LORETTA, Pa. - The FGCU women's basketball team (5-2) will return to action on Wednesday with a 7 p.m. road tilt at Saint Francis University (2-4) in Degol Arena.

Both teams are not only coming off NCAA Tournament appearances, but will enter the matchup ranked among the nation's top five teams in 3-point field goals made per game, while FGCU also ranks among the top five in 3-point field goals made and attempted.

Last year, the two teams both finished among the top five in the nation in 3-point field goals made, attempted and per game.

3-Point Field Goals Made – FGCU (1st, 431), Saint Francis (4th, 353)
3-Point Field Goals Attempted – FGCU (1st, 1,190), Saint Francis (3rd, 1,152)
3-Point Field Goals Per Game – FGCU (2nd, 12.0), Saint Francis (4th, 10.4)

Matchup: FGCU (5-2) vs Saint Francis (2-4)
When: Wednesday Dec. 5 at 7 PM
Rankings: FGCU is No. 13 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll
Where: Loretto, Pa. | Degol Arena
Watch (NEC Front Row): here
Game Notes: FGCU (Interactive | Printable) Saint Francis (Printable)
Live Stats (Sidearm): here 
Series: FGCU leads 1-0
Coaches: Karl Smesko (17th season at FGCU - 440-89; 20th season overall - 501-116 | Susan Robinson Fruchtl (6th Season at Saint Francis - 75-84; same overall)

Saint Francis Preview
Saint Francis finished 24-10 overall last year, including a 16-2 mark in Northeast Conference (NEC) play. They utilized the top seed in the NEC Tournament to capture a championship game win over Robert Morris before advancing to the NCAA Tournament, where they fell to No. 1 UConn in the first round.
 
The Red Flash features one of the best players in the nation in senior guard Jess Kovatch, who is averaging 17.2 points, 2.3 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game this season. The reigning NEC and Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) player of the year set an NEC scoring record with 831 points last year while finishing second in the NCAA in total points and PPG (24.4). She also broke the NCAA record for made 3-point field goals (141) and finished as a top-10 finalist for the Lieberman Award that goes to the NCAA's top point guard.

Saint Francis Leaders
PPG: Jess Kovatch (17.2), Karson Swagger (12.0), Courtney Zezza (8.5), Aunesha Williams (8.2)
RPG: Courtney Zezza (5.0), Aunesha Williams (4.0), Leah Morrow (3.2)
APG: Karson Swagger (2.3), Jess Kovatch (2.3), Leah Morrow (2.0)
SPG: Leah Morrow (1.9)
BPG: Courtney Zezza (2.5)

Second All-Time Meeting
FGCU defeated Saint Francis 75-68 in Alico Arena on Dec. 20, 2013 behind four players in double figures - Sarah Hansen (17), Jenna Cobb (17), Whitney Knight (14) and Stephanie Haas (12). The matchup, which was part of the Hilton Garden Inn/Homewood Suites Classic, saw Hansen finish one steal shy of a triple-double, while Knight also had a double-double.

Last Time Out
Nasrin Ulel hit a big 3-pointer with 37 seconds left, while Chandler Ryan made four crucial free throws as FGCU pulled off a 76-71 win over Houston last Wednesday in Alico Arena. Ryan had a career-high 19 points, while Ulel added 17. Lisa Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg) chipped in 15, while Keri Jewett-Giles (Fort Myers, Fla./Dunbar HS) had 14.

Among The Nation's Best
FGCU will enter Wednesday ranked among the top 50 teams in the nation in:

Fewest turnovers per game - 28th, 13.3
Scoring offense - 30th, 80.7
Assist/turnover ratio - 40th, 1.13
Fewest turnovers - 48th, 93
Field goal percentage - 49th, 45.0

3-point field goals attempted
1. Brown - 275
2. DePaul - 273
3. Western Illinois - 247
4. FGCU - 240
5. Syracus - 237
 
3-point field goals made per game
1. DePaul - 13.0
2. Sacramento State - 12.0
3. FGCU - 11.4
4. Saint Francis (PA) - 11.3
4. Denver - 11.3
 
3-point field goals made
1. DePaul - 91
2. Seton Hall - 86
3. Western Illinois - 81
4. FGCU - 80
5. Bucknell - 79
5. Denver - 79
5. Brown - 79

Three-Straight! Ryan Earns Player of the Week Award
Ryan (Groveland, Ill./Morton HS), who produced a career-high 19 points in last week's 76-71 win over Houston, captured ASUN player of the week recognition on Monday afternoon. The redshirt sophomore becomes the third straight selection for the Green and Blue, joining Jewett-Giles (Fort Myers, Fla./Dunbar HS), who won the award the previous two weeks. Ryan is averaging a career-high 8.9 points per contest this year.

