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FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 24 FGCU women's basketball team (26-3 overall, 14-1 ASUN Conference) hit the road Thursday to take on Kennesaw State (12-14, 8-7) at the KSU Convocation Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m., with the action available to view on ESPN+.
 
FGCU has won 22 of its last 24 games – including a 55-42 victory Saturday afternoon against Austin Peay on Senior Day. FGCU is currently the only active team in the nation to produce a 13th straight 25-win season. FGCU has also recorded 19 straight 20-win seasons dating back to 2004-05.
 
The Eagles are alone atop the ASUN standings, a full game ahead of Liberty. The Green & Blue was the first team to clinch an ASUN Tournament berth.
 
FGCU has now hit 343 3-pointers, for an average of 11.8 treys per game – the highest total and per-game average in the country. The Eagles are 1.9 triples per outing ahead of Wright State and Tulsa. The Green & Blue has almost tripled their opponents' treys total, allowing only 117 this season. FGCU is third in the country with a scoring margin of 21.4 points per game – with only South Carolina (32.4) and LSU (28.5) sporting higher scoring margins. The Eagles are currently seventh in the nation in assist/turnover ratio at 1.40.
 
The Owls are coming off an 84-76 loss at North Florida on Feb. 18. Junior guard Carly Hooks scored a team-high 20 points against the Ospreys, and graduate guard Jah'Che Whitfield pulled down seven rebounds. Whitfield leads the team with 14.0 points and 5.8 rebounds per outing.
 
Thursday's game will be the 34^th meeting between the Eagles and Owls, with FGCU leading the series 31-2.
 
Graduate guard Sha Carter (Southfield. Mich./Wylie E. Groves HS/Walsh) registered her second double-double of the season Saturday – scoring 21 points and grabbing 13 rebounds against Austin Peay. Graduate guard Tishara Morehouse (Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King HS/Nebraska CC) delivered 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Alyza Winston (Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon HS/Mississippi State) went for 10 points.
 
Morehouse leads the Eagles this season with 16.3 points per game, which ranks her second in the ASUN. Both Winston and Carter score 13.2 points per outing.
 
Carter leads FGCU in rebounds with 5.7 per game. Morehouse leads the team with 127 assists and also has put up a team-best 63 3-pointers, with Winston close behind with 54 triples.
 
After Thursday's game, the Eagles remain on the road to face off against Jacksonville State (14-12, 7-8) at 5 p.m. Saturday. The ASUN Tournament begins March 4 at on-campus sites.
 
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.
 
COACH SMESKO
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko maintains a record of 636-131 (.829) 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 245-19 (.928) 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 171-6 (.966) 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 575-104 (.847) all-time since Smesko started the program in the 2002-03 season, and the Green & Blue's .847 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---