FORT MYERS, Fla. - Five players scored in double figures as the FGCU women's basketball team (26-4, 12-1 ASUN) cruised past Kennesaw State 78-51 in Alico Arena on Monday to clinch the top seed in the ASUN Championship.

"For us, we wanted to make sure we were in position to get the No. 1 seed in the tournament," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "That was accomplished today. We definitely think it's a big advantage to be playing here, and we now know on Saturday we have a chance to clinch the Atlantic Sun title outright. That's another goal of ours, so hopefully we can take the next few days to get ourselves prepared for what will need to be a great effort against Stetson."

With that top seed comes home court throughout the ASUN Championship, which will begin March 2 with a quarterfinal matchup against NJIT. The Green and Blue has already clinched at least a share of the program's eighth regular season title and the department's 68th overall conference championship since making the move to the Division-I level. They can clinch it outright against Stetson on the road Saturday in the regular season finale.

Monday's victory also signified the sixth straight for FGCU, who won a season-high 10 straight earlier this year. Digging deeper, the team has now won 17 of its past 18 and 21 of the past 23 contests. They are 15-0 at home.

Against Kennesaw State, Rosemarie Julien and China Dow each poured in a team-high 15 points, while Dow added seven rebounds and a team-high four assists. Julien was an efficient 6-for-7 from the field while adding two assists and recording her third straight game with at least 15 points. Taylor Gradinjan went 3-for-7 from long range and finished with 12 points. Lisa Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg), who was starting in place of an injured Erica Nelson (Kansas City, Mo./Lee Summit North HS), and Nasrin Ulel each scored 11 points. Tytionia Adderly added 10 rebounds.

Despite a strong start from FGCU, Kennesaw State scored the final five points of the opening quarter and pulled within two. Neither team scored in the second quarter until Gradinjan's layup with 7:07 left in the half, and it sparked an 8-0 run that was capped by a 3-pointer from Dow. Then, with the lead at seven, the Green and Blue closed the half on a 17-3 run to open up a 44-23 lead. Dow scored the final five points of the half.

"I thought the first quarter was really tight," Smesko said. "Kennesaw came out and played really well. Fortunately in the second quarter, we played exceptionally well. We got the ball out in transition. China and Rose had big quarters. We were able to extend the lead in the beginning of the third quarter and kind of ride the game out."

FGCU scored 16 of the first 18 points in the third quarter to open up a 60-25 lead. Gradinjan started and finished the run with a 3-pointer. Jessica Cattani and Ulel (Murrietta, Calif./Murrietta HS) each hit 3-pointers to extend the lead to 31 twice in the final quarter before Alyssa Blair (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie HS) converted a layup to push the lead to as many as 36. Kennesaw State scored the game's final eight points to trim the deficit under 30.

Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS) has now tallied double figures in scoring in 22 of 30 games this year, including 11 of 13 ASUN games. She now has 783 career points in just 65 games, and she is one start shy of moving into the top 10 in program history. Furthermore, she is currently tied for eighth all-time in career field goal percentage, and she is tied with Kelsey Jacobson (.819, 163-for-199) for the program's top career free throw percentage.

Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville) continued her ascent towards 1,000 career NCAA points. The redshirt senior guard, who started her career at Middle Tennessee, has 983 after her latest performance. She recently eclipsed 500 career rebounds and is averaging a career-high 11.2 points per game. She also sits in seventh place on the program's career field goal percentage list at .465 (229-for-493).

Overall, FGCU finished 11-for-28 from 3-point range. It was the fourth straight game in which the team has produced at least 10, and it gives them 355 overall this year. With the latest performance, the team now has the second most 3-point field goals made in a single season - passing the 2010-11 team (350) and the 2013-14 team (347) on Monday. The 2015-16 team holds the record with 372, and they did it in nine more games than this year's team has currently played in.

Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) produced her fifth consecutive game with double digit rebounds. With her latest effort, she has tied Sarah Hansen (256, 2012-13) for the most in any single season in program history during the Division-I era. She now has 27 career double-digit rebounding efforts in addition to her nine career double-doubles, and she passed Kaneisha Atwater (508, 2013-16) for sixth place in career rebounds (511). Her 214 offensive rebounds is 23 shy of Robyn Swain (236, 2002-04) for third place all-time.

Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) moved into sixth place in career points with her third game of 12 or more points over the past four outings. She passed Shannon Murphy (1,185, 2007-11) on Monday and is now 77 shy of eclipsing Kelsey Jacobson (1,263, 2008-12). Furthermore, she remains third all-time in 3-point field goals made (287) and attempted (773) as she sits behind Whitney Knight (294-for-791, 2011-16) in both categories. In terms of total field goals, she is 408-for-1017 in her career. Those totals make her sixth in field goals made and fifth in attempts. She is six made field goals shy of passing Stephanie Haas (413, 2012-16) for fifth place, and she is 57 shy of Kaneisha Atwater (1,073, 2013-16) for the fourth most attempts.

On top of that, Gradinjan has now played 3,605 minutes, which is just 17 shy of DyTiesha Dunson (3,621, 2012-16) for second most all-time. Sarah Hansen (3,877, 2009-14) remains the all-time leader. Gradinjan also has 476 rebounds, which is eighth all-time behind Kaneisha Atwater (508, 2013-16).

Cattani (Muskego, Wis./Muskego HS), who leads the ASUN in 3-point field goal percentage at .453, eclipsed 500 career points with seven against Kennesaw State. She now has 506 points, as well as 106 3-point field goals in her career, which is 10 shy of passing Megan Jones (115, 2002-05) and moving into the top 10 all-time on the career list.

FGCU received 20 votes in last week's USA Today Coaches Poll, which is the 28th most in the nation. In fact, they still have a decent chance to move back into the top-25 before the end of the regular season as No. 24 DePaul and West Virginia (30 votes) both lost last week. Two weeks ago, the Eagles were ranked 25th, marking the first time the program had been ranked in one of the two major polls since March 2015. The new poll comes out Tuesday.

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.

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. Including this year, Smesko has guided the Eagles to 14-straight 20-win seasons. He maintains a record of 430-86 (.833) at FGCU, including a 168-16 (.913) mark in ASUN play. Over the past six + seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 104-4 (.963) 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 491-113 (.813). 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.

WATCH PARTY
Miller's Ale House in Gulf Coast Town Center will serve as the official watch party destination for all remaining women's and men's basketball road games for the 2017-18 season. The establishment has invested in HD streaming equipment, giving fans the opportunity to watch in outstanding quality on ESPN3, while offering discounts during the game.
 
Dirty Birds will get 20 percent off their order by showing the Wings Up App promo photo. Those with an FGCU or Eagles Club ID will receive 10 percent off their bill. Those who bring an FGCU Basketball ticket stub will receive $5 off their $25 bill (or higher). Additionally, those simply wearing FGCU gear will receive $5 zingers.