FGCU-Mercer box score | updated FGCU stats

FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 27 FGCU women's basketball team (12-2) closed out its pre-conference schedule in style Thursday night, holding Mercer (4-8) to just 37.9 percent shooting and defeating the Bears 64-57 at Alico Arena. The victory was FGCU's fourth straight, and the Eagles have won eight of their last nine games heading into ASUN conference play Monday. 
 
Fifth-year guard Tishara Morehouse (Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King HS/Nebraska CC) led a trio of FGCU players in double figures with 15 points. It was Morehouse's seventh game as the Eagles' scoring leader. Redshirt junior guard Alyza Winston (Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon HS/Mississippi State) chipped in 13 points and graduate guard Sophia Stiles (Malta, Mont./Malta HS/Montana) added 12 points. 
 
"That was a tough game, a tough win," said FGCU women's basketball coach Karl Smesko. "It was physical on both ends of the floor. Offensively we didn't take the best shots we could have, but we decided to guard today and overcame some questionable shot selection." 
 
Round 2 of FGCU vs. Mercer, which improved the Green & Blue to 17-0 all-time against the Bears, felt less like the track meet and more like a heavyweight fight. Eight days prior on Dec. 21, the Bears pushed the Eagles on both ends before succumbing 91-81, the only time in FGCU's Division I history the team allowed 80-plus points in a road victory. 
 
Thursday night, though, was all about defense. Smesko opted to utilize senior forward Uju Ezeudu (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg HS/Denver) more in the second half to try and limit Mercer's 6-foot graduate forward Jaron Dougherty. 
 
That strategy proved successful. Dougherty, who went off for a career-high 34 points in Round 1 against FGCU, had 16 points Thursday and grabbed just four rebounds. Mercer junior forward Summah Evans had a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. 
 
"We were really taking away their guards, so they tried to go to the low post more and more," Smesko said. "Uju came in and played really physical there, getting deflections and making it tough to get it inside. She was a huge spark for us, and we left her in the game because she was doing such a great job inside." 
 
FGCU started slow for the second straight game, falling behind 8-2 in the opening minutes, but again it didn't take long for the Eagles to roar to life. Five different Eagles scored in a 14-0 run to close the first quarter, which included 3-pointers from Morehouse and fifth-year guard Kaela Webb (Pontiac, Mich./Detroit Country Day HS/Detroit Mercy/Providence). After the Bears took an early lead, they did not make another field goal for nearly 12 minutes, breaking the drought with Evans' layup with 5:39 to go in the first half.
 
Webb had eight points in the first half, hitting a jumper for a 10-point FGCU lead early in the second and her triple from the wing gave the Eagles an 11-point advantage at 22-11. Mercer and FGCU traded baskets over the final 5:20 of the first half as the Bears scored 12 of their 13 second-quarter points in the paint. FGCU lead by seven at the break, 28-21. 
 
FGCU's lead evaporated midway through the third quarter as Mercer snapped off a 15-4 run capped by an Evans layup to tie the game at 41 with 2:07 left in the period. Stiles quickly answered with a layup on the ensuing Eagles' possession, and the Green & Blue ended the quarter strong via a Morehouse layup with six seconds remaining for a 47-44 edge.
 
Stiles asserted herself in the fourth quarter, scoring the period's first four points to stretch FGCU's lead to 51-44. Mercer went cold on the offensive end at the same time, not scoring for the first 4:28 of the period and going down by nine after two Ezeudu free throws with 2:35 remaining. FGCU closed it out from there at the free-throw line, making seven of eight free throws in the final minute. 
 
A night after drilling a season-high 16 3-pointers vs. Brown, FGCU went just 5-of-17 from beyond the arc against Mercer. Stiles and graduate guard Emma List (Colorado Springs, Colo./Discovery Canyon Campus/Albany) each pulled down a team-best seven rebounds. Morehouse and List each dealt three assists, and Ezeudu finished with four points, six rebounds, and a team-high three steals. 
 
FGCU opens ASUN play Monday at 7 p.m. at home against Liberty, the third game in a four-game Eagle homestand. 
 
FGCU is among the national leaders in 3-pointers made per game at 10.7 and has 150 3-pointers this season, more than double the 60 total it allows its opponents. 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.      
 
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 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 622-130 (.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 561-103 (.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 94 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 47 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 and No. 25 in 2022-23) 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 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 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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