FORT MYERS, Fla. - Tytionia Adderly secured her place in program history as the No. 25 FGCU women's basketball team (14-2, 1-0) pulled away in the second half to secure an 82-56 win over Lipscomb (3-11, 0-1) in the conference opener for both teams on Saturday in Alico Arena.
 
With a defensive rebound just under three minutes into the second half, Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) became the first player in program history, and just the 12th in ASUN history, to achieve 1,000 career rebounds. She entered the game nine rebounds shy of the milestone, finished the game with 1,002 and is now just four shy of moving past Brandi Miller (Belmont, 2001-05) for the 11th-most in conference history.

"To get 1,000 rebounds in a career is remarkable," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "It's a lot rarer than 1,000-point scorers. She just defends and rebounds. I was really happy today that she was looking for points and chances to shoot a three or attack the basket because that's a dimension she has."
 
In addition to all that, Adderly led all scorers with a season-high 21 points to go along with her 11 rebounds, four assists and two steals in the win over the Bisons. She finished with a season-best nine made field goals over 20 attempts and even made a career-high three from long distance.

"I talk about it all the time," Ulel said of Adderly post game. "To get a 1,000 rebounds, or even 500, that's hard. A 1,000 points for me is two or three points. She's individually getting one rebound at a time, and that's disgusting. She does everything. She's the heart of our team. I don't think she realizes like when she plays well, we're just so excited for her."
 
The win, which improved the Eagles to 10-2 all-time as a ranked Division I program, was the 100th for the program in Alico Arena in regular season conference play, and they've done it in just 102 games. On top of that, they extended the nation's fifth-longest conference winning streak to 29 straight.

"It's extremely fun," Ulel said of FGCU's home court advantage, which was north of 2,000 fans on Saturday. "It's something we can always count on. Even if our shooting isn't good, we know our fans are always going to be loyal. I can have a horrible game and our fans are going to come up to me and tell me I played so good. It's really exciting having a crowd to play for. We go to other schools, bigger schools, and their crowd isn't as big. It's really exciting to have committed fans like that."
 
In addition to Adderly, FGCU received 44 points combined from the trio of Nasrin Ulel (18), Keri Jewett-Giles (16) and Kerstie Phills (10).

Davion Wingate also added nine points, while Jewett-Giles (Fort Myers, Fla/Dunbar HS) finished second on the team with five rebounds and led the way with three steals. Phills (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian HS) also added four rebounds and did her damage in just 21 minutes.
 
Ulel (Murrieta, Calif./Murrieta HS), who had five double-digit scoring performances over the season's first 11 games, now has four such outings over the past five, which included a season-high 27 in a win over Duke on Dec. 29. Over the recent streak, she is averaging 17.8 per contest.

"She's someone who hurt her finger, and I couldn't get her to sit out," Smesko said of Ulel. "She was playing through it even though she couldn't really catch the ball because she wanted to be out there and help her teammates. Now, her hand feels good and her shot feels better. And you can see it's opening up some other things. She's able to drive to the basket and shot fake and step through or get all the way to the rim. It's good to see her progression."
 
Over the game's first 20 minutes, FGCU struggled to get going as a team, shooting just 4-for-23 from long distance, including 1-for-10 in the opening quarter. Adderly and Jewett-Giles each had eight points during that stretch as the Eagles used strong defense to hold Lipscomb to a 7-for-22 first-half performance from the field, which allowed the Green and Blue to open up a 32-23 lead.
 
The third frame saw Adderly finish 6-for-10 from the field for 13 points and four rebounds as the Eagles stretched their margin to 13. They produced 10 points off turnovers in the quarter alone and shot 10-for-18 from the field as a team, which was just three fewer field goals made than they had the entire first half.
 
FGCU continued to ramp it up in the final quarter, shooting 8-for-13 and outscoring Lipscomb 24-11 in the frame as Ulel had nine points in just over seven minutes on 4-for-5 shooting.
 
Overall, the Eagles outscored Lipscomb 30-4 in points off turnovers and held advantages in paint points (40-22), second-chance points (13-2), fast break points (8-2) and bench points (8-2).
 
FGCU will be back in action Monday against Liberty (8-6, 1-0) at 7 p.m. inside Alico Arena in a rematch of last year's ASUN title game.
 
Notes
With the win, FGCU remains tied for the most in the nation with 14.
 
In addition to her program and conference recognition, Adderly also ranks third among active NCAA Division I players in career rebounds.
 
In Charlie Creme's latest NCAA bracketology, FGCU is slotted as a No. 8 seed with a predicted first-round matchup against No. 9 Creighton in Corvallis.

The Eagles are now 26-0 all-time against Lipscomb, having won every game by double-digits.


 
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 538-121 (.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 187-16 (.921) mark in ASUN play. Over the past eight+ seasons (including 2018-19), he has guided FGCU to a 125-4 (.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--