MIAMI – The FGCU women's basketball team maintained its perfect record against FIU on Sunday, as four Eagles reached double figures in scoring and junior guard Alyza Winston (Muskegon, Mich./Mississippi State) connected for a game-best 19 points in the 92-63 victory.

Fifth-year guard Sha Carter (Southfield, Mich./Walsh) and junior guard Seneca Hackley (Colorado Springs, Colo.) had 13 points each and fifth-year guard Sophia Stiles (Malta, Mont./Montana) added 10 in the win at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center.  

FGCU (2-0) improves to 14-0 against FIU, and Sunday's victory marks the ninth time in the series that FGCU has defeated the Panthers at the Ocean Bank Convocation Center. The 29-point margin of victory was the largest in FGCU's series against FIU since the Eagles' 100-54 victory on Nov. 5, 2019.  

Graduate guard Tishara Morehouse (Milwaukee, Wis./Nebraska CC), who eclipsed the 1,000 career-point mark last week, recorded eight assists and a career-high nine rebounds – both team bests – for the Eagles. FIU (1-1) was led by Sifa Joyeuse's 17 points.  

"It was a really good road win for us," FGCU coach Karl Smesko said. "We looked really good when we moved the ball. We had positive contributions from everyone. We have a lot of really good players, and it is always fun when you see so many play well."  

FGCU's Raining 3s mantra has continued through the first two games of the 2022-23 season – as FGCU made nine 3-pointers on 28 attempts against Old Dominion and canned 15 treys on 37 attempts (40.5 percent) against FIU.  

FGCU's run to its most recent national ranking last season was due to the Eagles' continued dominance behind the 3-point arc. The Eagles have led the nation in made threes per game the past three years and in four of the last five seasons -- with an NCAA single-season record 431 in 2017-18.

After a pedestrian start, FGCU rattled off a 10-0 run over the final 2:51 of the first quarter and took a 16-15 lead via a Winston layup with 1:44 remaining. Winston then ended the quarter in style by draining a 22-foot 3-pointer at the horn for a 21-15 advantage.   

FGCU kept the pedal down in the second quarter, expanding its lead to 11 when fifth-year guard Kaela Webb (Pontiac, Mich./Detroit Mercy/Providence) canned a trey from the corner to make it 30-19 with 6:30 remaining as part of a 19-4 outburst. A driving Winston layup pushed the FGCU lead to 36-20. Two treys from Stiles gave the Eagles a 44-22 advantage – the largest lead FGCU would enjoy in the first half en route to a 46-27 lead at halftime.  

FGCU continued to pour it on in the third quarter, opening up a 28-point lead on Carter's inside bucket at the 3:42 mark and going up 30 on Winston's layup with 2:04 to go. From there, Smesko went to his reserves – getting several Eagles quality minutes in the final 10 minutes as all 12 players who made the trip to Miami received at least six minutes of playing time. 

Entering this season, the Eagles were selected by both the coaches and the media to repeat as ASUN champions. FGCU is currently ranked second in the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The Eagles finished a program-best ever No. 20 in 2021-22 and have four Top 25 finishes in the past five seasons.

Further, only the Green & Blue and defending national champion South Carolina have won at least 30 games in five of the last eight campaigns.   

Up next, FGCU will participate in back-to-back tournaments in Hawai'i beginning with the 2022 Bank of Hawai'i Classic. The Eagles face the tournament host Rainbow Wahine on Friday, Nov. 18, at 8:30 p.m. ET in the Stan Sheriff Center in Honolulu, Hawai'i. 
 
INDIVIDUAL TICKETS, MINI PLANS AVAILABLE    
Tickets for the 2022-23 FGCU Basketball season are on sale now and can be purchased by going online to www.FGCUTickets.com or calling 866-FGCU-TIX. Group tickets can also be purchased for 10 or more people – making a memorable evening for families, businesses, or other organizations.    
 
COACH SMESKO     
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko maintains a record of 612-128 (.827) overall in his career, 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 232-18 (.928) mark in ASUN regular-season play and a 30-2 (.938) 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 12-time ASUN Coach of the Year has led the program to 12-straight 25-win seasons and 18 consecutive 20-win campaigns, including 30-plus wins in five of the last eight years. On top of all that, the Eagles are 551-101 (.845) all-time since Smesko started the program in the 2002-03 season, and the Green & Blue's .845 all-time winning percentage is the best in NCAA Division I women's basketball history.     
 
 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!    
 
#FEEDFGCU 
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/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 https://www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.     
  
ABOUT FGCU   
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 93 conference regular-season and tournament titles in just 15-plus seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11-plus seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 46 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as four of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green & 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 26 consecutive semesters. The past six semesters (Fall 2019 – Spring 2022) saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher cumulative 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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