Raining 3s: Raining Wahine Showdown Preview

The FGCU women's basketball team (2-1) will prepare for the sunshine, surf, palm trees, hula skirts, fire dancers and Spam musubi as they head to Honolulu, Hawaii to compete in the three-day Rainbow Wahine Showdown at the hosted by the University of Hawaii from Friday, November 23 to Sunday, November 25. For the tournament, the Eagles will be facing #7 Stanford (3-0) (Nov 23 @9:30 P.M. ET/4:30 P.M. HT), host Hawaii (1-4) (Nov 24 @7:30 P.M. ET/2:30 P.M. HT) and American University (2-1) (Nov @5 P.M. ET/12 P.M. HT).

Last Time Out:
The Eagles are coming off of a 100-58 win against FIU as part of the doubleheader with the men's basketball teams' win against South Dakota State.

Offensively, leading the fray is redshirt junior Keri Jewett-Giles and redshirt sophomore Chandler Ryan.

Jewett-Giles is currently averaging 13.7 points per game. In the game against FIU, Jewett-Giles played off the bench scoring a team-high 18 points, and as a result of her good game, the Ft. Myers native and hometown hero was named A-SUN Newcomer and Player of the Week.

"It is good to see Keri earn this recognition," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "She is a very talented player, and she performed well."

Ryan has been averaging 12.3 points and three rebounds per game and has been a factor as the 6th woman. In her last game, Ryan had 12 points (4-for-7 3PT) and three rebounds.

Speaking of rebounds, junior Tytionia Adderly is averaging 8.7 rebounds per game. In her last game against FIU, Adderly had seven rebounds with four being on the offensive end. With her four offensive rebound, the Jupiter native has 248 in her career. She passed Adrianne McNally (240, 2006-10) for second all-time and is 82 away from passing Sarah Hansen (329, 2010-14) as the all-time leader in career offensive rebounds.

Leading the way the freshman class is Tanner Bryant. Bryant is averaging 8.7 points per game. In the game against FIU, Bryant had 11 points and was 3-for-5 behind the arch.

On the defensive front, redshirt senior Destiny Washington leads the team with seven blocks while scoring five points per game. The Ball State transfer had eight points and two blocks against FIU.

500 On The Horizon:
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). He enters Friday with 498 wins, which puts him just two 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.

Scouting Stanford:
The Cardinal are coming off of a 96-62 win against San Francisco. Last week, the Cardinal were ranked #7 in NCAA AP and USA Today/WBCA Coaches Top 25 Polls, but their poll in the AP dropped to #8.

Originally, the Cardinal were scheduled to face Ohio State on Sunday, November 18, but Due to the significant increase in smoke over the last 24 hours from wildfires in Butte County, official readings of the Air Quality Index (AQI) have started to reach, and occasionally exceed, the "Very Unhealthy" category. Additionally, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District has said that readings are likely to be worse in the region. The game would not be rescheduled as a result.

The Cardinal are led offensively by sophomore Kiana Williams and senior Alanna Smith.

Williams is averaging 18 points and five assists per game while shooting 64.5 percent overall and 61.1 percent (11-for-18) from 3-point range. In the game against San Francisco, the San Antonio native had 21 points (8-13 FG, 4-6 3PT) and three assists. 

Smith averages 17.7 points and six rebounds per game. In her last game, the Australian had 18 points and seven rebounds against San Francisco.

Freshman Lexie Hull is averaging 10.7 points and a team-best seven rebounds and has notched the Cardinal's only double-double of the season. Hull had four points and five rebounds against San Francisco.

The Cardinal has also received a noticeable lift from its bench, led by sophomore Maya Dodson. One of four players scoring in double figures, Dodson is averaging 10.0 points and 4.7 rebounds while shooting 60.9 percent from the field. Dodson, who has joined Smith and Williams as the only players to reach double figures in all three games, is the team's leading shot-blocker with eight swats and has totaled seven assists to just one turnover. Dodson had 10 points and four blocks against San Francisco.

Scouting Hawaii:
The Rainbow Wahine are coming off of a 67-51 win against Seattle as they hosted the Bank of Hawai'i Classicee. It was the lone win so far.

All four of the 'Bows' losses have been decided by eight points or less, meaning Hawaii did just enough to keep each game within striking distance. Their record against nationally-ranked teams is 10-93, including 40-straight losses and they haven't knocked off a ranked opponent in 20 years. The last time it happened was against No. 17 Kansas on Nov. 22, 1998 when Hawaii took down the Jayhawks 51-47.

Senior Leah Salanoa leads the team in points (12.8) and rebounds (7) per game. In the win against Seattle, Salona had 12 points and six rebounds.

Not too far Salanoa is junior Makenna Woodfolk.Woodfolk is averaging 10.8 points and four rebounds per game. In the game against Seattle, the Tacoma native finished with seven points and eight rebounds.

Scouting American:
The Eagles are coming off of a road loss to Denver (83-54). The Eagles opened the season at No. 24 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll before moving up to No. 19 the second week. This week, they're in the receiving votes section.

American's offense is led by senior Cecily Carl. Carl averages 19 points and five rebounds per game. In the game against Denver, Carl had 26 points and seven rebounds.

Three other players join Carl in double digit points per game: junior Kaitlyn Marenyi (14) and seniors Elina Koskimies (12.7) and Kaitlyn Lewis (11).

Marenyi, who is also averaging 4.7 rebounds per game, had eight points and three rebounds, Koskimies, who averages 3.3 rebounds, had 12 points and three rebounds and averaging four rebounds, Lewis had five points and five rebounds.

Series History:
Overall, the Eagles are 0-2 against Stanford. The Eagles fell 83-59 to Stanford the first time on Nov. 27, 2013 in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on Nov. 27, 2013, which was head coach Tara Vanderveer's 900th career win. The Cardinal defeated FGCU 90-70 at the Stanford Regional in the second round of the NCAA National Tournament last season.

I should know because I was a witness of the game and went there live, in which they had two advantages against us: 1. Home field (@ Stanford) and height (6-1 average height).

The game between the Eagles and the Rainbow Wahine will be the second time they face each other. The Eagles defeated the 72-52 on  Dec. 29, 2011 in the same invitational.

For the game against American, it will be the first-ever meeting for FGCU.

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be provided for all three games.

For the game against Stanford, it will be live on audio on the Stanford athletics page.

For the game against Hawaii, it will air livestream on the Big West athletics page and is free to watch.

The game against American will have neither.

Fans can also keep up on Twitter:
FGCU: @FGCU_WBB
Stanford: @StanfordWBB
Hawaii: @WahineBBall
American: @AU_WBasketball

Livestat links:
vs Stanford: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=236750

vs Hawaii: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=236753

vs. American: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=236754

Audio link vs Stanford: https://gostanford.com/watch/?Live=1174&type=Live

Livestream link vs Hawaii: http://bigwest.sidearmstreaming.com/watch/?Live=1563

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