the buzzer. She also grabbed three rebounds.

Phills (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian HS) and Jewett-Giles (Fort Myers, Fla./Dunbar HS) tied for fourth on the team in scoring with eight apiece. They were two of four players to score their first points in the Green and Blue.
 
FGCU did finish 10-for-34 from the 3-point line, which represented the program's 238th time with 10 or more in a game, which includes a school record 25 times last year. They entered this season with at least 15 games in double figures in each of the past 10 seasons.

FGCU, who fell to 12-5 all-time in season openers, will be back in action on Monday at 7 p.m. in Alico Arena when they host Florida Memorial. Three of those five losses have occurred on the road, joining previous defeats from Seton Hall and Quinnipiac.

Outside of Miller's game-high 25 points, the Jackrabbits also got double-figures from Myah Selland (15), Madison Guebert (12) and Tagyn Larson (10). They outscored FGCU 46-18 in the paint and picked up their first win all-time against the Eagles in three tries.
 
VETERANS APPRECIATION GAMES
The women's home opener is a Veterans Appreciation game. Current and former U.S. Military with ID get a free Priority 4 or 5 general admission ticket and can purchase tickets for their families for half price.

GROUP TICKETS
Bring your group of 20 or more to an FGCU basketball game. Group tickets start as low as $7 per person and include a $5 off coupon for game day at The Boardwalk restaurant on the FGCU Waterfront. Contact the ticket office for more information 239-590-7145 or tickets@fgcu.edu.
 
COACH SMESKO
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko led the 2017-18 Eagles to another historic season. The Green and Blue finished 31-5 overall and 13-1 in ASUN play, capturing the program's eighth ASUN regular season championship and fifth ASUN tournament championship. The team finished the season ranked 25th in the final USA Today Coaches Poll, recaptured the NCAA record for most 3-point field goals made in a season with 431 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in seven seasons, where the Eagles knocked off 5th-seeded and No. 15 ranked Missouri in the opening round. It was the team's second tournament win over the past three appearances. Over the course of the season, FGCU knocked off three ranked teams - No. 15 Missouri, No. 20 Kentucky and No. 21 DePaul.

Over the past four seasons, Smesko has guided FGCU to three 30 plus win seasons while recording a 121-23 (.840) record overall. The now eight-time ASUN Coach of the Year rallied the 2016-17 team to its seventh straight 25-win campaign, culminating in an ASUN tournament title and NCAA Tournament appearance. In 2015-16, he was named the espnW mid-major coach of the year following a run that witnessed the Eagles claim a WNIT runner-up finish and a Division-I program best ever 33-6 record. In 2014-15, the team achieved its first-ever top-25 ranking and made another trip to the NCAA Tournament, where the Eagles earned a No. 7 seed and won the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament game, toppling No. 10 seed Oklahoma State.

Including the 2017-18 campaign, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 14-straight 20-win seasons and eight-straight 25-win seasons. He maintains a record of 496-115 (.812) overall in his career, including a 170-16 (.914) mark in ASUN play. Over the past seven seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 106-4 (.964) 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. Entering 2017-18, he ranked 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. Over the past year, first-year NCAA Division-I head coaches Nancy Fahey (Illinois) and Bart Brooks (Belmont) pushed the list to six.

FOLLOW ALONG
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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 contribute, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help.