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FORT MYERS, Fla. – The No. 23 FGCU women's basketball team (30-3) continues its quest for a fifth straight ASUN Tournament crown, but standing in the Eagles' way Wednesday night is fourth-seeded Austin Peay in the tournament semifinals. Tip-off from Alico Arena is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be available for viewing on ESPN+.
 
Winners of 12 straight games this season and sporting a 31-2 record in ASUN Tournament play, FGCU is two victories away from a 12th ASUN Tournament title. The Green & Blue captured its 13^th ASUN regular-season championship by going 17-1 in league play this season, which locked down the top seed in the tournament and insured its games will be played at Alico Arena.
 
Tickets for the ASUN Tournament are on sale now at www.FGCUTickets.com, and at the Alico Arena ticket office.
 
FGCU and Connecticut are the only active programs in the nation to win at least 25 games in 13 straight seasons. FGCU also joins South Carolina are the only two Division I programs to win 30 or more games in six of the last nine seasons. The Green & Blue enter Wednesday's ASUN semifinals at No. 38 in the current NCAA Women's Basketball NET Rankings.
 
Austin Peay (17-11) advanced to the ASUN quarterfinals by dispatching fifth-seeded Eastern Kentucky 73-55 on Sunday. Graduate center Shamarre Hale and freshman guard Anala Nelson combined for 41 points in the victory.
 
Hale, the unanimous ASUN Sixth Player of the Year and a Second Team All-Conference selection, led the way with a game-high 23 points and matched her season-high mark with 13 rebounds. Nelson finished with 18 points – the most by a Governors freshman in a postseason game in over 15 seasons.
 
Hale leads Austin Peay in scoring at 12.2 points and 6.9 rebounds per game, and graduate guard Yamia Johnson adds 10.8 points per contest.
 
FGCU downed Austin Peay 55-43 on Feb. 18 at Alico Arena, the Eagles' first-ever meeting against the Governors. Graduate guard Sha Carter (Southfield. Mich./Wylie E. Groves HS/Walsh) registered her second double-double of the season – scoring 21 points and grabbing 13 rebounds. She also collected two steals. 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.
 
The Eagles advanced to the ASUN quarterfinals with a businesslike 66-48 victory over Stetson in Sunday's quarterfinals. Carter, the ASUN Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year and All-ASUN First-Team member, recorded her fifth double-double of the season – dropping a game-high 20 points and 13 rebounds. Carter also dealt six assists and made four steals.
 
Graduate guard Sophia Stiles (Malta, Mont./Malta HS/Montana) and Redshirt junior forward Uju Ezeudu (Reynoldsburg, Ohio/Reynoldsburg HS/Denver) each scored 10 points for FGCU – which made 11-of-32 3-pointers against the Hatters.
 
Morehouse, who was named ASUN Player of the Year last week, leads the Eagles at 25.9 points per game. Carter goes for 13.9 points per game along with a team-high 6.2 rebounds per outing, and Winston – an All-ASUN Third-Team selection – pops for 12.9 points per game.
 
The Green & Blue have now hit 394-3-pointers, for an average of 11.9 treys per game – the highest total and per-game average in the country. The Eagles are 1.8 treys per game ahead of Wright State and 2.1 ahead of Tulsa. FGCU has tripled their opponents' treys total, allowing only 129 this season. 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.
 
FGCU is third in the country with a scoring margin of 22.3 points per game – with only South Carolina (30.3) and LSU (26.4) sporting higher scoring margins. The Eagles are currently fourth in the nation in assist/turnover ratio with 1.47.
 
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.
 
 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 640-131 (.830) 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 31-2 (.939) 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 579-104 (.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 95 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---