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FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 28 FGCU women's basketball team (6-1) returns to Alico Arena for the first game of a three-game homestand, welcoming Ave Maria at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 4. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. The Eagles have not played at The Nest since its 81-62 season-opening victory over Old Dominion on Nov. 7, but starting Sunday, they will play five of seven at home this month.
 
Junior guard Alyza Winston (Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon HS/Mississippi State) leads FGCU in scoring and is third in the ASUN at 16.0 points per game, with graduate guard Tishara Morehouse (Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King HS/Nebraska CC) close behind at 14.1 points per outing. Fifth-year guard Sophia Stiles (Malta, Mont./Malta HS/Montana) leads a balanced rebounding unit with 5.1 boards per game.  
 
Ave Maria (8-1) is riding a five-game winning streak heading into Sunday with its last victory Nov. 21, a 93-57 win over Kansas Christian. Ten Gyrenes posted double figures in that game and overall, Ave Maria holds nearly a 20-point scoring advantage over its opponents. Sophomore forward Gianna Santacroce leads the Gyrenes with 10.6 points per game and sophomore forward Grace Field tops the rebounding column at 8.6 per game.  
 
FGCU has never lost to Ave Maria, winning all four meetings with the Gyrenes – all at Alico Arena. In the four contests, the Eagles have scored at least 99 points. The last time the two teams played was Dec. 11, 2021, a 99-37 FGCU victory.
 
The Eagles are known for their propensity for "Raining 3s", and the 2021 game vs. Ave Maria produced FGCU's single-game record of 23 3-pointers made, the highest single-game total in NCAA Division I in 2021-22. 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 total 431 in 2017-18.  
 
Fifth-year guard Kaela Webb (Pontiac, Mich./Detroit Country Day HS/Detroit Mercy/Providence) has connected on a team-best 13 of FGCU's 76 3-pointers with four Eagles in double figures in that category in 2022-23. Senior forward Uju Ezeudu (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg HS/Denver) has nine, but has the highest accuracy, hitting 47.4 percent of her trey attempts.
 
The Eagles returned home after the two-tournament trip to Hawai'i with a 4-1 mark, the lone setback coming against No. 2 Stanford. Morehouse was named to the Rainbow Wahine Showdown All-Tournament Team with a 12.3 points-per-game average over the last three games. Her 24-point performance against the Cardinal tied her season best (vs. Old Dominion Nov. 27) and marked her 18th game of 20 or more points at FGCU.
 
Morehouse earned ASUN Player of the Week honors Nov. 21 after she scored a game-high 17 points with three treys against the host Rainbow Wahine and recorded another double-figure outing with 15 points in the victory over San Diego. 
 
At halftime of Sunday's FGCU men's basketball game, slated for a 6 p.m. tip-off at Alico Arena, the Eagle women's basketball team will be presented with rings to commemorate its 2021-22 ASUN Tournament Championship and NCAA Tournament appearance.  
 
Entering this season, the Eagles were selected by both the coaches and the media to repeat as ASUN champions. FGCU is currently ranked No. 3 in the 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 women'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 616-129 (.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 555-102 (.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.
 
---FGCUATHLETICS.COM---