FGCU-North Alabama box score | Updated FGCU stats
ASUN standings | ASUN scoreboard

FLORENCE, Ala. – The No. 28 FGCU women's basketball team (15-2 overall, 3-0 ASUN) coasted past North Alabama 86-58 at Flowers Hall on Saturday night, its seventh straight win and sixth in a row in true road games this season. The Eagles are tied for the  ASUN Conference lead with Lipscomb.

Graduate guard Tishara Morehouse (Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King HS/Nebraska CC) produced a game-high 25 points in just 29 minutes. Morehouse was one of four Eagles in double figures, and almost half her total came via 3-pointers -- as she matched her season high with four triples without missing a shot from beyond the arc.

Senior forward Uju Ezeudu (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg HS/Denver) delivered a season-best 15 points, grabbed five rebounds, dealt two assists and added a pair of steals.

Redshirt junior guard Alyza Wintson (Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon HS/Mississippi State) delivered 13 points with three treys, and pulled down three rebounds. Graduate guard Sha Carter (Southfield. Mich./Wylie E. Groves HS/Walsh) dropped 11 points, her 10th double-digit scoring performance this season, 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.
 
FGCU's 53-point first half is a season high, eclipsing the 50 points the Eagles delivered against Brown on Dec. 28. The Eagles notched a season-high 29 points in the first quarter. The 28-point margin of victory was FGCU's fourth highest of the season, and the Green & Blue's 15 3-pointers was its second-highest of 2022-23.

The Eagles recorded their seventh straight victory inside Flowers Hall, and improved to 10-1 all-time against North Alabama (6-8, 1-2).
 
"It was a really good team performance. Our defense was solid, and we shot the ball really well," said FGCU head women's basketball coach Karl Smesko. "I thought Uju and Kiki really gave us good minutes off the bench.TK was exceptional. She has been playing fantastic, and she really had it going tonight."
 
FGCU shot 76.9 percent from the floor en route to a 29-13 first-quarter advantage.  Winston dropped five of her 13 points in the game's first three minutes, which included the first trey of the evening. The Green & Blue was fueled by a 19-8 run that included six points from Morehouse and five different Eagles making a layup or 3-pointer.

The Lions tried closing the gap in the second half with a 6-0 run, but FGCU's offense went to work -- as Morehouse hit three treys and Ezeudu made back-to-back 3s to push the Eagles lead to 46-19.

Leading 53-27 at halftime, the Green & Blue came out firing in the third quarter -- piling up 28 points in the 10-minute period. The final eight minutes were very productive, as six different players added points -- with Ezeudu leading the way with nine points for an 81-49 cushion. In all, Smesko played 12 players and 10 of them scored at least three points. 

Junior guard Alexis Callins led North Alabama with 19 points, and freshman forward Cameron Jones grabbed six of the UNA's 31 rebounds.

FGCU returns home for a two-game homestand next week, taking on North Alabama at 7 p.m. Thursday and welcoming Central Arkansas at 7 p.m. Saturday.

The Green & Blue have now hit 184 3-pointers, for an average of 10.8 treys per game – the highest average in the country. The Eagles have more than doubled their opponents' treys total, allowing only 70 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. 3 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 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 564-103 (.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.
 
---FGCUATHLETICS.COM---