FGCU WBB vs UNF Recap

The FGCU women's basketball team (22-4, 8-1 A-SUN) asked for a rematch against UNF (10-14, 3-6 A-SUN) and they got it. The Eagles avenged their defeat to the Osprey and won 67-52. With the win, The Eagles remain in first place in the A-SUN and the current magic number for FGCU is "2".

Leading the way offensively was redshirt senior China Dow. Dow, who played off the bench, had 19 points (8-14 FG, 2-4 3FG, 1-2 FT), five rebounds, one assist and three steals.

From the starters, senior Rose Julien finished with 18 points (7-11 FG, 3-7 3FG, 1-1 FT), four rebounds, two assists, one block and four steals.

Senior Erica Nelson had seven points, seven assists and one steal.

Sophomore Nas Ulel had two points, two rebounds, one assist and one steal.

After missing two straight games, sophomore Tytionia Adderly finished with four points, 10 rebounds (five offensive, five defensive), three assists and one steal. This was her 11th game with at least 10 rebounds. With her five offensive boards, Adderly (190) passed Kaneisha Atwater (186) for sixth all-time in career offensive rebounds. Adderly will be four rebounds away from passing Katie Meador (193) for fourth all-time and five from passing Kate Schrader (194) for third all-time. In addition, Adderly now has 458 career total rebounds.

Redshirt senior Taylor Grandijan had three points, four rebounds and two assists before fouling out. Grandijan (1,136) passed video coordinator Stephanie Haas (1,135) for seventh all-time and with her four rebounds, she now has 468 career total rebounds.

Redshirt junior Lisa Zderadicka and redshirt senior Jessica Cattani also contributed in the game. Zderadicka had 14 points (5-10 FG, 2-6 3FG, 2-2 FT), two rebounds, one assist and two steals while Cattani contributed with two rebounds and one assist. Redshirt freshman Chandler Ryan also entered the game.

"It was tough game throughout," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "Our offensive execution wasn't very good in the first half, but I thought our defensive intensity was better, and it gave us a chance to still have the lead despite not shooting well and not moving the ball well."

For the Osprey, redshirt senior Keonna Farmer had a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Farmer also added two assists, two blocks and one steal.

Redshirt senior Tesh Hanson had 14 points, six rebounds, one assist and two steals.

Junior Ty Purifoy had eight points, three assists and two steals.

Freshman Tiffany Tolbert had seven points, one rebound, three assists and one steal.

Senior Maiya Rumph had two points and four rebounds.

Off the Osprey bench, sophomore Adrienne Jackson was the only player that scored. Jackson had three points, two rebounds and one steal.

Freshman Ta'Kyla Austin contributed with two rebounds.

With the win, the Eagles won their rematch and are now 22-3 overall against UNF.

It was also head coach Karl Smesko's 600th game that he coached for FGCU. Smesko has now compiled a 487-113 record during that time and won 81.2 percent of his games. In doing so, he joins just three other active NCAA Division-I coaches with at least an .800 career winning percentage - UConn's Geno Auriemma, Baylor's Kim Mulkey and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer.

"I don't think about it very much," Smesko said. "(The pre-game recognition) was a very nice gesture. I'd rather not even bring it up. It's about the game that we were going to play that day. To me, 600 is no different than 601. So, we're going to get ready for 601 and try to be as prepared as we can to have a good game."

Up next, the Eagles return to action on the road as they prepare to face Upstate (February 10) and NJIT (February 12) before returning home.

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