"They're an exceptional team. I think they have an excellent opportunity to win the national championship in their division," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "They're not your typical non D-I. A lot of their roster is D-I transfers and some of them high D-I transfers. So, this was a really good team we played. I saw us do some good things, but there was also a lot of defensive breakdowns that we're going to need to fix. I thought our passing wasn't what it needed to be. I give them credit. They're aggressive. They're trapping, but we have to play stronger than what we showed at times today."
In the first quarter, after a steal from Tytionia Adderly, the Eagles would begin with 3-pointer from the hands of senior Rose Julien with an assist from fellow senior Erica Nelson. Following an Adderly rebound, Julien would hit a fastbreak layup with another assist from Nelson. With less than eight minutes left on the clock, the Fire would score a 3-pointer off the hands of junior Jaycee Coe, a transfer from Kentucky, with an assist from sophomore Marlena Schmidt, a transfer from West Virginia.
The Eagles would bring the lead back to five after a fastbreak layup from Adderly with an assist from redshirt senior China Dow. After senior Ana Richter drew a foul from Nelson, the Miami (OH) transfer would go to the line and score both free throws before the media timeout occurred.
After the media timeout, Julien would hit a layup for a successful and-one opportunity after being fouled by senior Anissa Toumi. Sophomore Nasrin Ulel, who played off the bench would hit the Eagles' second 3-pointer with an assist from Julien. Less than four minutes left, Adderly would hit a good layup with an assist from redshirt junior Lisa Zderadicka, but a fastbreak layup from sophomore Trisha Jacobs cut the Eagles lead to eight. Two minutes later, junior Halee Printz, a transfer from Toledo, would hit a layup. With 28 seconds left, Nelson would hit the Eagles' third three of the game with an assist from redshirt senior Taylor Grandijan, the main story of this post, before the first quarter ended.
Going into the start of the second quarter, Richter would begin with a layup before Julien countered with a layup of her own with an assist from Nelson. Richter would add another layup with an assist from Toumi. Richter would attempt a layup, but Grandijan would stop her with a block.before junior Emma Karamovic shot a 3-pointer, with an assist from Richter, to cut the Eagles lead to four.
With 6:38 left on the clock, Julien would fire a three. Nelson would follow with a layup before both teams went back and forth with back-to-back layups from Nelson and High Point grad student Maja Michalska before Karamovic hit a three before the media timeout.
After Jacobs missed both free throws, Nelson would increase the Eagles lead with a 3-pointer with an assist from Zderadicka before Dow hit a layup.
With less than three minutes left before the end of the first half, Nelson would hit a jumper to make it 34-21 FGCU before Ulel was sent to the line to make one of her two free throws.
The moment everyone was waiting for came. Adderly would draw a foul caused by Schmidt and was sent to the free throw line. After missing the second free throw, Grandijan awaited her moment, grabbed the offensive rebound and made the layup she needed for her 1,000th point with 1:12 left before redshirt freshman Sarah Beth Richter made a layup with an assist from Karamovic. Coe would hit one final 3-pointer before the end of the first half.
During the halftime show, students and fans were shooting for $100 and I was 24 seconds away from winning until sophomore cross country runner Jan Figueroa took my opportunity away. Oh I was so upset that I kept saying to myself "I'll never win another halftime show."
Aside from that, going into the third quarter, Karamovice would hit a good jumper 15 seconds in, but Adderly would counter with an and-one with an assist from Nelson.
With 7:26 left, Grandijan would shoot her first three of the game with another assist from Nelson before Richter hit a layup of her own. Toumi would then hit a jumper before Printz hit a three to cut the Eagles lead to eight before a media timeout.
After the media timeout, Toumi would then get an and-one of her own after Adderly fouled her to cut the Eagle lead to five, but Julien would hit a layup with an assist from Dow.
After a Michalska layup, Grandijan would hit her second three of the game with an assist from Nelson. Richter would hit another layup with an assist from Coe, but Julien would counter with two successful free throws before hitting a layup with an assist from Adderly before the third quarter ended.
It all came down to one final quarter for both teams. Seven seconds in, the Fire would get a quick 3-pointer from Karamovic.
30 seconds later, Michalska would hit a layup before Ulel hit a layup of her own. Nelson would increase the Eagles lead back to 10 with a 3-pointer with an assist from Dow. Julien would go to the foul line and shoot two more successful free throws before Michalska drove in another layup.
20 seconds later, Richter would cut the Eagles' lead to eight with a layup before Julien countered with another layup with an assist from Dow.
With 6:25 left, Printz would hit another three with an assist from Schmidt before Grandijan countered with a three of her own with an assist from Dow. Dow would then hit a three with an assist from Zderadicka before a media timeout.
30 seconds after the media timeout, Nelson would hit a three with an assist from Grandijan to give the Eagles a 16-point lead before Karamovic hit a three of her own with an assist from Coe, who would hit another Fire three before a 30-second timeout.
Dow would hit a layup before Jacobs was fouled by Dow to hit two successful free throws, but Julien would hit two successful free throws after being fouled by Toumi. Toumi would be sent to the bench after fouling out.
From there, redshirt senior Jessica Cattani came in for Grandijan for the final minute of the game, in which Grandijan received a vibrant standing ovation for her game.
Freshmen Alyssa Blair and Sheahen Dowling and redshirt freshman Chandler Ryan would enter the game with Cattani as well as Zderadicka. Michalska would shoot one final 3-pointer for the Fire before the game ended.
Julien lead the way with a season-high 25 points (8-for-18 FG, 2-for-10 3FG, 7-for-7 FT), six rebounds, and one assist.
Nelson finished with 18 points (7-for-13 FG, 4-for-7 3FG), two rebounds, six assists, and three steals.
Dow, who started in place for Ulel, finished with seven points, nine rebounds, five assists, and two steals.
Adderly finished three points shy of a double-double as she finished with seven points, 10 rebounds (five offensive, five defensive, one assist, and four steals.
Grandijan finished with 11 points, four rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal. Grandijan became the 10th player in program history to join the 1,000 point club.
"We're really proud of what Taylor has accomplished in her time here," Smesko said Grandijan's 1,000th point. "She's been a very steady and great player for us. She's someone you can always count on. She plays both ends of the floor, and it was nice to hear the ovation she got when they announced her 1,000th point.
Off the bench, Ulel finished with eight points and two rebounds while Zderadicka contributed with three assists and a steal.
For the Fire, Karamovic led the team with 13 points and four rebounds.
Ana Richter finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Printz finished with 10 points, six rebounds and four assists.
Coe finished with nine points an six rebounds.
Schmidt contributed with seven rebounds.
Off the Fire bench, Michalska had 11 points and two rebounds, Toumi had five points, an assist and a steal before fouling out, Jacobs had four points and three assists, and Sarah Beth Richter had two points.
To be honest, I thought that we were gonna easily beat them because they're an NAIA school, but they gave us a hell of fight.
I did talk to a few of the players afterwards and I told them that they fought really strong against us, and they were really appreciative. I mentioned when they faced the Martinique national team and blew them out, which I thought was pretty cool, but they told me that it was a waste of time. Even their fans agreed with that.
I guess when someone plays a national team from another country, they would expect a lot of hype, but sometimes it's not always cracked up as it seems to be. Maybe it was a waste of time because the Fire won 121-11. Now I could understand why it was a waste of time.
The Eagles will now prepare for one of their toughest challenges against #20/#23 Kentucky on Friday, December 8 at 7 P.M.
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