NCAA Tournament bracket | FGCU statistics
FGCU schedule/results | Tickets | Watch Live
 
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 22 FGCU women's basketball team (32-3) faces one of the hotter teams in the country Saturday in the 2023 NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament  – the No. 23 Washington State Cougars.
 
Fifth-seeded Washington State (23-10) has won four straight games, and six of its last seven, heading into its matchup with 12^th-seeded FGCU in Villanova, Pa. Those four straight came in the Pac-12 Tournament in Las Vegas, in which the Cougars entered as seventh seed and knocked off three ranked teams in the process.
 
"I would have never thought we could do it," said fifth-year Washington State coach Kamie Ethridge after her team defeated UCLA in the title game. "I don't even think when I took the job I thought this was possible in this kind of a league."
 
FGCU-Washington State is set for 2:30 p.m., and will be broadcast on ESPNU. It is the first time the two teams have ever met. The Eagles-Cougars winner gets the winner of No. 4 Villanova vs. No. 13 Cleveland State in Monday's Second Round.
 
The Cougars earned their third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament by winning four games in five days – defeating No. 10 seed California 61-49, upsetting No. 2 seed and third-ranked Utah 66-58, taking down No. 3 seed and 20^th-ranked Colorado 61-49, and finally upending the 19^th-ranked Bruins 65-61.
 
Junior guard Charlisse Leger-Walker scored 23 points, and senior center Bella Murekatete added 21 in the Pac-12 title game – the first Pac-12 Championship for a Washington State women's sport in school history and the lowest seed ever to win the Pac-12 Tournament.
 
Washington State relied on its offense throughout the Pac-12 Tournament, and shot 53.7 percent from the field in the finals (22-of-41), and making seven of 11 3-point attempts. The Cougars were the most efficient team in the tournament, draining 92 of 199 from the floor, a 46.2 percent clip.
 
The Cougars won a program-record 23 games in 2022-23, breaking the 44-year-long program record of 21 wins set by the 1978-79 team. Washington State heads into this year's NCAA Tournament looking for the program's first March Madness win, as it is 0-3 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. The Cougars have previously been to the 1991, 2021, and 2022 NCAA Tournaments.
 
Much like FGCU, Washington State enjoys the triple – making 215 this season on 648 attempts for a 33.2 percent rate. The Cougars are second in the Pac-12 in 3-point percentage defense, holding their opponents to 30.2 percent from deep. WSU scores 67.2 points per game, and allows 60.9 per contest.
 
The Cougars rank 32^nd nationally with 4.4 blocks per game. Both the 6-foot-3 Murekatete and 6-foot-2 sophomore guard Tara Wallack have both posted 40-plus blocks on the year.
 
The Green & Blue are in the NCAA Tournament for a ninth time, joining squads from the 2021-22, 2020-21, 2018-19, 2017-18, 2016-17, 2014-15, 2013-14, and 2011-12 seasons. FGCU is 3-8 in the NCAA Tournament, advancing to the Second Round in 2015, 2018, and 2022.
 
FGCU earned its Big Dance ticket by defeating Liberty 84-60 in Saturday night's ASUN Tournament title game – the 10th ASUN Tournament crown for the Eagles in just 12 years of eligibility. In all, FGCU has earned an incredible 23 ASUN regular season and tournament championships in its 14-year Division I history.
 
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 642-131 (.831) 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 249-19 (.929) mark in ASUN regular-season play and a 33-2 (.943) record in ASUN tournament play. Over the previous 11-plus seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 185-7 (.963) record in conference play with six undefeated seasons. The 13-time ASUN Coach of the Year has led the program to 13 straight 25-win seasons and 19 consecutive 20-win campaigns, including 30-plus wins in six of the last nine years. On top of all that, the Eagles are 581-104 (.848) all-time since Smesko started the program in the 2002-03 season, and the Green & Blue's .848 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 96 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 48 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. Nine FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport - including women's basketball (No. 20, 2021-22 and No. 23 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 20 in 2023), 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---