HONOLULU – The No. 25 FGCU women's basketball team seeks to stay undefeated as it takes on San Diego on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET in the final game of the 2022 Bank of Hawaii Classic. The ESPN+ broadcast will originate from the Stan Sheriff Center on the Hawaii campus.
The Eagles and Toreros are meeting for the first time Sunday. The Toreros edged Lipscomb 49-45 in the early game of the 2022 Bank of Hawaii Classic on Friday. Guard Myah Pace helped lead San Diego (3-1) with nine points, five rebounds, and five assists. Guard Kiera Oakry added nine points, while guard Jess Finney added eight points on 2-of-3 from distance. Pace leads the Toreros in scoring at 11.0 points per game.
San Diego is the top team in the West Coast Conference, and ranked 32nd nationally in scoring defense, allowing its opponents only 49.2 points per game. The Toreros own a WCC-best 14.5 rebound margin and average 17.2 offensive rebounds per game, figures that both rank in the top 30.
FGCU's offense is fueled by efforts from junior guard
Alyza Winston (
Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon HS/Mississippi State), the reigning ASUN Newcomer of the week, at 20.5 points per game. Graduate guard
Tishara Morehouse (
Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King HS/Nebraska CC) is scoring at 15.7-points-per-game clip and fifth-year guard
Sha Carter (
Southfield, Mich./Wylie E. Groves HS/Walsh) averages 9.3 per game.
The Eagles led by as many as 30 points against host Hawai'i on Friday night en route to a 65-45 victory. Morehouse led the Green & Blue with 17 points and had three of the Eagles' 12 treys. Fifth-year guard
Kaela Webb (
Pontiac, Mich./Detroit Country Day HS/Detroit Mercy/Providence) added 12 points with four triples, and fifth-year guard
Sophia Stiles (
Malta, Mont./Malta HS/Montana) grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to go with nine points.
FGCU continues to thrive on its Raining 3s reputation. The Eagles drained 12 3-pointers against the Rainbow Wahine and are averaging a dozen per game, best per-game average in the nation. FGCU leads the ASUN with 79.3 points per game and the league's best field goal percentage at 44.6 percent.
FGCU head women's basketball coach
Karl Smesko has led his teams to national rankings for the fourth straight year and six years overall (2014-15, 2017-18, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23). The Eagles are also now atop the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
FGCU will spend Thanksgiving week in Hawai'I with a schedule that includes practices and some sight-seeing prior to the start of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown vs. No. 2 Stanford on Friday, Nov. 25, at 5 p.m. ET. The Eagles play three games in their next tournament, vs. the Cardinal, Hawai'i (Nov. 26), and Grambling State (Nov. 27).
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 613-128 (.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 552-101 (.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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