FORT MYERS, Fla. --- Kierstan Bell's all-around performance, along with strong outings from Tyra Cox and Aaliyah Stanley, led the FGCU women's basketball team (21-2, 14-0) to its 20th straight win and at least a share of the ASUN regular season championship with a 66-54 win over North Florida (11-10, 9-5) on Sunday inside Alico Arena.
 
"It was definitely an uneven performance," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "We got off to a quick start and then we were really stagnant offensively, not really working well together to get good shots. That's not how we play offense. Give North Florida credit. They had a great defensive effort against us, which means you have to be able to work together more to create shots, and I didn't think we did a good job with that."
 
FGCU got off to a hot start as a 3-pointer from Alyssa Blair gave the Eagles a 9-0 lead just 2:41 into the game. Three minutes later, Cox (Orlando, Fla./Lake Highland Prep/William & Mary) dialed up long distance to push the score to 14-2.
 
Moments later, though, Tishara Morehouse exited with a bloody nose that took a while to get under control. Prior to her departure, the junior point guard had three points, two rebounds and an assist. She wouldn't be able to return until midway through the third quarter.
 
Without Morehouse (Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King HS/Western Nebraska CC), the Eagles fell into a funk offensively as North Florida scored the final 13 points of the quarter as Jazz Bond's basket with a second left gave the Ospreys a 15-14 lead.
 
A pair of free throws from Bell allowed the Eagles to regain the lead briefly in the first minute of the second quarter, but North Florida responded with four straight points as FGCU went 0-for-10 as a team from the field with four turnovers during a 10-minute stretch between the last half of the first and first half of the second quarter.
 
Bell's layup with 5:54 left in the half was the first field goal since the 3-pointer from Cox, allowing FGCU to pull within 19-18.
 
Two minutes later, with the score the same, Stanley (Boynton Beach, Fla./Oxbridge Academy/Eastern Michigan) caught fire. The sophomore guard buried back-to-back triples. Seneca Hackley then scored five straight points before Bell sunk a triple. For good measure, Stanley drained a step back 3-pointer with 34 seconds left.
 
In all, FGCU went on a 17-3 run over the final 3:49 of the first half, going 6-for-7 from the field and taking a 35-21 lead. All that after scoring just 18 points in the game's first 16:51.
 
Defensively, the Green and Blue held UNF scoreless for the first 3:41 of the third quarter while Emma List (Colorado Springs, Colo./Discovery Canyon Campus/Albany) and Bell made a pair of 3-pointers to stretch the lead to 41-21.

A three-point play from Andrea Cecil pushed the margin to 21 a short time later. The Ospreys responded with seven straight points, but Cox scored five straight to give FGCU a 49-30 lead.
 
"Aaliyah hit some threes at the end of the half, which really gave us some separation," Smesko said. "Then, coming out at the beginning of the third quarter, we strung together a few baskets and got them to take a quick timeout. So, there was a good 10-12 minutes of really good basketball, but it was a struggle overall. We give North Florida a lot of credit for how hard they competed today."
 
North Florida was able to pull within 11 with 4:39 left on a layup from Bond, but Bell scored four points during a 6-0 run that essentially iced the game.
 
Bell (Alliance, Ohio/Canton McKinley HS/Ohio State) finished with a game-high 25 points while adding nine rebounds, six assists, six steals and two blocks. Cox added 13 points, eight rebounds, two steals and two assists.

Stanley produced nine points along with three rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Hackley (Colorado Springs, Colo./Saint Mary's) finished with seven points and three rebounds. One day after reaching 1,000 career points, Cecil (Oak Harbor, Ohio/Oak Harbor HS/BGSU) tallied three points, four rebounds and a block.
 
Notes
With Sunday's win, this year's team became the fifth in the program's Division I history, and first in five years, to record a 20-game winning streak. They are now one shy of tying the 2015-16, 2012-13 and 2011-12 teams for the second-longest winning streak.
 
Longest Overall Winning Streaks
Program History (Division I Era)
 

1.	26	12/6/14	3/21/15
2.	21	12/29/11	3/3/12
	21	12/28/12	3/8/13
	21	12/20/15	3/31/16
5.	20	11/29/20	present

 
Sheahen Dowling (Chicago, Ill./Trinity HS), who was honored prior to the game as part of senior day along with Blair (Sun Prairie, Wis./Sun Prairie HS) and Kerstie Phills, made her first career start.
 
Sunday's victory also allowed FGCU to clinch at least a share of the ASUN regular season title, which extends their all-time conference-record total to 11. The Eagles can claim the title outright next weekend against Liberty in the regular season finale.
 
FGCU is now 29-3 all-time against North Florida, including an 18-0 record inside Alico Arena. They have won eight straight games in the series.
  
ASUN Standings and Results
 

Place	Team	Overall	ASUN
1.	FGCU	21-2	14-0
2.	Liberty	17-5	12-2
3.	North Florida	11-10	9-5
4.	Lipscomb	11-8	8-5
5.	North Alabama	7-17	6-9
6.	Stetson	7-12	5-9
7.	Bellarmine	5-14	5-9
8.	Kennesaw State	6-11	1-11
	Jacksonville	3-14	1-11

 
Sunday, Feb. 28
Liberty 66, Stetson 55
FGCU 66, North Florida 54
Lipscomb 87, North Alabama 69
 
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 575-124 (.821) 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 215-17 (.924) mark in ASUN regular season play and a 24-2 (.923) record in ASUN tournament play. Over the past nine-plus seasons, including this year, he has guided FGCU to a 151-5 (.966) 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. 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 83 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--