ATLANTA - The ASUN Conference declared on Friday that FGCU and Liberty will serve as co-champions for the 2020 ASUN Women's Basketball Championship after the title game was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the conference also announced a six-member all-tournament team.
 
FGCU, which was 2-0 against Liberty during the regular season, ties Florida International's all-time ASUN record with four consecutive tournament championships, and it gives the Eagles seven of the past nine tournament titles to go along with the program's conference-record 10 regular season championships. FGCU has appeared in the conference title game in every one of the nine seasons the program has been eligible, which is also the longest streak in conference history.
 
With two wins this year, the Eagles improved their all-time conference-best ASUN tournament record to 24-2 (.923). FGCU will also enter the 2020-21 season with a 106-3 all-time record at home against ASUN teams in the regular season, and they're 137-5 against conference teams overall in the regular season since 2011-12.
 
FGCU finished 30-3 overall this year, clinching its 10th-straight season with at least 25 wins and 15th-straight with at least 20. They are now one of just five teams nationally to have won 30-or-more games four times over the past six seasons, joining UConn, Baylor, Notre Dame and South Carolina. Over the past four years alone, they've won a combined seven of eight possible ASUN regular season and tournament titles.
 
Meanwhile, the duo of Davion Wingate and Ashli O'Neal were each named to the ASUN Championship all-tournament team. While the conference did not name an MVP, other members of the team include Liberty's Emily Lytle and Asia Todd, North Alabama's Ivy Wallen and North Florida's Jazz Bond.
 
"I am sure both teams would have liked to determine the championship on the floor, but the seriousness of the pandemic made that impossible," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "Davion had one of the best games in ASUN tournament history in the quarterfinal, and Ashli had two very good games. Both are great players, and I am happy that both are being recognized for their play in the tournament."
 
Wingate (Atlanta, Ga./Stephenson HS) capped a career-best season by breaking the program's Division I era single-game scoring record with 38 points in the ASUN quarterfinal win over Lipscomb on 13-for-16 shooting. She added eight points and three rebounds in the semifinal against North Florida.
 
In two seasons with FGCU, Wingate scored 730 of the 1,364 career points in her NCAA career. As a senior, she averaged a career-best 14.7 points per game and finished just 14 points shy shy of joining Keri Jewett-Giles with a 500-point season. Prior to this year, only two other players in the program's Division I era has scored that many points in a season.
 
Furthermore, Wingate did her damage efficiently by finishing .508 from the field for the season, including .428 from 3-point range, as well as .822 from the foul line. She had seven games with at least 20 points, including three with 30-plus. Over a two-game stretch against Temple and Duke on Dec. 22 and 29, she became the first player in program history to record back-to-back 30-plus point games, tallying 31 in a road win at Temple and 30 in a big home win over Duke. Her .430 career 3-point field goal percentage is third-best in conference history and the best among players from current ASUN members.
 
O'Neal (Wyoming, Ohio/Wyoming HS), meanwhile, registered a career-high 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting in the quarterfinals and followed it up with 12 points against UNF. Playing in her first-ever conference tournament after transferring in from Indiana State, the senior guard combined for shoot 11-for-20 from the field, including 7-for-10 from 3-point range, over the two games.
 
In 32 games, or 19.8 minutes per game, off the bench, O'Neal averaged eight points, 2.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists and one steal per game in 2019-20. She also made 36.8 percent of her field goals from long distance and averaged 16.2 points per 40 minutes played. On top of that, she eclipsed 1,000 career points on Jan. 20 against Kennesaw State and finished her career with 1,114.
 
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.
 
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 554-122 (.820) 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 81 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 12-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just eight-plus 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 women's basketball (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 3.35 GPA in the classroom in the spring 2018 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for twenty-one consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall semester 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--