FORT MYERS, Fla. - The trio of China Dow, Rosemarie Julien and Lisa Zderadicka combined for 51 points to lead the FGCU women's basketball team (22-4, 8-1 ASUN) past North Florida 67-52 in Alico Arena on Tuesday.

With the win, FGCU exacted revenge for its lone ASUN loss last Thursday and increased its first place lead in the conference standings to a game and a half over Jacksonville.

"It was tough game throughout," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "Our offensive execution wasn't very good in the first half, but I thought our defensive intensity was better, and it gave us a chance to still have the lead despite not shooting well and not moving the ball well."

The aforementioned trio combined to shoot 20-for-35 from the field (7-for-17 from 3-point range) for 51 points, 11 rebounds, four assists and nine steals. In fact, Julien (4), Dow (3) and Zderadicka (2) were the top three theft producers in the game for the Eagles.

Dow (Louisville, Ky./Christian Academy of Louisville) continued her ascent toward 1,000 career points by finishing with a game-high 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting. She buried half of her four 3-point attempts and added five rebounds and an assist along with her three steals. The senior now has 939 points in her NCAA career, including 595 at FGCU following her transfer from Middle Tennessee.

Julien (Port St. Lucie, Fla./Treasure Coast HS) found the bottom of the net three times from long range for the fourth time in the past six games en route to 18 points, two steals and one block along with her game-high four steals. She went 7-for-11 overall from the field and made her lone free throw. She is now just .001 percent shy of Kelsey Jacobson (.819, 2008-12) for the program's all-time free throw percentage record.

Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg), meanwhile, had another stout performance offensively as the junior went 5-for-10 from the field for 14 points, two rebounds and one assist along with her two steals. She has now recorded her two highest scoring games of the season over the past two matchups on 12-for-26 combined shooting, and she eclipsed the 200 point scoring plateau in an FGCU uniform.

Outside of those three, perhaps the most important performance was from Tytionia Adderly, who returned to action after missing the past two games, including the loss to North Florida last week, due to injury. The sophomore forward, who is the program's all-time leader in rebounds per game in the Division-I era, finished with four points, 10 rebounds, three assists and one steal over 28 minutes.

For Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS), she recorded double digit rebounds for the third time over her past four games, the 11th time overall this year and the 23rd time in her career.

Taylor Gradinjan scored just three points, but they came at a crucial moment, and she made history in doing so. North Florida's Ty Purifoy had just made a 3-pointer to trim FGCU's lead to only two with 5:33 left in the third quarter, but Gradinjan answered on the other end with one of her own off an assist from Julien to push the lead to five and spur an 11-0 run that gave the Eagles a 43-30 lead with just under two minutes left in the quarter.

With her 3-pointer, Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wis./Cudahy HS) now has 1,136 career points over 138 games, which moves her past Stephanie Haas (1,135, 2012-16) for seventh place on the program's career scoring list. Next up is Shannon Murphy (1,185, 2007-11).

The game itself saw FGCU sputter to an 0-for-10 start from the field, but North Florida was able to manage just six points during a stretch that saw the Ospreys open up a 6-0 lead through the first six plus minutes. A 3-pointer from the left wing by Dow with 3:32 left produced the first points for the Eagles, who finished the quarter 4-for-5 shooting to take a 10-8 lead. Another 3-pointer from Dow, this one from the left corner, produced the go-ahead points with 27 seconds left.

The Eagles took three separate eight point leads in the second quarter on a pair of free throws from Zderadicka and layups from Dow and Nasrin Ulel (Murrietta, Calif./Murrietta HS). Adderly added a layup with 11 seconds left to push the lead to 10, but Purifoy hit a buzzer-beating layup to push it back down to eight at the half.

In the second half, North Florida scored eight of the first 10 points to trim its deficit to two before Gradinan's rally-starting 3-pointer. FGCU led by 13 through three and pushed it to as many as 20 on a pair of occasions in the final quarter.

FGCU will now hit the road for a pair of games at USC Upstate on Saturday and NJIT on Monday before returning home for the final time in the regular season on Feb. 17 and Feb. 19 against Lipscomb and Kennesaw State.

The Eagles are now 22-3 all-time against North Florida, including a 13-0 record all-time in Alico Arena.

NOTES
Prior to the game, FGCU recognized head coach Karl Smesko, who coached his 600th career game at the collegiate level on Tuesday. He has now compiled a 487-113 record during that time and won 81.2 percent of his games. In doing so, he joins just three other active NCAA Division-I coaches with at least an .800 career winning percentage - UConn's Geno Auriemma, Baylor's Kim Mulkey and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer.

"I don't think about it very much," Smesko said. "(The pre-game recognition) was a very nice gesture. I'd rather not even bring it up. It's about the game that we were going to play that day. To me, 600 is no different than 601. So, we're going to get ready for 601 and try to be as prepared as we can to have a good game."

In addition to moving up the career scoring list, Gradinjan also continued her march up some other career statistical categories including minutes, games started, games played and rebounds. The sixth-year senior, who played just a handful of games her true freshman year before suffering her first of two ACL injuries, played in her 138th career game. Over the next three games, she is expected to tie and surpass Stephanie Haas (139, 2012-16) and Jaime Gluesing (140, 2012-16) for the most in program history. On top of that, she is currently the most experienced active Division-I player, three games ahead of UConn's Gabby Williams.

In addition to that, Gradinjan has now played 3,505 minutes. She surpassed Courtney Chihil (3,501, 2008-12) for the fifth most in program history on Tuesday, and is now just 28 away from eclipsing Adrianne McNally (3,532, 2006-10). In terms of games started, she now has 116, which is three shy of passing Adrianne McNally (118, 2006-10) for second most all-time.

The career rebounding category is where Gradinjan has some company. Gradinjan now has 468 after the latest game, but Adderly has 458 after another double-digit effort. The duo is seventh and eighth all-time in total rebounds, and Adderly is on pace to become the program's first to 1,000 career rebounds. Sarah Hansen (887, 2009-14) is the all-time leader, and Gradinjan is 40 away from reaching Kaneisha Atwater's (508, 2013-16) sixth place total.

If that isn't enough, Gradinjan is 391-for-979 from the field in her career. Her total made is seventh all-time and just 12 shy of passing Shannon Murphy (402, 2007-11) for sixth, and her attempts is just 10 shy of passing Kelsey Jacobson (988, 2008-12) for sixth all-time. She needs 21 more attempts to become only the sixth player in program history with at least 1,000. Gradinjan's 273 career 3-pointers are 21 shy of tying Whitney Knight (294, 2011-16) for second most in program history.

Adderly moved up another list on Tuesday, though, as her five offensive rebounds pushed her career total to 190 and pushed her past Kaneisha Atwater (186, 2013-16) for sixth most all-time. She's close to moving up a pair of spots as the next two on the list are Katie Meador (193, 2012-16) and Kate Schrader (194, 2005-07).

Prior to Tuesday's game, FGCU dropped out of the USA Today Coaches Poll and into the receiving votes section, where the Eagles tallied nine votes and have a chance to move back into the top-25 before the end of the regular season. Additionally, the team fell to No. 3 in the latest CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll behind Green Bay and Belmont, respectively. The Eagles did receive one of the 30 first-place votes, though, and are still the top-ranked team in the espnW poll.

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 426-86 (.832) at FGCU, including a 165-16 (.912) mark in ASUN play. Over the past six + seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 101-4 (.962) 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 487-113 (.812). 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.