FORT MYERS, Fla. - The national championship trophy will be visiting Alico Arena this Thursday as the Eagles host Queens University of Charlotte at 7 p.m. in Atlantic Sun Conference play. FGCU also welcomes Kennesaw State this weekend for a 4 p.m. Saturday matchup in The Nest.
Thursday, fans will be able to take a photo with the national championship trophy in the lobby of Alico Arena.
Last time out, redshirt junior Maddie Antenucci sparked a 25-point career high in FGCU's road win over Stetson. The Eagles, winners of six straight, are just one of three teams in the Atlantic Sun Conference that remain perfect in league play. FGCU, Kennesaw State, and Central Arkansas sit at the top of the conference at 3-0.
Thursday will mark just the second-ever meeting between the Eagles and the Royals, while FGCU is 32-2 all-time against Kennesaw State. FGCU has won 26 straight against Kennesaw State, with its last defeat occurring in 2011 - some 13 years ago.
FGCU aims to protect its 21-game home court winning streak, the nation's fifth-longest active home win streak. The Eagles have not lost a game inside Alico Arena in 403 days. The Eagles are also vying to extend their conference win streak. FGCU has won 25 consecutive ASUN games against current ASUN member institutions.
The Eagles led the conference in nine statistical categories, most notably in scoring defense (55.8), scoring offense (73.3) and in made 3-pointers per game (9.4).
NOTES:
- Head coach Karl Smesko has built and engineered the program's ascension within the women's college basketball world by its #Raining3s attack, leading the nation in made threes per game the last four seasons. FGCU is currently averaging 9.4 made threes per game this season, ranking 11th nationally in the category. FGCU holds the NCAA record for the most made threes in a single season, sinking 431 during the 2017-18 campaign.
- The Eagles remain perched at No. 5 overall in the latest CollegeInsider.com's Mid Major Top 25 Poll, but have received votes in the Associated Press Poll twice this season after knocking off No. 18 North Carolina in the Gulf Coast Showcase. The Green and Blue have finished in the AP Top 25 in five out of the last six seasons. FGCU is the only mid-major program with four straight AP Top 25 finishes during the last four campaigns.
- FGCU, South Carolina, Stanford and UConn are the only four D-I programs to record 30 or more wins in three of the last five seasons. The Eagles went 33-4 a season ago, winning their 13th ASUN regular season title and ninth ASUN Tournament Championship, along with capturing their fourth-ever NCAA Tournament First Round victory. FGCU earned 10 of the 12 first-place votes in the 2023-24 ASUN Preseason Coaches Poll and 38 of the possible 40 first-place votes in the ASUN Preseason Media Poll.
- The Green and Blue soared into the 2023-24 season as the all-time winningest program in women's college basketball history, with a win percentage of .845.
- Smesko's career winning percentage of .828 (656-136) has him positioned as the third-winningest active Division I head coach, just behind UConn's Geno Auriemma and LSU's Kim Mulkey. In 2021, FGCU shocked the LSU Tigers in Baton Rouge 88-74. Smesko was named to Her Hoops Stats' 2024 preseason watch list for the Kathy Delaney-Smith Mid-Major Coach of the Year Award.
