Earlier in the season, FGCU played two other top 25 teams in the nation. They beat then #21 Depaul (now unranked) 89-84 in overtime, but fell to then #8 Ohio State (now #12) by a score of 62-104 in the Play4Kay Shootout. If FGCU would've won against Ohio State, there would have been a good opportunity to be in the top 25.
In front of 2,343 fans in attendance, the Eagles (9-2) fought tooth and talon against the Wildcats (8-2) as they won 70-64.
"This is a hard one to talk about at the end because the game had so many different segments in it," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "The first segment we started off rattled. We couldn't catch the ball, we couldn't dribble it. We were just a little on edge. I thought Lisa (Zderadicka) came in and really settled us down, got some easy baskets off attacks. I thought her coming and making the impact she did right when she got in the game helped everything just smooth out for us."
Prior to the game, redshirt senior Taylor Grandijan was recognized after scoring her 1,000th point in the game against NAIA Southeastern University.
Senior Rose Julien led the team with 25 points (8-for-14 FG, 2-for-8 3FG, 5-for-7 FT), one rebound, three assists and one block, while classmate Erica Nelson scored eight points, three rebounds, one assist and two steals.
Sophomore Nas Ulel had four points, two rebounds and one assist, while classmate Tytionia Adderly had five points, 11 rebounds, one assist, one block and two steals.
Grandijan had eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and one steal. With Grandijan's eight points, the rare sixth-year senior passed Courtney Chihill (1,016) for the eighth most points in the Division-I era and now has 1,018 points.
"I feel like Gradinjan is one of the most underrated players that we've ever had in our program," Smesko said. "She's not a huge scorer. She's a great shooter, but she does so many other things for us that often go unnoticed. She plays great defense. She can guard multiple positions. She's our best screener and cutter. Even when she's not scoring, she's playing the most minutes because of all the other things she's doing for us."
"I feel like Gradinjan is one of the most underrated players that we've ever had in our program," Smesko said. "She's not a huge scorer. She's a great shooter, but she does so many other things for us that often go unnoticed. She plays great defense. She can guard multiple positions. She's our best screener and cutter. Even when she's not scoring, she's playing the most minutes because of all the other things she's doing for us."
Off the bench redshirt senior China Dow had nine points, four rebounds, two assists and one steal, while redshirt junior Lisa Zderadicka had a season-high 13 points (6-for-8 FG), two rebounds, one assist and one steal. Dow and Zderadicka were the only subs that went in for the Eagles. Zderadicka needed 12 points to reach 600 in her NCAA career, and she now sits at 601. During the game, it was freshman Sheahen Dowling's birthday during the game.
I must say that Kentucky gave us one hell of a fight, but I give them a lot of props to them for fighting us tooth and nail. In the end, FGCU won and #20 Kentucky lost.
Up next, the women will recover with a lite game against NAIA Ave Maria at 2 PM on Sunday December 10 before traveling to Tennessee to face the University of Chattanooga on Sunday, December 17th at 1 PM.
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