FORT MYERS, Fla. – The first 2023-24 signee for the FGCU women's basketball team is official, as redshirt senior guard Alyssa Jimenez (Thornton, Colo./Horizon HS/Nevada) has transferred to the Eagles.
 
"Aly is someone we really wanted out of high school," said FGCU head women's basketball coach Karl Smesko. "She is a versatile guard who can defend multiple positions. Aly is a really smart player who loves to compete. We are excited that she will be at FGCU next season."
 
Jimenez spent the past four seasons at Nevada, where she averaged 6.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game for the Wolfpack. Jimenez started 30 games last season on a 10-21 squad, delivering 10.7 points and 6.2 rebounds per game.
 
The 6-footer made 22-of-77 3-pointers in 2022-23, grabbed 55 offensive rebounds, dealt 76 assists, blocked 15 shots, and recorded 49 steals. She scored a career-high 23 points against Fresno State on March 5, 2023, and snared a career-high 12 rebounds Dec. 11, 2022, against Santa Clara.
 
A 1,200-point scorer at Horizon High School in Thornton, Colo., Jimenez was named All-Mountain West Honorable Mention in 2022-23, and also earned 2021-22 Mountain West All-Defensive Team honors.
 
No. 24 FGCU went 33-4 record last season -- winning its 13^th ASUN Conference regular season title and 10^th ASUN Tournament Championship along with earning a ninth NCAA Tournament berth. The Green & Blue was the only non-Power 5/Big East team to be ranked in the final poll, and is the only mid-major with four straight Top 25 rankings.
 
The Eagles etched their names in the NCAA Tournament record book, winning their third game as a 12 seed – the most in tournament history. FGCU also knocked off Missouri 80-70 in 2018 and downed Virginia Tech 84-81 in 2022. San Francisco (1986), Kansas (2013), BYU (2014), and Quinnipiac (2017) all won twice and advanced to the Sweet 16 in their respective NCAA Tournament journeys, and Belmont won back-to-back first-round games in 2021 and 2022.
 
FGCU finished with 425 3-pointers – just six 3s behind their own all-time record of 431 in 2017-18. The Eagles tripled their opponents' treys total, allowing only 144 this season. FGCU led the nation in made 3s per game in each of the past three years and in four of the last five seasons.

The Eagles finished with a program-best-ever No. 20 ranking in 2021-22 and have five Top 25 finishes in the past six seasons. The Green & Blue and Connecticut are the only active programs in the nation to win at least 25 games in 13 straight seasons, and FGCU joins South Carolina as the only two Division I programs to win 30 or more games in six of the last nine 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.
 
COACH SMESKO
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko maintains a record of 643-132 (.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 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 582-105 (.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 97 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 in 2021-22 and No. 22 in 2022-23), baseball (No. 15 in 2023), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022), and both men's soccer (2018, 2019) and women's soccer (2018) as five 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.
 
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