WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. ---
Kierstan Bell scored a game-high 30 points as the No. 25 FGCU women's basketball team (11-1) used a 19-2 game-opening run to help secure an 86-50 win over High Point University (3-8) inside Elisabeth W. Erling Gymnasium on the campus of Palm Beach State College in the finale of the West Palm Beach Classic on Tuesday.
Bell (Alliance, Ohio/Canton McKinley HS/Ohio State) finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds and three blocks on 11-for-18 shooting, which included a 4-for-9 finish from 3-point range and a perfect 4-for-4 from the foul line. In doing so, she achieved her 21st career double-double in just her 38th career game in the Green and Blue, which breaks a tie with Sarah Hansen for the most in program history.
Tishara Morehouse (Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King HS/Western Nebraska CC) added 16 points, five rebounds, five assists and a steal. She helped the Eagles finish 17-for-23 from the foul line behind a 7-for-10 performance individually.
Emma List added a season-high 10 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists and a steal.
Maddie Antenucci (Cincinnati, Ohio/Indian Hill HS) also matched her season-high with eight points off the bench in the second half on 3-for-5 shooting. In total, 13 different players scored while the other two had a rebound and an assist apiece.
"It was a great team win today," FGCU head coach
Karl Smesko said. "We got off to a great start, shared the ball early and worked for good looks. This was also one of our best defensive efforts of the season and a good way to go into the break."
The Eagles scored 19 of the game's first 21 points, which spanned 6:14 and included eight points, two rebounds, one block and a steal from Bell. High Point closed the quarter on a 7-3 run and were within 12 with 8:05 left in the half but
List (Colorado Springs, Colo./Discovery Canyon Campus/Albany) had four points over the next few minutes before Bell exploded for eight points in the final minute and a half to give the Green and Blue a 45-22 lead at the break.
In the third quarter, Bell (10) and Morehouse (7) combined for 17 of FGCU's 24 points as they stretched the lead to 32. The quarter also featured an old-fashioned three-point play from 3-point specialist
Kendall Spray (Mt. Juliet, Tenn./Wilson Central HS/UT Martin/Clemson) while Bell hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cap her 30-point performance as she sat the entire fourth quarter with the game in hand.
Six different players then scored in the final quarter, led by Antenucci's eight.
Milan Schimmel (Mission, Ore./Nixyaawii Community School/Hutchinson CC/Eastern Florida State CC/Cincinnati) also dished out three assists and added a pair of rebounds.
FGCU, which re-entered the top 25 in the latest Coaches Poll during Tuesday's game, will be back in action on Dec. 29 with a 2 p.m. matchup at Fordham University.
Notes
The game featured the first head-to-head matchup of Smesko and his former point guard and associate head coach Chelsea Banbury, who is in her third season as head coach at High Point. In fact, she has several other former Eagles on her staff, including assistant coaches Jaime Gluesing, Brittany Brown and Jessica Cattani, as well as director of operations Nasrin Ulel.
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 591-126 (.824) overall in his career, which is the third-highest winning percentage among active Division I coaches behind only UConn's Geno Auriemma and LSU'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 530-99 (.843) all-time since Smesko started the program in the 2002-03 season, and the Green and Blue's .843 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/adminservices/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.
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