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FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 32 FGCU women's basketball team (20-3 overall, 8-1 ASUN Conference) delivered a season-best 32 points in the first quarter Saturday night en route to an 86-44 victory over Bellarmine at Alico Arena. The Green & Blue has won eight consecutive home games, and 12 of its last 13.   
  
FGCU are alone atop the ASUN standings, a full game ahead of Austin Peay, Liberty and Lipscomb – which are each 7-2 in conference play. The Knights fell to 7-15 overall and 3-6 in the ASUN.    
   
Saturday's night was the ninth time in the 2022-23 season's 20 victories that FGCU scored 85 points or more.  
 
Graduate guard Tishara Morehouse (Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King HS/Nebraska CC) led all Eagles with 18 points, to go with a game-high six assists and two steals. This was Morehouse 13^th time leading the Eagles in scoring, and her 19^th double-digit game of the season.   
 
Redshirt junior guard Alyza Winston (Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon HS/Mississippi State) scored 13 points, pulled down three rebounds and added three steals. Redshirt junior guard Brylee Bartram (Tampa, Fla/ Seffner Christian Academy/ Florida/ Vanderbilt) delivered 12 points via four of FGCU's 12 3-pointers. Graduate guard Sophia Stiles (Malta, Mont./Malta HS/Montana) added 11 points and grabbed two rebounds while dealing four assists. 
 
Graduate guard Sha Carter (Southfield. Mich./Wylie E. Groves HS/Walsh) recorded nine points, pulled down a game-high six rebounds and added three steals. 
 
"We've had a lot of really good performances. For us, it's about staying emotionally and mentally locked in on what we are trying to do," said FGCU head women's basketball coach Karl Smesko. "For us, it's understanding no matter how the game goes there is something to learn from it and that we have to make improvements and be the best version of ourselves by the time we get to March."     
   
The Green & Blue immediately attacked the basket, as graduate guard Emma List (Colorado Springs, Colo./Discovery Canyon Campus/Albany) opened the game with a trey, and Morehouse hit four more triples to push the Eagles to grab a 22-4 lead. The Eagles added an 8-4 burst to end the first quarter with a 32-8 advantage. FGCU's previous quarter-best scoring output this season was 29 points, accomplished against both Queens (N.C.) on Jan. 18 and North Alabama on Jan. 12. 
  
Bellarmine started the second quarter with a 9-2 run, but the Eagles regained control and closed the first half with a 9-4 burst to lead 43-21 at halftime.   
   
List began the third quarter just as she started the first with a triple to touch off a 20-9 run for a 63-32 lead en route to a 65-36 advantage. 
 
Winston continued the quarter-opening 3-point barrage, hitting a trey to spark a 12-8 flurry to widen FGCU's advantage to 80-44. 
 
Smesko played all 12 available players, with each earning at least five minutes of playing time and 11 players scoring at least two points. Redshirt sophomore guard Hayley Harrison led Bellarmine with 15 points and freshman guard Miyah Brown grabbed eight rebounds. Six-time ASUN Freshman of the Week Gracie Merkle, who was averaging 16 points entering Saturday's play, was limited to just three points. 
   
The Eagles hit the road Thursday to face Jacksonville (9-10, 3-6) at 1 p.m., and stay in Duval County to take on North Florida (6-13, 3-6) at 2 p.m. Saturday. Bellarmine hosts Austin Peay on Thursday. 
  
The Green & Blue have now hit 258 3-pointers, for an average of 11.2 treys per game – the highest total and per-game average in the country. FGCU has more than doubled their opponents' treys total, allowing only 97 this season. 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. 4 in the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll. The Eagles finished with a program-best-ever No. 20 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 630-131 (.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 239-19 (.926) 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 165-6 (.965) 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 569-104 (.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.
   
---FGCUATHLETICS.COM---