FLORENCE, Ala. - Destiny Washington produced her best game in the Green and Blue as the FGCU women's basketball team (11-4, 2-0 ASUN) had another great game defensively in a 68-52 win over North Alabama (10-2, 1-1) on Tuesday in Flowers Hall.

"I was a little concerned early because we got a lot of good really wide open looks, whether it was in conversion or within our offense, and we didn't shoot well," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "You get nervous when you play a team this good and leave that many points out there early. But we were able to get to the rim and get some layups (as it progressed)."

Washington (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North HS), who is the reigning ASUN newcomer of the week, had game-highs in points (20) and rebounds (11), along with two blocks, one steal and one assist. Both her point and rebound totals were season-highs, and it was her first double-double with FGCU after joining the team as a graduate transfer from Ball State.

Defensively, the Eagles held North Alabama to 3-for-17 shooting from 3-point range and forced 22 turnovers while allowing just 52 points - their second lowest total allowed this year. In fact, along with their 50 points allowed in this past weekend's conference opener against Liberty, FGCU has now posted its best two defensive games of the season over the past two outings.

Outside of Washington, Keri Jewett-Giles and Lisa Zderadicka added 14 points apiece, while Nasrin Ulel chipped in nine. Zderadicka tied North Alabama's Ivy Wallen for the game-high in assists with five and added two steals to tie Ulel (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta HS) for the team-high.

It was Washington who got things going early for the Eagles with a layup followed by a 3-pointer for a quick 5-0 lead. Five minutes later, she capped a 17-5 run to open the game with her second 3-pointer, which is a new career-high after 11 games with one.

North Alabama's Brittany Panetti, who is the reigning ASUN player of the week, then scored four points in an 8-0 run as the Lions trimmed the deficit to eight with 8:30 left in the half.

Tytionia Adderly, who finished with eight points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal, responded by scoring six straight for FGCU, while Zderadicka and Jewett-Giles (Fort Myers, Fla./Dunbar HS) followed with back-to-back layups moments later.

Two more layups from Washington, who had 14 points in the first 20 minutes, with under two minutes left then helped the Green and Blue take a 34-21 lead into the break.

In the opening half, FGCU had twice as many field goals made (14-7) and forced 13 turnovers, but North Alabama made 7-for-12 from the foul line for one-third of their points.

Jewett-Giles and Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg) each shouldered the load in the second half as the duo combined for seven straight points just under seven minutes into the third to give the Eagles a 48-32 lead.

North Alabama, however, responded with a 9-2 run to close the quarter and then opened the fourth with a layup from Emma Wallen to pull within seven. Washington ended the run with a second chance layup, and Zderadicka beat the shot clock buzzer with a right-wing 3-pointer to push the lead back to 12 with 8:27 left. Those buckets spurred a 10-2 run, capped by three free throws from Ulel to give the Green and Blue a 60-45 lead with 4:42 left.

From there, the Eagles never led by fewer than 12 and pushed its lead to as many as 18 following a pair of free throws from Jewett-Giles with 1:04 left.

Next Up
FGCU will be back in action on Saturday against North Florida. They will then close a three-game road trip at Kennesaw State the following Saturday before returning home on Jan. 22 against Lipscomb.
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Notes
This was the first conference matchup between FGCU and North Alabama, who made the jump from Division-II and joined the ASUN this year. It was the fourth time the two teams have met, though, with the Eagles pulling out a trio of wins back in 2005 and 2006 when they were also a Division-II program. In Division-I, FGCU is now 172-16 all-time against ASUN opponents in the regular season.

FGCU is the only current 2-0 team in the ASUN with Stetson and NJIT each at 1-0.

North Alabama was held to just 16-for-52 shooting, but made 17-of-23 from the foul line to compile nearly 33 percent of its points from the charity stripe.

The Eagles held North Alabama's group of Panetti (17 PPG), Emma Wallen (14.3 PPG), Ivy Wallen (12.1 PPG) and Kenysha Coulson (10.5 PPG) nearly 10 points below its combined season scoring average.  
 
WE'VE GOT YOUR SEAT
Experience FGCU basketball this season. The following ticket opportunities are on sale now:
Group Sales
Bring your group of 20 or more to an FGCU men's or women's basketball game. All group tickets include an FGCU hat ($15 value), a $5 game day discount at The Boardwalk restaurant, in-game group recognition and more. For more information on group outings, click 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.

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 507-118 (.811) overall in his career, including a 172-16 (.915) mark in ASUN play. Over the past seven + seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 108-4 (.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
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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.
 
SUPPORT THE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PROGRAM
Do you enjoy watching or following the FGCU women's basketball program? Would you like to play a role in the growth of the program and help take it to heights never before experienced? If so, you can reach out to Director of Advancement, Matt Ring, about opportunities to make an impact on the experiences of our student-athletes. He can be reached by email at mring@fgcu.edu or by office phone at 239-745-4434.