ORLANDO, Fla. - Kierstan Bell poured in a career-high 26 points, while Tyra Cox added a career-high 14 - including nine in the fourth quarter alone - to help the FGCU women's basketball team (4-2) knock off UCF (2-1) 70-57 on the road Sunday. It was the third straight victory for the Eagles.
 
"I thought we really played some of our best basketball of the season the first quarter and a half of this game," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "I don't think we maintained our execution, but we did battle and beat a very good team on the road, so we're happy about that."
 
Bell (Alliance, Ohio/Canton McKinley HS/Ohio State) shot 10-for-17 from the field overall, including a blistering 6-for-8 from long distance, while adding five rebounds, one block and one steal. Cox (Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland Prep/William & Mary) made three-of-six from 3-point range and tied Emma List for the team-high in assists with five.
 
Aaliyah Stanley continued her efficient 3-point shooting, connecting on 3-for-4 from long range for 11 points off the bench. As a team, the Eagles shot 14-for-26 (.538) from three point range. List (Colorado Springs, Colo./Discovery Canyon Campus/Albany) added a team-high six rebounds along with four points. Alyssa Blair (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie HS) had a team-high four steals.
 
Offensively, FGCU scored the game's first eight points and pushed its lead to 11 on the final possession of the first quarter on Bell's third 3-pointer. Tanner Bryant (Washington Court House, Ohio/Miami Trace HS) found the scoring column on a beautiful reverse layup with 3:31 left to give the Eagles their second 16-point lead of the half, although UCF was able to trim their deficit in half (37-29) at the break.
 
The host Knights tried to chip away in the third quarter, trimming it to single-digits several times, but Stanley (Boynton Beach, Fla./Oxbridge Academy/Eastern Michigan) took a pass from Bell and converted a layup in the final seconds to push the margin back to 10.
 
Early in the fourth quarter, UCF trimmed its deficit to six and seven on separate occasions, but each time the Eagles buried a big 3-pointer. The first came from Bell with 6:40 left and the second came via Andrea Cecil with 5:04 remaining. 
 
Cecil's (Oak Harbor, Ohio/Oak Harbor HS/BGSU) shot pushed the lead back up to 10, and it never dipped into single-digits again as Cox nailed back-to-back 3-pointers and converted a three-point play all in a two minute span, and Stanley made her third 3-pointer in the final minute for good measure.
 
"Tyra came up huge with big plays down the stretch that kept things at double-figures, which made it a little more comfortable at the end," Smesko said. "If she didn't make those plays, it would have been a real tight ending."
 
Masseny Kaba and Brittney Smith had 11 points apiece for UCF, who hadn't lost to anyone except UConn at home the past two seasons.
 
Notes
With Sunday's win, FGCU now needs just three more wins to reach 500 in program history. They are on pace to reach it on Dec. 21 vs FIU should they keep winning.
 
Bell's 20-plus point outing was her second such effort his year in addition to her 24-point outburst against Davidson on Nov. 29. The previous career-high in scoring for Cox was 12.
 
Blair inched closer to 100 career games played. She now sits at 93 as she looks to become just the 16th player in the program's Division I era to achieve the milestone.
 
Cecil pushed her career scoring total to 934 as she inches closer to 1,000.
 
Sunday's victory also completed a home-and-home series sweep of UCF as the Eagles knocked off the Knights 72-50 at home last year. The Green and Blue are now 3-0 all-time against UCF on the road and 5-1 all-time against them.
 
For complete coverage of the women's basketball program, follow the Eagles on Twitter and Instagram at @FGCU_WBB, on Facebook at /fgcuwbb and online at www.FGCUathletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU women's basketball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
 
SUSTAINING FLIGHT 
To help offset the financial impact of COVID-19, FGCU Athletics has launched the Sustaining Flight Fundraiser and Auction. The fundraising campaign will help mitigate operational revenue loss and the additional expenses incurred as a result of COVID-19 protocols. All funds raised during the campaign will go to support areas that directly impact student-athletes.
 
In lieu of hosting the annual Night at the Nest gala this year, one of FGCU's most successful fundraising events, the department will be hosting a virtual, online auction from Monday, Nov. 30 through Friday, Dec. 4. Fans and supporters will be able to bid on exclusive memorabilia, trip packages, unique event experiences and more. For more information, visit www.fgcuathletics.com/sustainingflight. 
 
E.A.G.L.E. CAMPAIGN
IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal - a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign - Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!
 
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 maintains a record of 558-124 (.818) overall in his career (third highest winning percentage among active Division I coaches behind only UConn's Geno Auriemma and Baylor's Kim Mulkey), including a 201-17 (.922) mark in ASUN regular season play and a 24-2 (.923) record in ASUN tournament play. Over the past nine seasons, including this year, he has guided FGCU to a 137-5 (.975) record in conference play with five undefeated seasons. The 10-time ASUN Coach of the Year has guided the Green and Blue to four 30-plus win seasons over the past six years while compiling a 179-31 (.852) record. He has also guided the program to 16 consecutive 20-win seasons and 10-straight 25-win seasons.
 
#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 82 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 13 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 38 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Seven FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women's basketball (No. 24, 2019-20) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. 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 3.46 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 22 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall and 2020 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA. 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--