Double Digit Trio
Jewett-Giles (15.7), Ulel (14.6) and Zderadicka (10.3) are each averaging double figures in scoring this year, while Ryan (8.9) isn't too far off. Since becoming a Division-I program, the Eagles have never had four players average 10 or more in a single season, and they are looking for just the program's second with three or more since 2011-12 and the sixth overall since becoming a Division-I program. Should Jewett-Giles and Ulel (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta HS) both finish above 14 PPG, it would represent just the third time since 2007-08 that the team has achieved that - joining the 2008-09 (Adrianne McNally - 14.6, Chelsea Lyles - 14.0) and 2014-15 (Whitney Knight - 14.8, Kaneisha Atwater - 14.2) teams.
 
600 Club
Tytionia Adderly became just the sixth player in program history to achieve 600 career rebounds in the team's win over Houston last week. The junior forward now has 603, which surpasses Courtney Chihil (603, 2008-12) for the fifth-most all-time. Next up is Robyn Swain, who had 640 from 2002-04.

Close To Home
Former FGCU women's basketball standout and current director of basketball operations Mandi Pierce is from Altoona, Pa., which is approximately 25 minutes from where Wednesday's game will take place in Loretto. Pierce originally started her career at St. Bonaventure before heading to Southwest Florida. She was a senior on FGCU's first Division-I team in 2007-08.

Mid-Major Power
Over the past four seasons, FGCU has recorded 121 wins, which is the most among all mid-majors and seventh-most among any Division-I program, trailing only UConn (148), Notre Dame (137), Baylor (135), South Carolina (129), Mississippi State (126) and Maryland (123). On top of that, the program is one of only six in Division-I with three 30-win seasons during that stretch – joining UConn, Baylor, Notre Dame, Maryland and South Carolina.
 
Leading the 3-Point Revolution
At FGCU, head coach Karl Smesko has turned FGCU into one of the premier 3-point shooting teams in the nation. In 16 + seasons, his teams have shot a combined 4,881-for-13,994 (.350) from long range, or 9.31 per game. In fact, the team has made at least one 3-point field goal in 410 straight games and went without at least one make in only one game in program history – Feb. 21, 2006 vs Lynn University (0-for-11).

In 2017-18, the Green and Blue made an NCAA Division-I single season record 431 3-pointers on 1,190 attempts, equating out to a .362 percentage. In doing so, the team made and attempted over twice as many as they did in the program's initial season in 2002-03 (212-for-535). Since that first year, FGCU has made at least 300 in a season 10 times, including each of the past nine seasons.

2002-03 --- 212-for-535 (.396)
2003-04 --- 118-for-406 (.291)
2004-05 --- 253-for-722 (.350)
2005-06 --- 242-for-747 (.324)
2006-07 --- 337-for-891 (.378)
2007-08 --- 255-for-734 (.347)
2008-09 --- 296-for-763 (.388)
2009-10 --- 317-for-876 (.362)
2010-11 --- 350-for-940 (.372)
2011-12 --- 342-for-925 (.370)
2012-13 --- 319-for-974 (.328)
2013-14 --- 347-for-1,000 (.347)
2014-15 --- 327-for-928 (.352)
2015-16 --- 372-for-1,194 (.312)
2016-17 --- 338-for-1,058 (.319)
2017-18 --- 431-for-1,190 (.362)
2018-19 --- 80-for-240 (.333)
TOTALS: 4,936-for-14,234 (.347)

Including five of seven games this season, FGCU has made at least 10 or more 3-point field goals in a single game 242 times, including a single-season record 25 times in 2017-18. They have at least 15 games with at least 10 or more in each of the past 10 seasons.

RPI Tracker
The Green and Blue enter Wednesday ranked 96th in the latest RPI poll, while Saint Francis checks in at 265th. Upcoming opponent RPIs include: Abilene Christian (107), Coppin State (299), UAB (137) and Duke (29).

FGCU's RPI is the highest among all ASUN teams. Here's how the rest of them stack up:

North Alabama - 144
Jacksonville - 247
Kennesaw State - 253
North Florida - 263
Liberty - 280
Stetson - 290
Lipscomb - 321
NJIT - 341

Next Up
FGCU will return home on Dec. 14 for an Alico Arena showdown with Johnson and Wales (Fla.). The game will begin at 7 p.m. and fans are encouraged to dress up and dance on the court at halftime as part of the night's Snowball and Basketball theme.

