FGCU WBB/MBB vs. NJIT Recap

A-SUN Conference play continued on for the FGCU men's and women's basketball teams. The Eagles continued playing as they faced NJIT.

The women's team played first. Was I surprised of the score against the Highlanders? No, not really.

In the end, the Eagles (16-3, 2-0 A-SUN) defeated the Highlanders (2-15, 0-2 A-SUN) 90-66. With the win, the Eagles are now 6-0 against the Highlanders.

Seniors Erica Nelson and Rose Julien, redshirt senior China Dow and sophomore Nas Ulel had 13 points each. Nelson finished with four rebounds, two assists and two steals, Julien with one rebound, one assist, one block and one steal, Ulel with three rebounds, one assist and three steals and Dow with eight rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Sophomore Tytionia Adderly had five points, six rebounds (three offensive, three defensive), one assist and three steals. With her three offensive rebounds, Adderly has 170 overall and remains 14 away from surpassing Courtney Chihil (183) for seventh all-time.

Redshirt senior Taylor Grandijan finished with eight points, two rebounds, two assists and one steal. Grandijan's eight points puts her at 1,075 career points. Grandijan is 61 points away from passing current video coordinator Stephanie Haas (1135) for seventh all-time in career points.

Off the bench, aside from Dow, it was once again redshirt senior Jessica Cattani that led the way offensively. Cattani led with a game-high 16 points and one rebound. Aside from one free throw, all of Cattani's points came from behind the three-point line.

"Almost every time she was open, she knocked down a shot," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said of Cattani's performance. "She was a big spark to the offense. We shot the ball ok, not great from three, and that made it a competitive game for a long time."

Redshirt junior Lisa Zderadicka had nine points, two rebounds and seven assists.

Other players that contributed to the game were redshirt freshman Chandler Ryan (two rebounds, one assist), freshman Alyssa Blair (one rebound), freshman Sheahan Dowling (one rebound) and sophomore Samantha Kisiel (one rebound). Freshman Liberty Brown also entered the game.

For the Highlanders, redshirt junior Tatianna Torres had 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.

Redshirt junior Kelly Guarino had nine points and four rebounds.

Redshirt sophomore Amarri Trueheart had nine points and three rebounds.

Sophomore Danielle Tunstall had eight points and eight rebounds.

Redshirt sophomore Jillian Libby contributed with three rebounds and one assist.

Off the bench, senior Taj Lewis led the way with a game-high 13 points, four rebounds and two steals.

Freshman Dez Allen have seven points, two rebounds, one block and one steal.

Freshman Ellyn Stoll had five points, one rebound, one block and one steal.

Sophomore Amber Morgan had four points and two assists.

Junior Jordan Ireland added two rebounds to the mix.

Fast forward to the men's game, FGCU would come away with the victory beating NJIT 68-54.

Redshirt senior Brandon Goodwin led the way offensively. Goodwin was two assists shy of a triple-double, but did finish with a double-double of 21 points (8-for-13 FG, 2-for-4 3FG, 3-for-4 FT), eight assists and one steal.

Redshirt junior Zach Johnson had 19 points (7-for-14 FG, 3-for-7 3FG, 2-for-2 FT), six rebounds, four assists and one steal.

Redshirt junior Michael Gilmore had seven points, eight rebounds and one assist.

Redshirt junior Ricky Doyle had six points, three rebounds, two assists, three blocks and one steal. Doyle did pick up a flagrant one foul in the second half.

Redshirt junior Dinero Mercurius was held to scoring only three points, but did add two rebounds and three steals.

Off the bench, sophomore Raysean Scott Jr had six points, five rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Senior Christian Terrell finished with four points, five rebounds, one assist and four steals.

Sophomore Christian Carlyle contributed with one rebound and one assist.

Redshirt sophomore Brady Ernst contributed with a block.

After missing two straight games with a foot injury, redshirt senior Antravious Simmons finished with two points and one assist.

For the Highlanders, all five starters did not score 10 or more points.

Junior Abdul Lewis finished with eight points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal.

Sophomore Anthony Tarke had six points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Sophomore Shyquan Gibbs had six points, one assist and one steal.

Junior Diandre Wilson had five points, two rebounds, two assists and one block.

Junior Reilly Walsh had two points, eight rebounds and one steal.

Off the bench, freshman Zach Cooks led the team with 12 points and one assist.

Freshman Shawndale Jones had 11 points, one rebound, two assists and two steals.

Junior Mohamed Bendary had four points, four rebounds ad one block.

Freshman San Antonio Brinson contributed with one assist and junior Donovan Greer also played in the game.

Up next, the women's basketball team will face Upstate on Monday January 15 at 7 PM. The game is dubbed as a blue out and air on ESPN3.

The men will be on the road for the next three conference as they begin against Lipscomb on Thursday, January 18 at 7:30 PM followed by traveling to play Kennesaw State on Saturday, January 20 at 4:30 PM before concluding their three game road trip to Jacksonville to face UNF Wednesday, January 24 at 7 PM.