ESTERO, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast University women's basketball took care of business Friday against Delaware in the opening round of the Gulf Coast Showcase at Hertz Arena, advancing past the Blue Hens 83-68.
"They are an aggressive team and physically tough," head coach Karl Smesko said. "At the very beginning, we did have a plan and were expecting the zone to come out. We were not in the right spots, and we were a little tentative. It took a good media timeout before we started to get more comfortable and started to break it in the ways we wanted."
FGCU has now a earned a date with the reigning National Player of the Year Caitlin Clark and her No. 5 Iowa squad in the semifinals Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Iowa cruised to a 98-59 win over Purdue Fort Wayne. The statement opportunity for the Eagles will be streamed on FloHoops.com.
Maddie Antenucci dropped a career-high and a team-leading 20 points for FGCU in the victory over Delaware. Three fellow Eagles reached double-figures in the win as Dolly Cairns and Uju Ezeudu both added 15 points, while Brylee Bartram produced a season-high 11.
Cairns was lethal from downtown, shooting 50 percent from deep and drained five of the Eagles' 13-made threes. As a team, the Eagles shot 37.1 percent from deep.
It took a few minutes for the Eagles to settle in and heat up from-behind-the-arc upon an elevated court directly above the Florida Everblades' frozen hockey rink.
Delaware scored the opening 3-point basket and took an 8-3 lead to stun the Eagles early. FGCU soon found its footing as Ajulu Thatha's trifecta gifted FGCU its first lead of the night, 11-10. FGCU ended the first quarter on a 14-3 run, taking a 19-13 advantage after one.
FGCU continued to heat up and soared into the break with a season-high 47 points. The Green & Blue held a 14-point lead at the half, 47-33.
The Eagles then powered their way to their largest lead of the night at the 6:30 mark of the third quarter, 58-38, courtesy of a second-chance put back layup by Ezeudu.
Delaware chipped into the Eagles' lead and pecked back to within seven, 67-60, with 8:55 minutes remaining in the game. An Antenucci layup and Cairns' fifth trey of the night provided the necessary counter punch to extend FGCU's advantage back out to 13, and the Blue Hens would not draw any closer the rest of the way.
Despite being outrounded by Delaware, FGCU defensively forced Blue Hens into 26 turnovers - just one short of tying the single-game program record. The Eagles scored 27 points off those miscues to turn the tide.