FGCU Record Book

Rebounds 
1. 887 - Sarah HANSEN (329o-558d) - 2010-14
2. 735 - Whitney KNIGHT (114o-621d) - 2011-12,13-16
3. 658 - Adrianne MCNALLY (240o-418d) - 2006-10
4. 640 - Robyn SWAIN (236o-404d) - 2002-04
5. 605 - Tytionia ADDERLY (252o-353d) - 2016-present 
6. 603 - Courtney CHIHIL (183o-420d) - 2008-12
7. 508 - Kaneisha ATWATER (187o-321d) - 2013-16
8. 498 - Taylor GRADINJAN (117o-381d) - 2012-13,14-18
9. 422 - Katie MEADOR (193o-229d) - 2012-16
10. 408 - Kate SCHRADER (194o-214d) - 2005-07
 
Rebounding average (min. 40 games) 
1. 11.2 - Robyn SWAIN (57 games) - 2002-04
2. 8.2 - Tytionia ADDERLY (74 games) - 2016-present 
3. 6.7 - Sarah HANSEN (132 games) - 2010-14
4. 6.3 - Kate SCHRADER (65 games) - 2005-07
5. 5.8 - Andrea CLARKE (55 games) - 2003-05
6. 5.7 - Whitney KNIGHT (130 games) - 2011-12,13-16
7. 5.6 - Delia DE LA TORRE (61 games) - 2006-08
8. 5.5 - Noreen MCCALLUM (57 games) - 2002-04
9. 5.4 - Chelsea LYLES (62 games) - 2008-10
10. 5.1 - Adrianne MCNALLY (128 games) - 2006-10
 
Defensive rebounds 
1. 621 - Whitney KNIGHT (114o-621d) - 2011-12,13-16
2. 558 - Sarah HANSEN (329o-558d) - 2010-14
3. 420 - Courtney CHIHIL (183o-420d) - 2008-12
4. 418 - Adrianne MCNALLY (240o-418d) - 2006-10
5. 404 - Robyn SWAIN (236o-404d) - 2002-04
6. 381 - Taylor GRADINJAN (117o-381d) - 2012-13,14-18
7. 353 - Tytionia ADDERLY (252o-353d) - 2016-present
8. 324 - DyTiesha DUNSON (61o-324d) - 2012-16
9. 321 - Kaneisha ATWATER (187o-321d) - 2013-16
10. 269 - Stephanie HAAS (96o-269d) - 2012-16
 
Offensive rebounds 
1. 329 - Sarah HANSEN (329o-558d) - 2010-14
2. 252 - Tytionia ADDERLY (252o-353d) - 2016-present 
3. 240 - Adrianne MCNALLY (240o-418d) - 2006-10
4. 236 - Robyn SWAIN (236o-404d) - 2002-04
5. 194 - Kate SCHRADER (194o-214d) - 2005-07
6. 193 - Katie MEADOR (193o-229d) - 2012-16
7. 187 - Kaneisha ATWATER (187o-321d) - 2013-16
8. 183 - Courtney CHIHIL (183o-420d) - 2008-12
9. 127 - Noreen MCCALLUM (127o-189d) - 2002-04
10. 122 - Andrea CLARKE (122o-196d) - 2003-05
 
WE'VE GOT YOUR SEAT
Experience FGCU basketball this season. The following ticket opportunities are on sale now:
Punch Pass
- Three entries for $15 or seven entries for $30. Remaining Punch Pass games: Men vs Colgate and Keiser; Women vs Johnson and Wales, Abilene Christian, Coppin State, and UAB. Purchase online HERE or call 239-590-7145.
Single Game Tickets
- Single game tickets are available for all remaining home games. Discounts are available for current or former military and youth ages 3-15. Purchase online HERE or call 239-590-7145.
Group Sales
- Bring your group of 20 or more to an FGCU men's or women's basketball game. All group tickets include a $5 game day discount at The Boardwalk restaurant and in game group recognition. For more information on group outings, click HERE or call 239-590-7145.
Young Alumni
FGCU alumni from the classes of 2014-18 save 30-70 percent off of Priority 4 or 5 GA tickets. Click HERE to fill out an interest form, or call 239-590-7145 to learn more.

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 501-116 (.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 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.

FOLLOW 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.

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.