HONOLULU – The No. 26 FGCU women's basketball team (5-1) converted 24 Hawai'i turnovers into 29 points Saturday night en route to a 63-50 victory in the 2022 Rainbow Wahine Showdown at the SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center. Eagles junior guard Alyza Winston (Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon HS/Mississippi State) was the game's top scorer with 16 points as FGCU led the game from start to finish.
 
Fifth-year guard Sha Carter (Southfield, Mich./Wylie E. Groves HS/Walsh) came off the bench for 11 points, and graduate guard Tishara Morehouse (Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King HS/Nebraska CC) scored 10 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. 
 
"We got off to a great start today," said FGCU head women's basketball coach Karl Smesko. "We forced a lot of turnovers, and Emma made a lot of great defensive plays for us. Hawaii made some good runs against us, but we were able to hold them off late." 
 
FGCU connected on 10 3-pointers against Hawai'i, with double-digit totals in treys for the fifth-straight game and at least nine 3-pointers for the 15th consecutive contest.
 
The Eagles improved to 4-0 all-time against Hawaii and are 2-0 against the Rainbow Wahine in the last eight days – having earned a 65-45 victory on Nov. 18 in the Bank of Hawaii Classic at the start of FGCU's visit to the Aloha State. 
 
FGCU tried to play shutout basketball early, holding Hawai'i scoreless in the game's first 5:33 before the Rainbow Wahine finally lit the scoreboard to end a 10-0 Eagles run. FGCU maintained its intensity as fifth-year guard Sophia Stiles (Malta, Mont./Malta HS/Montana) and Winston both canned treys later in the period to take an 18-7 first-quarter lead. FGCU's defense was a factor in the early advantage, as graduate guard Emma List (Colorado Springs, Colo./Discovery Canyon Campus/Albany) helped force Hawai'i into 11 turnovers in that first period. 
 
The Green & Blue built a 16-point lead in the second quarter, a large enough cushion to allow the Eagles to endure a 4:17 scoreless drought. Hawai'i clawed back and closed its deficit to nine points. Junior guard Kierra Adams (Vancouver, Wash./Brookwood HS) converted a three-point play with 2:18 to go and FGCU enjoyed the 35-24 halftime advantage. 
 
Hawai'i opened the third quarter with a 7-2 run, including four points by Rainbow Wahine leading scorer Daejah Phillips, who finished the night with 15. Up 37-31, FGCU responded with a 5-0 burst from Carter later in the period to give the Eagles a 51-40 lead at the end of the quarter. FGCU maintained the double-digit lead through the final 10 minutes, holding the Rainbow Wahine to 36.4 percent shooting from the floor in that span. 
 
The Eagles head into Sunday's final game of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown with a first-time opponent in Grambling State (1-6) at 5 p.m. ET Sunday. The Tigers have lost both their games this weekend, dropping a 63-47 decision to Hawai'i Friday and falling 87-50 to No. 2 Stanford Saturday. 
 
Through the first six games of the season, FGCU continues to build on its "Raining 3s" trademark, and is second in the nation with an average of 11.5 3-pointers per game. FGCU's run to its 2021-22 national ranking 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.
 
Entering this season, the Eagles were selected by both the coaches and the media to repeat as ASUN champions. FGCU is currently ranked atop the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The Eagles finished with a program-best-ever No. 20 ranking 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.    
 
For complete coverage of FGCU women's basketball, follow the Eagles on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook at @FGCU_WBB and online at www.FGCUAthletics.com. You can also sign up to have news on FGCU men's basketball and other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.
 
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 615-129 (.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 554-102 (.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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