FORT MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast University women's basketball won its first game of the season and of the Chelsea Lyles era Sunday with a 73-53 victory over NJIT at Alico Arena.

"More than anything, I'm just proud of the girls," Lyles said. "They have been through a lot this week. With any change, it's going to be a process, so the fact they came out and played as hard as they did. I know that people are saying this is my first win, but this is their win. They did that."

FGCU also extended its home win streak, the second-longest active in the nation, to 33 consecutive victories Sunday. The Eagles brought the energy and the offensive cohesiveness from the opening tip, scoring the first basket of the contest en route to 28 points in the first quarter. FGCU shot 61.1 percent from the field and after one, the Green and Blue led NJIT 28-14.

28 points in the opening quarter is the most that FGCU has poured into an opening period since December of 2023 against Ave Maria. FGCU soared out to a 42-28 advantage at the half, maintaining its 14-point lead over the Highlanders.

Maddie Antenucci received the shooter's bounce on a 3-ball to make it 50-30 FGCU late in the third, but back-to-back 3-pointers from NJIT chipped the Eagles' lead back down to 13. FGCU managed to push the lead back out to 24 in the fourth courtesy of a Lauryn Taylor bucket – the largest lead of the day at 67-43 with 6:33 to play.

Antenucci drained four of the Eagles' season-high eight 3-pointers Sunday to finish with 13 points. Four Eagles reached double figures as Taylor produced a team-leading 16 points and 10 boards her first double-double of the season.

Cerina Rolle emerged as a menace on the glass, corralling a team-leading and career-high 15 boards. Defensively, the athletic Eagles forced 31 turnovers, scoring 32 points off those miscues.

FGCU avoided its first-ever 0-3 start and now heads to Canada with a 1-2 to compete in the inaugural Atlantic Slam on Nov. 23 and 24 against Georgetown and Cincinnati.