NEW ORLEANS, La. – After posting one of the best three-point shooting careers in NCAA history, FGCU's
Kendall Spray won the Rocket Mortgage Three-Point Shooting Competition on Thursday night at Xavier University of Louisiana. The event was part of the 33
rd Annual State Farm College Slam Dunk and 3-Point Championships which was televised live on ESPN.
Spray, who had the top two rounds for both the men's and women's competition, narrowly fell, 21-19, in the grand championship to Jordan Bohanon of Iowa.
The graduate student scored 18 points in the first round, 25 in the semifinal, and 23 in the championship round to take the title. Both the crowd and the ESPN announcers were mesmerized as Spray cleared rack after rack through each round.
Spray concluded her collegiate career with the nationally ranked FGCU women's basketball team and ranks fourth all-time in NCAA history with 466 made three-pointers in her 154 games between UT Martin, Clemson, and the Eagles.
All told, she scored 1,900 points in five seasons to average 12.3 points per game. In that span, Spray connected on 466-of-1,169 field goal attempts for a .399 average. In her lone year with the Green and Blue, the Mt. Juliet, Tenn., native was 103-of-226 (.456) from deep ranking second all-time in program history for triples in a single season. Her 45.6 percent shooting percentage from deep ranks third-best for a single season as well. Spray's 103 three pointers this season were the second most of her career as well. In 2017-18, she hit an Ohio Valley Conference record 125 as a sophomore with UT Martin.
Spray was one of eight players selected to the women's roster for the Rocket Mortgage Women's 3-point Championship.
Intersport, producers of the event, invites twenty-four of the nation's elite men's and women's college basketball players to compete for slam dunk and 3-point shooting bragging rights. The night features the Great Clips Slam Dunk Championship, the TaxAct Men's 3-Point Championship, the Rocket Mortgage Women's 3-Point Shooting Championship and the Applebee's Team Shootout. The winners of the TaxAct Men's and Rocket Mortgage Women's 3-Point Championships will then compete in the State Farm Battle of the Champions.
For more than 30 years, several of the top players in college basketball have competed in the College Slam Dunk & 3-Point Championships including: Gary Payton, Steve Nash, Jason Terry, Kyle Korver, Bobby Hurley, Michael Finley, Allan Houston, Wesley Matthews, Yogi Ferrell, Cappie Pondexter, Katie Gearlds, Kristi Toliver, Tiffany Hayes and Ariel Atkins.
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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 610-128 (.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 232-18 (.930) mark in ASUN regular season play and a 30-2 (.933) 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 549-101 (.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 90 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 44 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, 2022) 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 past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021) 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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