FORT MYERS, Fla. – The FGCU women's basketball team will begin a home-and-home series with one of the preeminent NCAA Division-I schools in the country, Duke University, in 2018-19.

The series, which represents the first-ever meeting between the two teams, will begin with a Sunday, Dec. 30 matchup in Durham, N.C. at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It concludes in the 2019-20 season when Duke will make the trip to Alico Arena at a date yet to be determined.

In 2017-18, Duke finished 24-9 overall and 11-5 in ACC play. Despite losing their quarterfinal game in the ACC Tournament, they knocked off Belmont and Georgia in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament before falling 72-59 to UConn in the Sweet 16. Joanne P. McCallie will be entering her 12th year in charge of the program and has compiled a 294-80 record during her tenure with the Blue Devils. Her team was ranked 12th in the final USA Today Coaches Poll.

"Duke is a great addition to our schedule," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "They have a great program and play in a great conference.  We are excited about having the opportunity to play there this year, and our fan base will be really excited to see them at Alico Arena the following year."

FGCU women's basketball begins a new era in 2018-19 with the graduation of five key players, including four of their top five scorers from last year. The team, however, also returns three of its top seven scorers in Tytionia Adderly, Lisa Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg) and Nasrin Ulel (Murrietta, Calif./Murrietta HS, and the program has added Destiny Washington-Mabon (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) from Ball State as a graduate transfer to form a strong duo with Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) in the post.

Four key additions will come in the form of players who practiced with the team last year, but weren't eligible due to Division-I transfer rules. The group includes a trio who averaged a combined 35 points per game in 2016-17: Keri Jewett-Giles (Fort Myers, Fla./Dunbar HS), who averaged 7.8 points and 3.1 assists in her two years at Southern Miss; Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian), who averaged 13.1 points for Wagner en route to Northeast Conference Rookie of the Year recognition; and Davion Wingate (Atlanta, Ga./Stephenson), who led Stony Brook in scoring at 11.8 per game in 2016-17. Tyra Cox (Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland Prep), who signed with William & Mary but didn't compete in any games before transferring mid-year, also joins the fray with four full years of eligibility.

True freshmen Tanner Bryant (Washington Court House, Ohio/Miami Trace HS), Shekinah Guthrie (Roswell, Ga./Centennial HS) and Ashley Panem (Broomfield, Colo./Fairview HS) will also compete for playing time, while Erna Normil (Lake Worth, Fla./Lake Worth HS) will transfer in from Florida Southwestern (FSW).
 
Duke, meanwhile, has a similar situation. They won't be with the services of their top two scorers from last year in Lexie Brown and Rebecca Greenwell, who were both selected in the WNBA Draft after comprising one of the best backcourts in the country by averaging 33.3 points per game for the Blue Devils. Returning, however, will be third and fourth leading scorers Haley Gorecki (11.0 PPG) and Leaonna Odom (9.6 PPG), who combined to make 40 starts last year, while a trio of ESPN Top-100 recruits enter the fray – including Onome Akinbode-James, a 6-3 post player, Uchenna Nwoke, a 6-6 center, and Rayah Craig, a 5-10 point guard. Additionally, the team inked Australian guard Miela Goodchild for this upcoming season.
The Duke matchup adds to other non-conference games already set including a road tilt at South Dakota State (Nov. 9), home against FIU on Nov. 16 and home vs Abilene Christian (Dec. 17).

More information on this year's schedule will be released next week.

FGCU ALL-TIME AGAINST THE ACC
Nov. 9, 2007 – 93-53 loss to No. 19/19 Florida State (Fort Myers, Fla.)
Nov. 16, 2008 – 81-62 loss to Florida State (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Nov. 21, 2009 – 58-48 loss to Georgia Tech (Atlanta, Ga.)
March 10, 2010 – 70-57 loss to Miami (Fla.) (Coral Gables, Fla.)
Nov. 25, 2010 – 73-65 win over Virginia Tech (Riviera Maya, Mexico)
Dec. 21, 2011 – 69-41 win over Virginia Tech (Fort Myers, Fla.)
Dec. 28, 2011 – 69-64 loss to NC State (Honolulu, Hawaii)
Dec. 16, 2012 – 63-56 win over Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Va.)
Nov. 28, 2014 – 86-61 win over Clemson (U.S. Virgin Islands)
March 23, 2015 – 65-47 loss to Florida State (Tallahassee, Fla.)
March 21, 2016 – 67-48 win over Wake Forest (Fort Myers, Fla.)
March 18, 2017 – 62-60 loss to Miami (Fla.) (Coral Gables, Fla.)

Overall Record: 5-7, including 5-3 over past eight

SEASON TICKET RENEWAL DEADLINE
The deadline to renew your women's and men's basketball season tickets at FGCU is next Friday, July 6. For more information, visit FGCUAthletics.com/renew or contact our ticket office at 239-590-7145.

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, produced winning streaks of 12 and 10 games, 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 496-114 (.813) 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 make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help.