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FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 26 FGCU women's basketball team (15-2 overall, 3-0 ASUN Conference) welcomes North Alabama (6-8, 1-2) at 7 p.m. Thursday -- the second time the Eagles have played the Lions in as many games. The game will be available to view on ESPN+.
This is the first back-to-back opponent games FGCU will play this season. The Green & Blue take on Stetson on Feb. 8 at Alico Arena, and then head to DeLand on Feb. 11.
FGCU has won seven straight games and 11 of its last 12 -- the most recent a complete 86-58 victory over UNA at Flowers Hall on Jan. 8. The Green & Blue notched a season-high 29 points in the first quarter and would cruise to its 11
th victory over the Lions.
UNA's defeat was its second league loss -- opening the season with a 62-60 setback against Lipscomb on Jan. 2 and downing Bellarmine 87-52 on Jan. 5.
FGCU's third consecutive conference win included four Eagles scoring in double digits for the seventh time this season. Graduate guard
Tishara Morehouse (
Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King HS/Nebraska CC) led the way with 25 points, her 13
th double-digit game of the season.
Senior forward
Uju Ezeudu (
Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg HS/Denver) delivered a season-best 15 points along with five rebounds. Redshirt junior guard
Alyza Winston (
Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon HS/Mississippi State) delivered 13 points with three treys, and also pulled down three rebounds. Graduate guard
Sha Carter (
Southfield. Mich./Wylie E. Groves HS/Walsh) added 11 points, her 10th double-digit game, while grabbing a game-high six rebounds. Graduate guard
Emma List (
Colorado Springs, Colo./Discovery Canyon Campus/Albany) dished out a game-high seven assists.
Morehouse leads the Eagles this season with 16.2 points per game, which ranks second in the ASUN. Winston adds 14.5 points per outing, and Carter delivers 10.9 points per game.
Graduate guard
Sophia Stiles (
Malta, Mont./Malta HS/Montana) is FGCU's leading rebounder with 5.2 rebounds per game. List leads the team with 69 assists and Morehouse is close behind with 61. Morehouse leads the Green & Blue with 30 3-pointers, and Winston has 29
The Eagles remain home Saturday, taking on Central Arkansas (6-8, 1-2) at 7 p.m.
FGCU has made the most 3-pointers in the country, hitting 184 treys so far in 2022-23, and ranked first in the nation with 10.8 per game. The Green & Blue have allowed opponents only 70 3s, a 2.9-per-game clip. 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.
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 coaches poll 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 625-130 (.828) 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 235-18 (.929) mark in ASUN regular-season play and a 30-2 (.938) record in ASUN tournament play. Over the previous 10-plus seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 154-5 (.969) 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 563-103 (.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 94 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 47 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 and No. 25 in 2022-23) 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 3.66 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2022 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 27 consecutive semesters. The past seven semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 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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