FGCU WBB vs Florida Memorial Preview

The FGCU women's basketball team (0-1), which is ranked eighth in the first CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll of the season, will look for its first win of the season in a home-opening matchup against Florida Memorial (3-3) on Monday at 7 p.m. in Alico Arena.

Prior to the game, FGCU will drop the banner to honor last year's team that made its fifth NCAA tournament trip in seven seasons and broke the NCAA's single season record for most 3-point field goals. At halftime, the men's basketball team will receive their watches for winning last year's ASUN regular season championship.

Throughout the night, the FGCU athletic department will honor veterans, who can receive a free Priority 4 or 5 general admission ticket with a valid U.S. Military ID and receive half off tickets for all family members. Rally towels will also be presented to the first 100 fans and students.

Home Openers:
Since becoming a Division-I program, FGCU has compiled a 9-2 record in home openers, including some notable wins over Power-5 schools such as an 85-61 win over Illinois last year, a 59-58 win over Michigan State on Nov. 19, 2011 and an 88-86 win over Florida on Nov. 14, 2008.

Division-I Era Home Openers
11/12/17 - W 85-61 vs Illinois
11/15/16 - W 89-42 vs Florida International
11/17/15 - L 62-55 vs Florida Atlantic
11/14/14 - W 88-75 vs George Washington
11/08/13 - W 71-38 vs Bethune-Cookman
11/10/12 - W 100-31 vs Warner
11/19/11 - W 59-58 vs Michigan State
11/12/10 - W 64-57 vs Seton Hall
11/13/09- W 66-54 vs UTEP
11/14/08 - W 88-86 vs Florida
11/09/07 - L 93-53 to No. 19/19 Florida State

Approaching History:
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko entered this season with a 496-114 (.813) career head coaching record, which ranked him as the third winningest active Division-I head coach behind UConn's Geno Auriemma (1,027-136, .883) and Baylor's Kim Mulkey (539-98, .846). Thus, Smesko is just four wins shy of a major coaching milestone, his 500th win. He earned his 400th victory in just 493 games, which was two faster than UConn's Geno Auriemma.

Here's a look at his previous milestones:
100th career win – Dec. 28, 2003 vs Cheyney (85-46)
200th career win – Jan. 19, 2008 vs Kennesaw State (75-64)
300th career win – Dec. 19, 2011 vs USC Upstate (77-53)
400th career win – Feb. 21, 2015 vs USC Upstate (75-59)
500th career win – four wins away

Last Time Out:
FGCU opened the season with an 80-62 loss at South Dakota State on Friday. They were hurt by a 21-2 run that started late in the first half and included a 14-0 run to open the third quarter.

Redshirt sophomore Chandler Ryan matched her career-high with 12 points, while draining a new career-high four 3-point field goals. Redshirt senior Lisa Zderadicka added 10 points, and fellow redshirt senior Destiny Washington blocked a game-high five shots.

Washington, redshirt sophomore Kerstie Phills, freshman Tanner Bryant, redshirt juniors Davion Wingate and Keri Jewett-Giles, and redshirt freshman Tyra Cox all made their FGCU debuts.

Washington joined FGCU as a grad student/double transfer after spending her freshman year at Loyola-Chicago and sophomore and junior years at Ball State.

Jewett-Giles (Southern Miss), Phills (Wagner), Wingate (Stony Brook) and Cox (William and Mary) all made their debuts after sitting out the 2017-18 season per the NCAA transfer rule.

Bryant was the only true freshman that played in the opening game.

Scouting the Lions:
Florida Memorial, led by fifth-year head coach Gregory Stanback, finished 16-10 overall in 2017-18. This year, his team features a trio of sisters - Brianna, Tyesha and Kanesha Battle. Brianna and Kanesha are Division-I transfers from Bethune-Cookman. The team competes as an NAIA member of The Sun Conference.

Series History:
FGCU is 10-0 all-time against Florida Memorial, although the first nine meetings predated the Green and Blue's Division-I era.

Last year's 82-43 win over the visiting Lions witnessed Jessica Cattani (23) and Erica Nelson (16) combine for 39 points. Among returning players, juniors Tytionia Adderly (8) and Nasrin Ulel (7) and Zderadicka (5) combined for 20 points, while Adderly  led the way with 12 rebounds.

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available for the game and will air on ESPN+. It will cost $4.99 a month to watch all A-SUN Conference games.

The commentary at FGCU will be led by play-by-play commentator Dave Moulton and color commentator J. Webb Horton.

Fans can also keep up on the teams' Twitter pages:
FGCU: @FGCU_WBB

Florida Memorial: @GoFmuLions

Promos:
Throughout the night, the FGCU athletic department will honor veterans, who can receive a free Priority 4 or 5 general admission ticket with a valid U.S. Military ID and receive half off tickets for all family members. Rally towels will also be presented to the first 100 fans and students.

Livestats link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=240604

Livestream link: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/0d99c35d-5f13-4f83-a3dd-9a246e034995/florida-memorial-vs-florida-gulf-coast