WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GAME NOTES FGCU Athletics Communication Contact: Jamie Church [email protected] | (c) 973.459.1289 | (o) 239.590.7097 | @jlchurch SCHEDULE|RESULTS Saturday, Feb. 21 | 2 p.m. November Hodge Center | Spartanburg, S.C. 14 v. George Washington W, 88-75 18 v. FIU W, 97-49 20 at Auburn L, 72-69 23 v. Ave Maria W, 102-54 27 v. Wichita State # W, 56-39 ESPN3/WatchESPN 28 v. Clemson # W, 86-61 29 v. Ohio State # L, 90-83 (2ot) December 6 v. Southern Miss W, 78-62 11 v. Providence W, 68-58 TRENDING TODAY AT #FGCU 17 at Bethune-Cookman W, 91-46 19 v. Northern Colorado W, 69-56 22 at Arkansas State W, 74-68 • FGCU currently holds an RPI rating at 16 after rising to a program-best 13 to start 28 v. Cal-State Northridge ^ W,73-64 29 Quinnipiac ^ W, 71-65 Atlantic Sun action. #EaglesRising January 2 at Harvard W, 68-58 • @FGCUCoachSmesko stands just one win away from his 400th career victory. 10 v. Stetson * W, 57-55 Saturday marks his 496th career game, giving him a win % of 80.6. 14 v. North Florida * W, 75-42 17 at Jacksonville * W, 60-37 22 v. USC Upstate * W, 79-61 • FGCU is currently riding a 19-game win streak, which stands as the 5th-best in the 24 v. Kennesaw State * W, 61-47 nation. It’s been 12 weeks since the Eagles fell. 29 at Lipscomb * W, 71-49 31 at Northern Kentucky * W, 67-46 February • The Eagles have secured the No. 1 seed in the #ASunWBB Tournament and will 7 at Stetson * W, 61-39 clinch the outright regular season title with a win Saturday. 12 v. Northern Kentucky * W, 75-47 14 v. Lipscomb * W, 69-43 19 at Kennesaw State * W, 71-60 • For the first time since joining the ranks of DI, the Eagles entered both Top-25 21 at USC Upstate * 2 p.m. polls this week at No. 22/24. 25 at North Florida * 7 p.m. 28 v. Jacksonville * 7 p.m. March 6 Atlantic Sun Quarterfinal TBD PROBABLE STARTERS TODAY’S BUZZ 11 Atlantic Sun Semifinal TBD 15 Atlantic Sun Championship TBD all times EST MORE TWEETABLES # Paradise Jam | U.S. Virgin Islands DYTIESHA DUNSON ^ St. Joseph’s Hawk Invitational | Philadelphia, Pa. G | 5’8 | Jr. | Albany, Ga. * Atlantic Sun Conference 90 assists | 2.81 A:TO | 28.1 min • FGCU became #ASunWBB’s first top-25 team since FIU in 1997 EAGLES ONLINE KANEISHA ATWATER G | 5’7 | Jr. | Fort Pierce, Fla. @FGCUEagles #WeAreFGCU • The Eagles have held A-Sun @FGCU_WBB #RainingThrees 13.6 ppg | 45 steals | 30.6 min foes to just 47.8 points per game this season and are on WHITNEY KNIGHT pace to set a new record. facebook.com/FGCUAthletics G | 6’3 | R-Jr. | Winston-Salem, N.C. facebook.com/FGCUwbb 15.2 ppg | 6.4 rpg | .448 3 pt % | 27.7 min • In the quest for their fifth-straight #ASunWBB @FGCUAthletics JENNA COBB Championships, the Eagles @FGCUWBB G | 5’7 | R-Sr. | New Holland, Ohio have compiled a record of 81-4 8.3 ppg | 69 assists | 31.5 min in the last five seasons. youtube.com/FGCUAthletics TAYLOR GRADINJAN • Senior Jenna Cobb was named G | 5’9 | R-Fr. | Cudahy, Wisc. to the WBCA’s ‘So You Want to 6.0 ppg | .458 fg% | 15.7 min Be A Coach’ Class of 2015 FGCUAthletics.com GAME 27 | USC UPSTATE SCOUTING THE HOME TEAM USC Upstate enters Saturday’s game with an even record of 13-13 on the season with a 5-6 mark in THE MATCHUP conference action and a 10-2 record in home contests. The FGCU women’s basketball team will look to clinch With the 5-6 record in the A-Sun, the Spartans stand the outright Atlantic Sun Regular Season Championship tied with three other teams in Kennesaw State, title Saturday in Spartanburg as the Eagles take on USC Northern Kentucky and Jacksonville. Upstate started Upstate at 2 p.m. The No. 22/24 Eagles are also looking the year with a loss to No. 19 Iowa but finished for their 20th-straight win and will give Head Coach Karl nonconference action at 8-7. Since then, the team has Smesko his 400th career victory with a ‘W’. earned wins over Lipscomb, Jacksonville and North Florida, with two wins over the Florida teams. The team ALL-TIME MEETINGS WITH UPSTATE fell at FGCU 79-61 a month ago and has gone 4-3 since Saturday marks the 15th meeting between FGCU and that time. The Spartans most recently fell to Stetson, USC Upstate since the Eagles joined the Atlantic Sun for 92-66, at the Hodge Center Thursday night. the 2007-08 season. The Eagles lead the all-time series 12-2 with