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FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 26 FGCU women's basketball team (16-2 overall, 4-0 ASUN Conference) complete a two-game homestand at 7 p.m. Saturday night by taking on Central Arkansas (6-9, 1-3) at Alico Arena. Eagles vs. Sugar Bears is available to view on ESPN+.
Central Arkansas is coming off a 57-47 road loss to Stetson on Thursday night. Sophomore guard Kinley Fisher tied her career high with 14 points in the defeat. Freshman guard Parris Atkins delivers 11.6 points per game, and junior forward Kierra Prim pulls down 8.2 rebounds per outing -- good for fourth in the ASUN.
Central Arkansas lost its only previous game to FGCU, a 71-44 Eagles victory on Feb. 3, 2022. The win marked FGCU coach
Karl Smesko's 600th career victory. Smesko reached that plateau in his 726th total game, faster than legendary coaches Pat Summitt (734 games), Tara VanDerveer (767) and Vivian Stringer (785).
FGCU has won eight consecutive games and 12 of its last 13 -- the most recent wins were its first back-to-back opponent games this season against North Alabama. The Eagles earned a complete 86-58 victory over the Lions at Flowers Hall on Jan. 8, piling up a season-high 29 points in the first quarter with a season-high 53 first-half points.
The Eagles returned home five days later and delivered a 74-51 outing against North Alabama on Thursday, where four members of the Green & Blue scored in double figures. Graduate guard
Tishara Morehouse (
Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King HS/Nebraska CC) led the way with a game-high 14 points, her 14
th double-digit game of the season and her third consecutive game leading the Eagles in scoring.
Graduate guard
Sophia Stiles (
Malta, Mont./Malta HS/Montana) delivered 12 points, two assists, grabbed five rebounds and added two steals against UNA. Senior forward
Uju Ezeudu (
Reynoldsburg, Ohio/ Reynoldsburg HS/Denver) scored 11 points and pulled down four boards. Redshirt junior guard
Alyza Winston (
Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon HS/Mississippi State) added 10 points and snared six rebounds.
Morehouse continues to lead the Eagles this season with 16.1 points per game, which ranks second in the ASUN. Winston adds 14.2 points per outing, and Carter delivers 10.8 points per game. Stiles leads FGCU in rebounding with 5.2 per game. List leads the team with 72 assists and Morehouse is close behind with 65. Morehouse also leads the Green & Blue with 32 3-pointers, and Winston has 30.
Saturday night is a GREEN OUT at Alico Arena, and it is also Superhero Night -- fans who dress up as their favorite superhero can win prizes!
The Eagles hit the road next week, taking on Queens (N.C.) at 7 p.m. Thursday in Charlotte, N.C., before heading to Lynchburg, Va., to play Liberty (8-7, 2-2) at 7 p.m. Jan. 21.
FGCU has made the most 3-pointers in the country, hitting 193 treys so far in 2022-23, and is ranked first in the nation with 10.7 per game. The Green & Blue have allowed opponents only 77 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 626-130 (.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 236-18 (.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 155-5 (.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 564-103 (.846) all-time since Smesko started the program in the 2002-03 season, and the Green & Blue's .846 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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