FORT MYERS, Fla. --- After receiving votes in the last 12 installments of the USA Today Coaches Poll, the FGCU women's basketball team entered the top 25 for the first time this season on Tuesday. It is the program's first national ranking since finishing last year at No. 24 in the same poll.

"We have played a lot of good basketball this season, and it is nice to earn this recognition," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "Hopefully, our best basketball is yet to come."

The Eagles (21-2, 14-0 ASUN), who have won 20 straight overall and feature the nation's longest road winning streak at 21 in a row, received 77 votes to slide into the No. 24 position. In doing so, they jumped DePaul and Northwestern.

FGCU is also currently the top team in the receiving votes section of the latest Associated Press poll with the 26th-most votes. Incredibly, the Eagles have not appeared in the AP top 25 since March 16, 2015.

"Being ranked for the first time this year is amazing," FGCU junior guard Tyra Cox said. "We have such a special and dynamic team. It's nice to be recognized. We still have a lot of work to do the next few weeks on and off the court in preparation for March basketball, but it feels like something special is on the way."

FGCU is coming off a series sweep of North Florida that allowed the team to clinch at least a share of the program's 11th ASUN regular season championship, which extends their all-time conference record total. The Eagles can clinch the title outright with a win in one of their two final regular season games this weekend at home against Liberty, which will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Tickets are still available for the series against Liberty and can be found by stopping by the ticket office inside Alico Arena, visiting www.FGCUtickets.com or by calling 866-FGCU-TIX.

FGCU Women's Basketball Ranking History
 

AP Poll
2/16/15	No. 22
2/23/15	No. 21
3/2/15	No. 20
3/9/15	No. 20
3/16/15	No. 20
Coaches Poll
2/16/15	No. 24
2/23/15	No. 22
3/2/15	No. 21
3/9/15	No. 21
3/16/15	No. 21
4/6/15	No. 21
2/1/18	No. 25
4/2/18	No. 25
12/31/19	No. 25
1/7/20	No. 25
1/28/20	No. 24
2/4/20	No. 24
2/11/20	No. 22
2/18/20	No. 22
2/25/20	No. 23
3/3/20	No. 24
3/10/20	No. 24
3/17/20	No. 24
3/2/21	No. 24

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 84 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--