seven-straight wins, including a 79-61 victory The Spartans were selected to finish fourth in the at Alico Arena earlier this season. FGCU has outscored conference in the Preseason Coaches’ Poll after going the Spartans by an average of 75-53 in 14 previous 11-7 a year ago with a 17-15 overall record. meetings and has never scored fewer than 70 points. This season, the team is led by senior Sharmayne Edwards and junior Brittany Starling. The duo averages 13.7 and 12.1 points per game, respectively. Edwards maintains a shooting percentage of .357 from the floor with a team-high 36 3-pointers made. She has dished out 48 assists and grabbed 22 steals in 29.2 minutes per game. Starling leads the team with 9.0 rebounds per game and has successfully converted 51.9 percent ALL-TIME RECORD POINTS SCORED of shots for a squad best shooting percentage. In addition to the scoring duo, junior Brittany Clency adds a team-high 66 assists with 27 steals, with Raven LAST TIME AGAINST THE SPARTANS Jefferson leading the club with 33 steals. For the fifth-straight season, the FGCU women’s basketball team opened Atlantic Sun play with a 4-0 As a unit, the Spartans average 64.7 points per game record after defeating USC Upstate 79-61 at Alico with their opponents scoring 66.6 points. Upstate has Arena. shot .375 on the season and has allowed foes to a mark of .399, while successfully making 30.8 percent The Eagles started the contest with a quick 7-2 run and of shots from beyond-the-arc. The team pulls down never relinquished the lead. Using 44 points in the paint 40.8 rebounds per game with 14.7 turnovers, 11.5 and points from 10 different players, FGCU dominated assists and 7.6 steals. Upstate inside and extended the lead to a game-high 32 points late in the second half. Upstate cut the Head Coach Tammy George is in her 10th season at deficit in the final minutes but the Eagles held onto the Upstate. She holds a record of 133-160. momentum and ultimately came away with an 18-point victory at Alico Arena for the team’s 58th-straight win in a home conference game. Knight paced the Eagle offense with 17 points, while Meador contributed a career-high 14 points with five made field goals. Defensively, Cobb pulled down a squad-best seven rebounds, with Meador and Atwater When referring to the University, please be aware of both adding five. the following policy regarding usage. First references to the school and its intercollegiate athletic programs The Eagles successfully converted 47.5 percent of should always be Florida Gulf Coast University. The only shots from the field and scored an uncharacteristically secondary references should be “FGCU” or “Eagles.” high number of points in the paint. The team went 29- Please refrain from using “Fla. Gulf Coast”, “Gulf Coast”, for-42 from inside the arc but made just six shots from or any other similar combinations. In addition, please the perimeter in the win. refrain from using ‘Lady Eagles’. We are all Eagles. 2 LAST TIME OUT: THE BREAKDOWN: Even with a second-half surge from the home team, the FGCU women’s basketball team earned its 19th-straight victory Thursday night with a 71-60 win at Kennesaw State. With the victory, the Eagles move to 11-0 in Atlantic Sun Conference action and secure at least a share of their fifth-straight regular season title. With a mark of 24-2 overall, the Eagles also seal the no. 1 seed in the A-Sun tournament and will have home-court advantage throughout the tournament. As the losers in FGCU’s first contest as a nationally ranked team, Kennesaw State falls to 16-10 on the season and 5-6 in conference play. No matter the league’s other results, a win Saturday at USC Upstate would give the Eagles the outright Atlantic Sun title for the sixth time in seven seasons. FGCU, which entered Thursday’s contest with an RPI TOP CONTRIBUTORS: ranking of 16, shot 55.8 percent from the field in the first half to take a 14-point lead into the break and extended the advantage to a game-high 23 points by holding the Owls to just one field goal in the first eight SCORING minutes of the second stanza. After allowing the Green WHITNEY KNIGHT | 15 POINTS and Blue to an eight-point streak that pushed the score to 56-33, the home team sparked a 14-2 run to cut the deficit to just 11 points with eight minutes to play.