2022-23 FGCU statistics | 2022-23 FGCU schedule/results
 
FORT MYERS, Fla. – The third 2023-24 signee for the FGCU women's basketball team is official, as sophomore guard Ashley Baez (Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic/Hyde School/Chipola College) has transferred to the Green & Blue.
 
Baez joins graduate forward Ajulu Thatha (Indianapolis, Ind./Decatur Central HS/SIU-Edwardsville) and redshirt senior guard Alyssa Jimenez (Thornton, Colo./Horizon HS/Nevada) as new arrivals for the 2023-24 season.
 
"Ashley is a very fast guard with a scorer's mentality," said FGCU head women's basketball coach Karl Smesko. "She attacks the rim hard, and is also an excellent 3-point shooter. She makes a lot of defensive plays as well. Ashley is a very good addition to our program."
 
The Chipola College transfer averaged 21.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.6 assists last season for the 11-14 Indians. She started all 25 games as a freshman, and made a team-high 79 3-pointers on 235 attempts (33.6 percent). Baez also dealt 41 assists and grabbed a team-high 65 steals in 2022-23.

The 5-foot-6 product from the Dominican Republic earned NJCAA Player of the Week honors on Nov. 9 after scoring a career-high 40 points against DME Academy and dropping 37 points against Hillsborough Community College, and was named the FCSAA/Region VIII Player of the Week on back-to-back weeks in November 2022. Baez also scored 41 points against Georgia Highlands College on Nov. 12, and went for 43 points on Dec. 9 against FSW in Fort Myers.
 
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 10th NCAA Tournament berth.
 
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 98 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 49 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 in 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 3.57 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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