FORT MYERS, Fla. – For the 11^th time in her FGCU career, standout guard Kierstan Bell (Alliance, Ohio/Canton McKinley/Ohio State) has been named the ASUN Player of the Week setting a new conference record following her dominant performances against Kennesaw State and Liberty. The junior was also named Mechelle Voepel's ESPN National Player of the Week on Monday.
 
Bell led FGCU, ranked No. 23 last week, to a pair of ASUN wins as the Eagles improved to 15-1 overall and remained 4-0 in league play. She averaged averaged 27.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.5 steals and 2.5 assists in the two games.

"Kierstan had another great week. Her second half against Liberty was huge for us," said head coach Karl Smesko. "To set the ASUN record for Player of the Week in only a year and a half is really impressive."
 
She scored 30 points while adding five rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks in the 100-65 win at KSU - her fifth 30-point game of the season. She followed that with 25 points, seven rebounds, three steals, and a block in the come-from-behind 73-69 win over the Flames.
 
In the win over Liberty, who entered Saturday 15-1 overall and unbeaten in league play, she was instrumental in the second half comeback as FGCU trailed by 14 points with just over three minutes left in the third quarter. She scored nine points in an 83 second span as part of an 11-0 run before adding 11 more points in the fourth quarter to help put the Eagles ahead and to close out the comeback win. Her effort in the fourth, which included a steal and a blocked shot while shooting 4-for-7 from the floor, sparked a 16-5 run for FGCU.
 
Bell currently ranks third nationally in scoring at 24.6 points per game. She ranks second nationally in made field goals (153) and in overall points (393) while ranking 39^th with six double-doubles on the year.
 
She now has 1,351 career points in 75 career games between her one season at Ohio State and two seasons with FGCU. Her 1,025 points in 42 games for the Green and Blue rank as the 11^th-most all-time in program history just behind Kate Schrader who scored 1,062 points in 65 games.
 
Her 11 selections also are now the most in ASUN history.
 

Kierstan Bell	FGCU	11
Albena Branzova	FIU	10
Alysha Clark	Belmont	10
Andrea Congreaves	Mercer	10
Leslie McElrath	Georgia State	9
Brianti Saunders	Stetson	9
Felecia Autry	Campbell	8
Patechia Hartman	Georgia State	8

 
The 11th ASUN Player of the Week for Bell also extended her FGCU all-time record.
 

Kierstan Bell	11
Whitney Knight	7
Keri Jewett-Giles	6
Sarah Hansen	5
Rosemarie Julien	4
Kaneisha Atwater	4

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.
 
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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 595-126 (.825) 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 221-17 (.928) mark in ASUN regular season play and a 27-2 (.931) record in ASUN tournament play. Over the previous 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 534-99 (.842) 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 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 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. 25, 2021-22), 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 24 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, and 2021 Spring semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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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