RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico - Nasrin Ulel scored a game-high 23 points, while Keri Jewett-Giles scored 12 of her 19 points in the final quarter as the FGCU women's basketball team (7-1) knocked off No. 20 USF 81-77 in the Hard Rock Hotel as part of the Cancun Challenge on Friday.
 
With the win, FGCU produced its fourth all-time win over a ranked team, and USF is the second-highest ranked team they've defeated behind No. 15 Missouri in the 2018 NCAA Tournament. The Eagles will now meet South Dakota State (5-2) at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday for the championship after the Jackrabbits also defeated Notre Dame and USF over the past two days.
 
"We beat a very good and well-coached team," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "It was great to see so many people make positive contributions. Nasrin was excellent. Ashli hit all those free throws down the stretch. Ty played great, and players that maybe weren't feeling 100 percent like Phills came in and really battled for us. It was just a great all-around win. To beat a team that good, you have to have a lot of people contributing. I thought Keri had an excellent second half. Whenever we needed a basket or needed to do something, someone stepped up."
 
USF scored 19 of the game's first 28 points and led by 10 with 2:03 left in the first quarter. In response, Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian) and Alyssa Blair (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie HS) hit a pair of 3-pointers, and Ashli O'Neal found Tytionia Adderly for a buzzer-beating layup to pull the Eagles within four through the first 10 minutes.
 
A 3-pointer from Ulel (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta HS) pulled FGCU within one with 7:46 left in the half, but the Bulls pushed their lead back to six twice over the next three minutes. Davion Wingate, who had been held scoreless up to that point, caught fire by sinking a pair of free throws and converting back-to-back layups to pull the Eagles within two. USF converted a layup with 23 seconds left, but Wingate (Atlanta, Ga./Stephenson HS) found Ulel for another buzzer-beater, which came via a 3-pointer.
 
With that shot, Ulel surpassed 1,000 points in the Green and Blue. She ranks 10th on the program's Division I era scoring list with 1,015, just one shy of Courtney Chihil (1,016, 2008-12) for ninth-place. Her milestone marked the third-consecutive game that an Eagle has reached 1,000 points in her NCAA career - joining Jewett-Giles (Fort Myers, Fla./Dunbar HS) against Saint Francis and Wingate against Notre Dame.
 
FGCU couldn't seem to gain the lead to open the second half as USF took a five-point lead twice. Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS), though, changed all that with her second 3-pointer of the game with 5:24 left in the third. Moments later, Adderly found Ulel for another one from long distance to push the lead to five, although the Bulls trimmed their deficit to one entering the fourth.
 
The Eagles opened the fourth on a 5-0 run, and a trio of free throws and a layup from Jewett-Giles pushed the margin to nine with 6:31 left. The senior guard also hit two key free throws with 1:14 left after USF trimmed its deficit to three.
 
From there, O'Neal (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming HS) made 5-of-6 from the foul line and drew an offensive foul that wiped out a made 3-pointer from USF that would have pulled the Bulls within three with 26 seconds left. The Eagles then sealed the game at the foul line as USF's last-second layup proved meaningless.
 
O'Neal finished 7-for-8 from the foul line in the final quarter while drawing five fouls and adding two assists. Wingate (8-for-8) became the 11th player in the program's Division I era to make at least eight free throw attempts without a miss.
 
Offensively, Ulel (23), Jewett-Giles (19) and Wingate (12) combined for 54 of FGCU's 81 points, while Adderly and O'Neal each added nine. In fact, Adderly had a team-high 10 rebounds along with four assists and two steals while falling just one point shy of her second-consecutive double-double, while Jewett-Giles finished second in rebounds with six. O'Neal had a game-high six assists, and Ulel led the way with three steals.
 
Notes
Emma List (Colorado Springs, Colo./Discovery Canyon Campus) earned her first start of the season.
 
After getting outrebounded 25-12 in the first half, FGCU responded with an 18-16 advantage in the second half while shooting 10-for-22 from the field, including 5-for-10 from 3-point range with three of those coming from Ulel, who had the second-most field goal attempts in a game in the program's Division I era with 22, falling just shy of Kaneisha Atwater's 24 vs Western Michigan on Dec. 21, 2015.
 
FGCU is now 3-2 all-time against USF after winning the first neutral site matchup between the two programs. The Eagles have also won two in a row in the series dating back to a home win on Dec. 4, 2013.
 
South Dakota State defeated Notre Dame 65-59 in the other game of the day.
 
TICKET INFORMATION
Season and mini-plan packages for the 2019-20 FGCU women's basketball team are now on sale. More information can be accessed by visiting FGCUTickets.com. To purchase tickets, or for additional inquiries, call the FGCU Ticket Office at 239-590-7145 Monday-Friday from 9 AM-5 PM.

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 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.

COACH SMESKO
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko led the 2018-19 Eagles to the program's fifth undefeated conference regular season since 2011-12, as well as the ninth consecutive season with at least 25 victories. The Green and Blue finished 28-5 overall and 16-0 in ASUN play, capturing the team's ninth ASUN regular season championship and sixth ASUN tournament championship. The team finished the season receiving votes in the final AP Poll and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in eight seasons before falling to host No. 19 Miami in the first round. It was the team's 12th-straight postseason appearance in 12 years of Division-I existence - the only program to ever do such.

Over the past five seasons, Smesko has guided FGCU to three 30-plus win seasons while recording a 149-28 (.841) record overall. That win total ranks eighth-best in the nation over that stretch - the most among all mid-majors and ahead of programs such as Oregon State and Stanford.

Including 2018-19, Smesko has also guided the Eagles to 15-straight 20-win seasons. He maintains a record of 531-120 (.816) overall in his career (third highest winning percentage among active D1 coaches behind only UConn's Geno Auriemma and Baylor's Kim Mulkey), including a 186-16 (.921) mark in ASUN play. Over the past eight seasons (including 2018-19), he has guided FGCU to a 124-4 (.969) record in conference play with five undefeated seasons. The now nine-time ASUN Coach of the Year earned his 400th career coaching win in 2014-15 in just 493 career games, two games faster than Auriemma.

#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April 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 raise awareness.

ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 80 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 12 seasons at the Division-I level. Additionally, in just eight seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 36 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including both men's and women's soccer again in 2018. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors' Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA's Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2018 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for twenty consecutive semesters. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 - being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.
 
--FGCUATHLETICS.COM--