FORT MYERS, Fla. --- The FGCU women's basketball team (5-0) entered the Associated Press poll at No. 25 on Tuesday.
It represents the earliest in a season the Eagles have been ranked in the poll, shattering the previous best of Feb. 16 by the 2014-15 team. On top of that, it is the eighth week in program history the Green and Blue have been ranked by the Associated Press voters and the third season overall, joining the 2014-15 and 2020-21 teams. Last year's team finished the season at No. 24 in the AP.
"It is good to be recognized for our performance to this point in the season, but we still have a lot of room for improvement," FGCU head coach
Karl Smesko said. "Hopefully, we have the desire to get better."
FGCU's undefeated start to the season has seen the Eagles knock off LSU and Temple. They claimed the ASUN/MAAC Challenge title last weekend with wins over Manhattan and Fairfield, as well. It is the team's third-best start to a campaign in the program's Division I era - just behind the 2017-18 team that went 6-0. The 2010-11 squad opened 14-0.
Furthermore, the Green and Blue has pushed its regular season winning streak to 27 straight dating back to Nov. 29 of last year, which is the best in the program's Division I era and the second-longest overall behind the Division II era Eagles, which won 45 straight between Dec. 29, 2005 and March 3, 2007.
Individually, junior
Kierstan Bell is averaging 26.6 points per game, which ranks second in the country. Graduate senior
Kendall Spray has made 25-of-39 from 3-point range, which has her ranked second nationally in both total makes and makes per game. In all, the trio of Bell, Spray and senior
Tishara Morehouse are averaging 56.2 PPG combined.
As a team, FGCU ranks first in the nation in 3-point field goals made, attempted and per game while also ranking among the top 20 in assist to turnover ratio, total assists, scoring offense and total steals.
In addition to the AP Poll, the first Coaches Poll of the regular season came out on Tuesday, which has FGCU receiving the 27th-most votes in the nation with 42 - just behind Virginia Tech (62) and Georgia Tech (75). Coincidentally, it was Georgia Tech that dropped out of the AP Poll to make room for the Eagles.
The Green and Blue are also currently the nation's No. 1 ranked team in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll. They moved up from the No. 2 spot last week, narrowly edging out Missouri State by three total points (752-749) in voting.
FGCU will be back in action in the San Juan Shootout this weekend as they will face Tennessee Tech on Friday and Saint Louis on Saturday. Both games will be at 5:45 p.m. ET and be streamed on
FloHoops ($).
Eagles in the AP Poll (All-Time)
| 11/23/21 |
No. 25 |
| 3/15/21 |
No. 24 |
| 3/18/21 |
No. 24 |
| 3/16/15 |
No. 20 |
| 3/9/15 |
No. 20 |
| 3/2/15 |
No. 20 |
| 2/23/15 |
No. 21 |
| 2/16/15 |
No. 22 |
AP Poll - Nov. 23, 2021
| 1 |
South Carolina (30) |
6-0 |
750 |
1 |
| 2 |
Maryland |
6-0 |
710 |
3 |
| 3 |
UConn |
3-1 |
696 |
2 |
| 4 |
Indiana |
4-0 |
630 |
4 |
| 5 |
NC State |
4-1 |
623 |
5 |
| 6 |
Baylor |
3-1 |
564 |
6 |
| 7 |
Stanford |
3-1 |
560 |
7 |
| 8 |
Iowa |
4-0 |
557 |
8 |
| 9 |
Arizona |
4-0 |
489 |
11 |
| 10 |
Louisville |
3-1 |
481 |
10 |
| 11 |
Tennessee |
4-0 |
424 |
16 |
| 12 |
Michigan |
5-0 |
396 |
13 |
| 13 |
Iowa State |
4-0 |
392 |
14 |
| 14 |
Texas |
3-1 |
339 |
12 |
| 15 |
Oregon |
3-2 |
285 |
9 |
| 16 |
Oregon State |
3-0 |
254 |
15 |
| 17 |
Florida State |
4-0 |
234 |
17 |
| 18 |
South Florida |
4-2 |
228 |
23 |
| 19 |
UCLA |
3-0 |
222 |
20 |
| 20 |
Kentucky |
3-1 |
191 |
19 |
| 21 |
Ohio State |
3-0 |
150 |
21 |
| 22 |
West Virginia |
3-0 |
128 |
22 |
| 23 |
Texas A&M |
4-0 |
126 |
24 |
| 24 |
Virginia Tech |
5-0 |
105 |
25 |
| 25 |
Florida Gulf Coast |
5-0 |
63 |
NR |
Others receiving votes: Georgia 54, Georgia Tech 40, Notre Dame 14, Colorado 10, Washington State 8, Arkansas 6, DePaul 6, Duke 4, Michigan State 3, Oklahoma 1, Gonzaga 1
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 585-125 (.824) overall in his career, which is the third-highest winning percentage among active Division I coaches behind only UConn's Geno Auriemma and Baylor's Kim Mulkey. He has also led the Eagles to a 217-17 (.927) mark in ASUN regular season play and a 27-2 (.931) record in ASUN tournament play. Over the past 10 seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 153-5 (.968) record in conference play with six undefeated seasons. The 11-time ASUN Coach of the Year has led the program to 11-straight 25-win seasons and 17-consecutive 20-win campaigns, including 30-plus wins in four of the past seven years. On top of all that, the Eagles are 524-98 (.842) all-time since Smesko started the program in the 2002-03 season, and the Green and Blue's .824 all-time winning percentage is the best in NCAA Division I women's basketball history.
#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 85 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 42 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 21, 2020-21), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2021) 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 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 23 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, and 2020 Fall 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---
