FORT MYERS, Fla. - The duo of Nasrin Ulel and Keri Jewett-Giles combined for 56 points, while Tytionia Adderly pulled down a program-record 19 rebounds to lead the No. 24 FGCU women's basketball team (23-2, 10-0) to a 76-65 win over North Florida (13-10, 6-4) inside Alico Arena on Saturday.
 
"It was a really tough game for us," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "Fortunately, we were able to get a little bit of separation in the second half and hold on at the end."
 
Ulel (Murrieta, Calif.) produced a game-high 33 points on 10-for-15 shooting, and she made 6-of-7 from long distance while adding four rebounds. Along with her 36-point performance this past Monday, she now holds the record for most points in a two-game stretch in program history. Jewett-Giles (Fort Myers, Fla.) added 23 points on 11-for-19 shooting while tacking on a pair of assists and a steal.
 
Meanwhile, Adderly (Jupiter, Fla.) not only established a new career-high for rebounds, but she broke the program's Division I era single-game record with 19. Previously, she shared the record of 18 with now associate head coach Chelsea Lyles. The senior added seven points, four assists, two steals and two blocks while hitting a key buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter.
 
With the win, FGCU pushed its overall winning streak to 12 straight, which is the fifth-best in the nation, and their conference streak is up to 38, which remains the third-longest in the nation behind UConn (145) and Baylor (52). They'll be back in action on Monday against Stetson at 7 p.m. in what will be Cancer Awareness Night where fans are encouraged to wear pink.
 
Ulel scored eight points in the first 10 minutes as FGCU jumped out to a 19-15 lead in a first quarter that featured six ties and three lead changes. North Florida's Jazz Bond buried a 3-pointer just over three minutes into the second frame to give the visiting Ospreys a 24-23 lead, but Ulel answered with a 3-pointer on the other end.
 
UNF eventually knotted the score at 32 with just over a minute left, but Tanner Bryant's (Washington Court House, Ohio) second-chance layup with 20 seconds left sent the Eagles to the locker room with the lead.
 
After seeing Ulel produce 17 first-half points, Jewett-Giles scored the first seven points of the third quarter en route to 11 points in those 10 minutes, and Adderly added her key 3-pointer after UNF had trimmed its deficit to six on a pair of free throws with 25 seconds left. Outside of that last second make, the duo of Jewett-Giles and Ulel combined for 20 of FGCU's first 21 points in the quarter.
 
The biggest shot of the fourth quarter, perhaps, came from Ashli O'Neal (Wyoming, Ohio), who buried a 3-pointer on the very next possession after UNF had trimmed its deficit in half from 10 to five with 6:06 left. From there, the Green and Blue never led by fewer than six.
 
Notes
O'Neal, a graduate senior guard, was honored prior to the game for becoming the fourth member of this year's team to reach 1,000 points in her NCAA career.
 
FGCU is now 26-3 all-time against North Florida, who had won four of their past five games entering Saturday.
 
Ulel pushed her career total of made 3-point field goals to 216, which is four shy of passing her now assistant coach Shannon Murphy for 12th-most in ASUN history. Meanwhile, Adderly sits at 1,085 career rebounds after her record-breaking performance, which puts her eight shy of surpassing Albena Branzova (FIU, 1991-95, 1,092) for ninth-most in conference history. In fact, she only needs 57 more to move into second place on the list.
 
Moreover, with her 33 points, Ulel now has 1,278 in her career, which moves her past Kelsey Jacobson (1,263, 2008-12) for fourth-most in the program's Division I era. Next up is Kaneisha Atwater's 1,312 points from 2013-16. In fact, Ulel is also five field goals shy of surpassing Atwater's third-best total of 457.
 
With her four assists, Adderly moved past Adrianne McNally (285, 2007-10) for the fourth-most in the Division I era with 288, and she is four steals shy of surpassing Courtney Chihil (199, 2008-12) and becoming just the third player all-time with 200 in her career.
 
Jewett-Giles pushed her career scoring total at FGCU to 828, which is 12 shy of eclipsing Chelsea Lyles (839, 2008-10) for the second-most points by a two-year transfer in the Green and Blue. Rosemarie Julien (862, 2016-18) currently holds the record as Jewett-Giles still has an outside chance to become the first transfer to reach 1,000 points in just two seasons at FGCU. Furthermore, she now has 1,330 points in her NCAA career, which allowed her to surpass Jordin Alexander (1,329, 2012-17) for the fifth-most such points by a player to wear the Green and Blue.
 
ASUN Standings

Pl.	Team	Overall	ASUN
­­1.	FGCU	23-2	10-0
2.	North Alabama	16-6	7-3
3.	Jacksonville	14-9	6-4
	North Florida	13-10	6-4
5.	Liberty	12-11	5-5
6.	Stetson	10-12	4-5
7.	Kennesaw State	10-11	4-6
8.	Lipscomb	5-18	2-8
9.	NJIT	3-19	0-9

 
ASUN Results/Schedule
Saturday, Feb. 8
Jacksonville 66, NJIT 54
Kennesaw State 88, Lipscomb 60
North Alabama 86, Liberty 75
FGCU 76, North Florida 65
Monday, Feb. 10
Liberty at Jacksonville, 7 p.m.
North Florida at NJIT, 7 p.m.
Stetson at FGCU, 7 p.m.
Lipscomb at North Alabama, 7 p.m.
 
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.


 
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL 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.
 
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 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, he has also guided the Eagles to 15-straight 20-win seasons.
 
Smesko maintains a record of 547-121 (.819) 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 196-16 (.925) mark in ASUN play. Over the past eight+ seasons, including this year, he has guided FGCU to a 132-4 (.971) 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--