The FGCU Hilton Garden Inn Classic has come to a close with the last game as the FGCU women's basketball team faced their last opponent of the tournament: Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville (SIUE). This was the second time in program history that both teams met.
Prior to the final tournament games, Harvard faced Akron in an earlier where the Crimson (6-5) beat the Zips (6-5) 76-63.
Senior Taylor Rooks led the way with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Sophomore Jeannie Boehm had 13 points, nine rebounds, three assists and four blocks.
Junior Madeline Raster had eight points and two assists.
Senior Kirby Porter had six points and four rebounds.
Sophomore Katie Benzan had seven points, six rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Off the bench, junior Nani Redford had five points, two rebounds, and one assist.
Freshman Jadyn Bush had nine points, 14 rebounds, one assist and one block.
Junior Sydney Skinner had nine points, five rebounds, two assists, one block and three steals.
For the Zaps, sophomore Shaunay Edmonds and Redshirt junior Megan Sefick had 14 points each. Edmonds added one rebound, three assists, and six steals while Sefick added two rebounds and one assist.
Sophomore Haliegh Reinoehl had eight points, nine rebounds, and two steals.
Sophomore Shayna Harmon had four points, one rebound, three assists and one steal.
Senior Greta Burry had four points and five rebounds.
Off the bench, Sarah Leyendecker had two points and two rebounds.
Senior Lauren Hung had three points and one assist.
Kynnedy Azubike had six points and three rebounds.
Sophomore Caitlin Vari had four points, seven rebounds, and one steal.
Freshman Destiny Perkins had four points, one rebound, three assists and one steal.
Let's fast forward to the FGCU/SIUE game. After struggling throughout the whole first half, the Eagles (12-3) managed to use the second half to their advantage to clip the Cougars (3-8) by a score of 66-49. The Eagles were outscored by the Cougars 20-27 in the first half, but in the second half, the Eagles flipped the score around and went ahead 46-22 in the second half.
"I thought right out of halftime the ball started moving quicker and we became a lot harder to guard," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "I wish we would already understand this and not take until halftime to figure it out. But it was a good comeback win. I'm really pleased with how we played the second half. I feel better going into break after watching the second half."
"I think this team has gone through the grinder in the nonconference play," said SIUE Head Coach Paula Buscher. "Now we get to hit the reset button and start over for conference play."
After coming of scoring two points and shooting 1-for-12 against Harvard, sophomore Nasrin "Nas" Ulel redeemed herself and led the way with 14 points (6-for-9 FG), seven rebounds, one block and one steal that came in crucial at the right time.
Senior Erica Nelson had three points, three rebounds, one assist and two blocks.
After recovering from lightheadedness last game against Harvard, sophomore Tytionia Adderly also redeemed herself. The Jupiter native had three points, five rebounds, and one steal. Two of Adderly's rebounds were offensive rebounds and now has 149 career offensive rebounds, but remains 8th all-time.
Senior Rose Julien had four points, one rebound, and four assists before fouling out in the second half.
Redshirt senior Taylor Grandijan had 12 points all from behind the arch. Grandijan also added three rebounds, one assist, and one steal. With her 12 points, the Cudahy, Wisconsin native has 1,050 career points and is 14 points away from surpassing Katie Schrader (1,062 career points) for 8th all-time. Grandijan's four threes put her at 255 career three-pointers. She still remains third all-time and is now 41 away from surpassing Whitney Knight (294 career threes).
Off the bench, redshirt senior China Dow had 14 points (5-for-12 FG, 4-for-7 3FG), three rebounds, two assists and three steals.
Redshirt junior Lisa Zderadicka had 13 points (6-for-8 FG, 1-for-2 3FG), one rebound, five assists and one steal.
Redshirt senior Jessica Cattani contributed with three points, three rebounds and one steal before Smesko emptied the rest of the bench.
"We did a great job of grinding in the first half. We thought we were right there," said Buscher. "I don't know if the score is really indicative of the whole entire game. Florida Gulf Coast can just knock down threes."
Senior Donshel Beck led the way offensively for the Cougars. Beck had 10 points, two rebounds, and one steal.
Junior Sydney Bauman had nine points, five rebounds, one assist and one block.
Redshirt senior Lauren White, the Cougars leading scorer (14.6 PPG), was held to less than 10 points for the fourth time this season. White ended up with seven points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Freshman Zaria Whitlock added two points and one assist.
Junior Jay'Nee Alston contributed with five rebounds, one assist, and one block.
Off the bench, senior Elina Berzina had eight points and three rebounds.
Sophomore Cloe Churchill had nine points, four rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Freshman Allie Troeckler contributed with one rebound while senior Gwen Adams added four points and two rebounds.
With the win, FGCU is now 2-0 against SIU-Edwardsville. With the loss, SIUE has lost seven straight games.
After the games, the FGCU Hilton Garden Inn Classic All-Tournament Team was announced:
Representing SIU-Edwardsville was Lauren White.
For Akron was Megan Sefcik.
For Harvard, it was Taylor Rooks and Jeannie Boehm
For FGCU, it was Rose Julien and Lisa Zderadicka. Julien was also named All-Tournament Team MVP.
Up Next:
FGCU remains in action at home as they play visiting South Dakota State on December 29 and end 2017 with one final non-conference game against NAIA Florida Memorial before the opening A-SUN Conference play at home against Stetson January 6, 2018.
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