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Live Stats: FGCU vs. Palm Beach Atlantic
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Rosters: FGCU | Palm Beach Atlantic
Schedules: FGCU | Palm Beach Atlantic
Season Stats: FGCU | Palm Beach Atlantic
 
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 26 FGCU women's basketball team (7-1) aims to defend The Nest again Thursday night as the Eagles welcome Palm Beach Atlantic (4-2) at 7 p.m. inside Alico Arena. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+. Winners of seven straight games at home in Alico Arena, the Green & Blue is riding a current three-game win streak with the only setback coming vs. No. 2 Stanford.
 
Palm Beach Atlantic has won two straight games, downing Rollins 65-59 on Nov. 30 and Saint Leo 70-62 on Saturday. Sophomore guard Jahnae Midget leads the Sailfish with 11.0 points per game, and junior forward Mariyah Fletcher pulls down a team-high 8.7 rebounds per game. 
 
This is the ninth meeting between FGCU and PBA, but only the second since 2007. The Eagles lead the series 8-0 and have five wins in Alico Arena, including last season's 80-52 victory (Dec. 9, 2021).
 
FGCU outscored the Sailfish 40-22 in the second half en route to the 80-52 victory. The Eagles scored 37 points off 30 Sailfish turnovers and the FGCU bench outscored PBA's bench 40-10.
 
Junior guard Alyza Winston (Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon HS/Mississippi State) has scored in double figures in all but one game this year and leads FGCU with 15.9 points per game. Graduate guard Tishara Morehouse (Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King HS/Nebraska CC) has two 20-plus point outings in 2022-23 for an average of 13.3 points per contest.
 
Fifth-year guard Sophia Stiles (Malta, Mont./Malta HS/Montana) pulls down a team-best 5.3 rebounds per game. Morehouse and Emma List (Colorado Springs, Colo./Discovery Canyon Campus/Albany) each have 29 assists and Morehouse leads the squad with 16 steals.
 
The Green & Blue added 14 3-pointers to the season total, now 90, for an average of 11.2 treys per game – the highest average in the country. The Eagles have more than doubled their opponents' total, allowing only 39 this season.
 
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. 
 
FGCU finishes its three-game homestand on Sunday, taking on Duke at 1 p.m. 

Entering this season, the Eagles were selected by both the coaches and the media to repeat as ASUN champions. FGCU is currently ranked No. 2 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 617-129 (.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 556-102 (.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---