HONOLULU - The FGCU women's basketball team (2-2) stayed with No. 7 Stanford for just over one half, but the Cardinal (4-0) finished 16-for-27 from the field over the final 20 minutes as the Eagles fell 88-65 in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown opener at the Stan Sheriff Center on Friday.

"I thought we played really well for a good portion of this game and then unfortunately I thought our pace let down in the second half when they got a little bit of a lead," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "I didn't think we had the mindset or the attitude to fight to get back in it. We're just learning how to play together and hopefully we'll learn from this experience. I'm encouraged by about half of this game because we played really well against a great team. We just have to eliminate the other half."

Keri Jewett-Giles poured in a team-high 17 points, while adding two rebounds, one assist and one steal, while Nasrin Ulel (13), Lisa Zderadicka (8), Alyssa Blair (7) and Tanner Bryant (6) also contributed offensively. Nobody had more than three rebounds for the Eagles, who got three each from four individuals while being outrebounded 47-20.

The Green and Blue opened the game in strong fashion with back-to-back layups from Jewett-Giles (Fort Myers, Fla./Dunbar HS) and Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg). Stanford answered with 12 straight, however, until Blair (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie HS) ended the run with a three-point play.

The Cardinal led 31-21 with 6:07 left in the half, but Zderadicka and Jewett-Giles combined for five straight before Bryant (Washington Court House, Ohio/Miami Trace HS) buried a corner 3-pointer to pull FGCU within four. The deficit was down to three following a 3-pointer from Jewett-Giles, but Stanford took a four-point lead into the break.

Ulel (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta HS) opened the third quarter with a pair of layups that pulled FGCU within one, and the Green and Blue had two chances moments later to take the lead but missed on a pair of 3-point field goal opportunities. Stanford took advantage, went on an 8-0 run and later closed the quarter on a 7-2 spurt to open up a 15-point lead.

"They had a couple good quick hits against us to get layups and then they found their shooters in the second half and shot a great percentage," Smesko said. "We gave up too many open looks from three. But give Stanford credit. After halftime, they did a good job getting better ball movement and getting the ball to shooters."

Ulel made a 3-pointer just 14 seconds into the fourth quarter as FGCU looked to trim the lead, but the Eagles went 0-for-4 with six turnovers over the next five plus minutes as the Cardinal pushed the lead to 23. Tyra Cox (Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland Prep) and Bryant made back-to-back 3-pointers to end the drought, and Davion Wingate (Atlanta, Ga./Stephenson HS) scored her lone points of the game on a fast break layup for the Green and Blue's final points with just under two minutes left.

Stanford's Nadia Fingall frustrated FGCU with a game-high 24 points on 11-for-14 shooting. Kiana Williams (17) and DiJonai Carrington (16) also combined for 33, while those three had 57 of their team's 88 points. On the positive side, Alanna Smith, who came in averaging 17.7 points per contest this year, was held to six points in 13 minutes on 1-for-5 shooting by FGCU's defense.

Notes
With her three rebounds, Tytionia Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) is just 12 shy of becoming the sixth player in program history with at least 600 career rebounds. She needs 14 more to eclipse Courtney Chihil (603, 2008-12) for fifth-place all-time.

Bryant, who is now 8-for-15 from 3-point range, entered the game with 26 points this season, which is the most over the season's first three games for a true freshmen in the program's Division-I era. The only two players who scored more were Steffi Sorensen (49, 2006-07) and Adrianne McNally (35, 2006-07), which both occurred in the program's Division-II era.

With her two points, Destiny Washington-Mabon (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North HS) is now just five shy of reaching 800 in her NCAA career, which has also seen stops at Loyola-Chicago and Ball State.
 
While FGCU fell to 0-3 all-time against Stanford with Friday's result, they are now 2-2 all-time as a Division-I program while playing in the state of Hawaii.
 
Smesko remains at 498 career victories and still has the chance to reach 500 this weekend.

The Green and Blue finished 10-for-38 from 3-point range, which gives the team four straight games with double-digit makes to open the season. They have now made at least that many in a game 241 times in program history and are on pace to record at least 15 such games in a season for the 11th straight campaign.

Chandler Ryan (Groveland, Ill./Morton HS) had her streak of three consecutive games with four or more 3-point field goals made to open the season snapped. She finished 1-for-3.

Up Next
The Green and Blue will battle Hawaii (1-5) at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday before closing out the Rainbow Wahine Showdown on Sunday at 5 p.m. against American, who defeated Hawaii 69-57 in Friday's nightcap.
 
GET YOUR PUNCH PASS
Get the best value in Southwest Florida with the FGCU Basketball Punch Pass. Three games for $15 or seven games for $30. Purchase online here.

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.

SEASON TICKETS AVAILABLE
Fans can purchase or learn more about season tickets by contacting an Alico Arena Ticket Office representative over the phone at 239-590-7145 or by visiting the office Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Additional information is available on FGCUTickets.com.
 
Season ticket seat locations are available on a first-come, first-serve basis. Like in the past, Eagles Club membership may be required for certain seats, with giving levels utilized for access to better locations.
 
YOUNG ALUMNI
FGCU recently announced a program in which young alumni – those who have graduated from FGCU within the past five years – can save between 30-70 percent off Priority Level 4 and 5 section season tickets, in addition to receiving discounted Eagles Club membership, which is needed for select premier seats inside Alico Arena. Those interested in taking advantage of this offer are asked to click here or visit FGCUAthletics.com/YoungAlumni to complete a form. Following that, an FGCU Ticket Office representative will be in contact to set up an account. For more information, call 239-590-7145, email tickets@fgcu.edu or visit the Alico Arena Ticket Office Monday-Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
 
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 498-116 (.811) 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 2016-17, 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.

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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.