LYNCHBURG, Va. – All-American candidate Kierstan Bell made an impressive return from injury to score a game-high 23 points and Tishara Morehouse was just behind with 20 points to lead the No. 23 FGCU women's basketball team to a 69-61 win at Liberty on Thursday night at Liberty Arena. The Eagles improved to 25-2 overall and 14-1 in the ASUN, while the Flames fell to 25-3 overall and 13-2 in league play.
 
The win clinched the East Division No. 1 seed for the Green and Blue in the upcoming ASUN Championship Tournament. The Eagles already earned a bye prior to Thursday's match-up and now will have home court advantage throughout. FGCU will host Jacksonville on Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale before turning its focus to the postseason.
 
The result also marked the Eagles' NCAA-best 30^th straight road win dating back to 2019. It was FGCU's third straight win and the 18^th victory over the last 19 outings.

"It was a great game between two great teams. Kierstan had a great return," said head coach Karl Smesko. "TK and Emma had excellent games combining for 10 assists and no turnovers. Karli made a lot of winning plays for us today as well. Overall, it was a great team effort."
 
Bell, who last played on Jan. 19 at Stetson, returned to the starting line-up and scored her first points just 2:02 into the game. She finished the night with 23 points on 8-of-18 shooting with four three pointers while adding seven rebounds, four blocks, and three steals in 32 minutes of action.
 
Morehouse nearly matched her performance with 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting while also converting 7-of-10 from the charity stripe. She added six assists and three steals in the win.
 
Emma List and Karli Seay rounded out the top Eagle performers with eight points each. Seay had five rebounds and three assists, while Lists had four rebounds and four assists.
 
Liberty had three players in double-figures led by a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds by Bridgette Rettstatt. She scored all 15 of her points in the second half on 7-of-11 shooting with eight rebounds. Alyssa Iverson scored 13 points and Mya Berkman had 10 points with seven rebounds.
 
Both teams traded runs throughout the game. FGCU built an early nine point lead midway through the first quarter, 15-6, before the Flames spanned a 20-to-3 run into the start of the second to take a 26-18 lead at the 5:27 mark.
 
The Eagles closed the second on a 12-to-2 run taking a 30-28 lead into the intermission. In the third quarter, FGCU pushed its lead back to seven twice in the first 5:17 of the stanza. A free throw by Morehouse and a lay-up by Bell made the lead eight, 42-34, with 4:01 to go. The Flames closed the game to one after scoring seven straight, while a Morehouse free throw in the closing minutes of the quarter gave FGCU a 43-41 lead going into the fourth.
 
The teams traded buckets to start the fourth, but the Eagles had the better of the deal with three pointers from Seay, Bell, and List taking a 52-46 lead at the 8:12 mark.
 
Liberty climbed back to tie the game 58-58 with 2:46 to go. FGCU scored eight straight with five free throws from Morehouse and a triple by Bell pushing the lead back to 66-58 with 36 seconds remaining. The Flames hit a triple with 29 seconds on the clock, but the Eagles hit three free throws to close out the win.
 
FGCU hit 9-of-31 from deep, while Liberty was just 4-of-16 beyond the arc. The Eagles also converted 20-of-27 free throw attempts compared to 15-of-26 for the Flames.
 
Following Saturday's regular-season finale against Jacksonville in Alico Arena, FGCU will the host the ASUN Quarterfinals on Sunday, March 6 at 2 PM.
 
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 605-127 (.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 231-18 (.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 544-100 (.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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