JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Paced by three players in double figures including a season-high 11 points from Kaela Webb, the No. 22 FGCU women's basketball team picked up a 63-52 win at North Florida on Saturday at UNF Arena. The Eagles improved to 24-2 overall and 13-1 in the ASUN, while the Ospreys fell to 11-15 overall and 4-10 in league play.

The win provides FGCU with a first round bye in the upcoming ASUN Championship tournament as the top two seeds each automatically advance to the quarterfinals. Liberty also earned the bye in the East Division, while Jacksonville State earned the first bye for the West Division.
 
"For the first 35 minutes, I thought we played really well – we were very intense on defense and executing our game plan," said head coach Karl Smesko. "It was a good day overall with some good performances for a lot of players – notably Emma List, Tyra Cox, and Kaela who really had a big day for us."

Webb's 11 points came on a 4-of-8 shooting effort highlighted by a trio of three pointers. She also added a pair of rebounds and steals in the game.
 
Tishara Morehouse led the Eagles with 14 points and nearly had a double-double with eight rebounds. Kendall Spray hit four three pointers to finish with 12 points. The graduate guard moved into fourth all-time in NCAA history with 443 in her career. Maryland's Katie Bezan now sits fifth (442) with the Terps set to play on Sunday.
 
The win marked the 29th straight road win for the Eagles which leads the nation and dates back to Dec. 4, 2019. With the two wins this week, FGCU also secured its 15th season with 12-or-more ASUN wins which is four shy of every other league school combined. Stetson is the next team on the list with the most 12-win seasons at five. The win over the Ospreys was the 10th straight in the series and improved the Eagles to 31-3 overall against UNF.
 
UNF's Emma Broermann tied Morehouse for the game-high with 14 points, while Rhetta Moore had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds. The Eagles were able to hold the Ospreys' leading scorer Jazz Bonx to just six points – 9.5 points below her season average.
 
After the Eagles took a 14-11 lead after the first quarter, FGCU used a 7-0 run highlighted by a triple and a lay-up from Webb to stretch the lead to 21-13 at the 7:50 mark of the second. The Green and Blue followed that up with three pointers from Andrea Cecil, Spray (two), and List to build out a 35-22 lead at the intermission.
 
In the third quarter, FGCU kept the defensive pressure on hold UNF without a field goal for nearly five minutes while building out a 20-point lead, 48-28 after a seven-point burst. List hit her second triple of the game followed by a jumper from Morehouse and a lay-up by Cox at the 1:29 mark.
 
The Ospreys cut the deficit late in the fourth quarter with an 11-to-3 run in the final 3:53 of the game to give the final score.
 
The Eagles will remain on the road next Thursday for a game that will determine the East Division top seed heading into the ASUN Tournament as FGCU heads to Liberty. The opening tip in Lynchburg is set for 7 PM and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.
 
For complete coverage of the women's basketball program, follow the Eagles on Twitter and Instagram at @FGCU_WBB, on Facebook at /fgcuwbb and online at www.FGCUathletics.com. You can also sign-up to have news on FGCU women's basketball or other programs delivered directly to your inbox by visiting www.fgcuathletics.com/email.

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!
 
SUPPORT THE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL PROGRAM
Do you enjoy watching or following the FGCU women's basketball program? Would you like to play a role in the growth of the program and help take it to heights never before experienced? If so, you can reach out to Director of Advancement, Matt Ring, about opportunities to make an impact on the experiences of our student-athletes. He can be reached by email at mring@fgcu.edu or by office phone at 239-745-4434.

COACH SMESKO
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko maintains a record of 604-127 (.826) overall in his career, which is 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 230-18 (.929) mark in ASUN regular season play and a 27-2 (.931) 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 11-time ASUN Coach of the Year has led the program to 11-straight 25-win seasons and 18-consecutive 20-win campaigns, including 30-plus wins in four of the past seven years. On top of all that, the Eagles are 543-100 (.845) all-time since Smesko started the program in the 2002-03 season, and the Green and Blue's .845 all-time winning percentage is the best in NCAA Division I women's basketball history.
 
#FEEDFGCU
FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/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 www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.
 
ABOUT FGCU
FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 87 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just nine seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. 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, 2021) and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and 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 25 consecutive semesters. The 2019 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2020 Fall, 2021 Spring, and 2021 Fall semesters each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. 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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