FORT MYERS, Fla. – The 2022-23 schedule for the FGCU women's basketball team has been officially announced with the season set to begin at home on Nov. 7 against Old Dominion.
 
The Eagles will host 15 home games in Alico Arena. Season tickets and mini-plans for the 2022-23 campaign are now on sale and can be purchased by calling 866-FGCU-TIX, visiting www.FGCUTickets.com, or at the Alico Arena Ticket Office on Monday-Friday.
  
"We have a great schedule. Our team will get to play a lot of high-quality teams that will help get us ready for ASUN play," said head coach Karl Smesko. "Our players enjoy playing in big games, and we have a lot of them scheduled this year."
 
FGCU fans will get a first look of the new 2022-23 team on Nov. 7 before heading across Alligator Alley to Miami to take on FIU on Nov. 13. The Eagles will then leave the state of Florida and head to Honolulu, Hawaii for the 2022 Bank of Hawaii Classic.
 
They will first take on Hawaii on Nov. 18 followed by San Diego on Nov. 20. Staying on the Aloha Island the Eagles will enter the 2022 Rainbow Wahine Showdown with first opponent being 2022 NCAA Tournament semifinalist, Stanford on Nov. 25 before again facing Hawaii on the following day. FGCU will end the showdown against Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) member Grambling on Nov. 27.
 
The Eagles will return home for a three-game stand at Alico Arena to first take on Ave Maria on Dec. 4 before facing off against Palm Beach Atlantic on Dec. 8. On Dec. 11 FGCU will take on ACC foe Duke for the third time in program history. FGCU will then head to Lexington, Kentucky to face off against the defending SEC Champions Wildcats on Dec. 18 before heading to Mercer on Dec. 21.
 
FGCU will then return to the Sunshine State to host Brown on Dec. 28 and a quick rematch with Mercer just one day later on Dec. 29. Coach Smesko and the Eagles will then start the new year and open ASUN play as they host Liberty on Monday Jan. 2 before taking on Jacksonville on Jan. 5. They will then play rare consecutive games versus North Alabama, heading to Florence on Jan. 7 before returning to Fort Myers to host the Lions on Jan. 12.
 
The Eagles will remain home to play Central Arkansas on Jan. 14 and will then head up for a swing at Queens in Charlotte on Jan. 19 and at Liberty on Jan. 21.

After a pair back in Alico on Jan. 26 versus Eastern Kentucky and Jan. 28 against Bellarmine, FGCU will remain in state and travel to Jacksonville to take on the Dolphins on Feb. 2 and North Florida on Feb. 4 before commencing back to back contests with Stetson at home on Feb. 8 in DeLand on Feb. 11.
 
The Eagles will then play their final regular season home games with Lipscomb on Feb. 16 and ASUN newcomer Austin Peay for Senior Day on Feb. 18. They will then hit the road for the final three contests at Kennesaw State (Feb. 23), Jacksonville State (Feb. 25) and Lipscomb (March 1).
   
The 2023 ASUN Championship will feature the top ten teams with the highest seeds hosting each round. The opening games will begin Saturday, March 4 with the championship final set for Saturday, March 11.
 
All home games will continue to be streamed live on ESPN+ as will  ASUN road games. Other road contests will be streamed based on the home team's conference affiliated partner.
  
The possessors of the highest all-time winningest percentage in NCAA Women's Basketball Division I history (.845), FGCU is coming off a 30-3 record that saw them advance to the NCAA Tournament as a #12 seed where they defeated fifth-seed Virginia Tech in the first round and advanced to the Round of 32 for the third time in program history. They were 2022 ASUN Champions with a 15-1 mark in conference play earning their ASUN record ninth tournament title and NCAA berth. 

The Green & Blue also are the only team besides defending NCAA Champion South Carolina who have won at least 30 games in five of the past eight seasons. The Eagles finished 2022 with a best ever #20 national ranking – their fourth Top 25 finish in the past five seasons. They also once again played up to their "Raining 3's" moniker by leading the country in three-pointers for the third straight year, fourth in five seasons and fifth in eleven campaigns (the Eagles hold the record for most in one season with 431 in 2017-18). 

2022-23 FGCU Women's Basketball Schedule

Date	Opponent	Location	Time
MON., NOV 7	OLD DOMINION	FORT MYERS, FLA.	7 PM
Sun., Nov 13	at FIU	Miami, Fla.	TBA
Fri., Nov 18	at Hawaii	Honolulu, Hawaii	8;30 PM
Sun., Nov 20	San Diego	Honolulu, Hawaii	6 PM
Fri., Nov 25	Stanford	Honolulu, Hawaii	6 PM
Sat., Nov 26	at Hawaii	Honolulu, Hawaii	8:30 PM
Sat., Nov 27 SUN., DEC 4	Grambling AVE MARIA	Honolulu, Hawaii FORT MYERS, FLA.	6 PM 3 PM
THU., DEC 8	PALM BEACH ATLANTIC	FORT MYERS, FLA.	7 PM
SUN., DEC 11	DUKE	FORT MYERS, FLA.	1 PM
Sun., Dec 18	at Kentucky	Lexington, Ky.	1 PM
Wed., Dec 21	at Mercer	Macon, Ga.	5 PM
WED., DEC 28	BROWN	FORT MYERS, FLA.	5 PM
THU., DEC 29	MERCER	FORT MYERS, FLA.	7 PM
MON., JAN 2	LIBERTY*	FORT MYERS, FLA.	7 PM
THU., JAN 5	JACKSONVILLE*	FORT MYERS, FLA.	7 PM
Sat., Jan 7	at North Alabama*	Florence, Ala.	6 PM
THU, JAN 12	NORTH ALABAMA*	FORT MYERS, FLA.	7 PM
SAT., JAN 14	CENTRAL ARKANSAS*	FORT MYERS, FLA	7 PM
Thu., Jan 19	at Queens*	Charlotte, N.C.	7 PM
Sat., Jan 21	at Liberty*	Lynchburg, Va.	7 PM
THU., JAN 26	EASTERN KENTUCKY	FORT MYERS, FLA.	7 PM
SAT., JAN 28	BELLARMINE*	FORT MYERS, FLA.	7 PM
Thu., Feb 2	at Jacksonville*	Jacksonville, FLA.	1 PM
Sat., Feb 4	at North Florida*	Jacksonville, Fla	2 PM
WED., FEB 8	STETSON*	FORT MYERS, FLA.	7 PM
Sat., Feb 11	at Stetson*	Deland, Fla	1 PM
THU., FEB 16	LIPSCOMB*	FORT MYERS, FLA.	7 PM
SAT., FEB 18	AUSTIN PEAY*	FORT MYERS, FLA.	4 PM
Thu., Feb 23	Kennesaw State*	Kennesaw, Ga.	7 PM
Sat., Feb 25	at Jacksonville State*	Jacksonville, Ala.	5 PM
Wed. March 1	at Lipscomb	Nashville, Tenn.	7 PM
Sat., March 4	ASUN Opening Round	Campus Sites	TBD
Sun. March 5	ASUN Quarterfinals	Campus Sites	TBD
Wed. March 8	ASUN Semifinals	Campus Sites	TBD
Sat. March 11	ASUN Championship	Campus Sites	3 PM

 
BOLD denotes home game in Alico Arena; * denotes ASUN Conference game; All times listed as Eastern Time

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..
 
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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 92 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 15 seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 11 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 45 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. In 2022, the men's golf team became the first program to earn at 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 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 26 consecutive semesters. The past five 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.
 
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