"Basically, we just hung on at the end," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "I thought we got off to a really good start, got the lead early. In the second half, I thought it looked like we were running out of gas with a lot of front rim misses. All of a sudden, our defense, that I thought was really good in the first half, making them take tough shots, keeping them out of the paint, wasn't getting back as early. We left some gaps, and they were aggressively attacking the paint and getting a lot of layups on us.
"It was a tough game. We turned the ball over too much. A lot of them led to easy baskets. So, there's a lot that we can learn from that. We feel good that we beat a good team."
Smesko was honored prior to the game for recording his 500th career victory in this past Sunday's win over American.
It was redshirt sophomore Chandler Ryan that led the Eagles on the offensive front. Playing off the bench, Ryan led the Eagles with a career-high 19 points (5-7, 4-6 3PT, 5-5 FT), two rebounds, two assists and one steal. Ryan's previous career-high was the 13 she scored against Florida Memorial on Nov. 12, and it was her fourth double-digit performance of the season. She has scored just 26 points fewer this year (62) than all of last season (88) through only seven games.
Not too far behind Ryan was junior Nasrin Ulel as she led all the starters with 17 points (6-16, 3-9 3PT, 2-2 FT). Ulel has five straight games in double figures - averaging 17.2 PPG over that stretch.
Redshirt junior Keri Jewett-Giles and redshirt senior Lisa Zderadicka also reached double digit points. Jewett-Giles had 14 points (5-11, 4-6 FT), three rebounds and five assists while Zderadicka had 15 points (6-13, 1-4 3PT, 2-3 FT), three rebounds and three assists. Zderadicka's tally was one shy of her season-high, while Jewett-Giles produced her sixth straight game with at least 14 points while adding a game-high five assists and a team-high two steals.
Two of her rebounds were offensive in which she now has 252 and is 78 away from passing Sarah Hansen (329, 2010-14) as the all-time leader in career offensive rebounds.
On the defensive side, Adderly's six defensive rebounds put her at 353 and is 29 away from passing Taylor Grandijan (381, 2012-13, 2014-18) for sixth all-time.
Redshirt senior Destiny Washington-Mabon earned her first start of the season as she produced four points, seven rebounds, three assists and a team-high two blocks.
The Eagles led 61-43 entering the final quarter, but Houston scored 19 of the first 21 points to trim its deficit to just one with 2:39 left. The two teams then traded free throws until Jewett-Giles found a cutting Ulel for a layup and a three-point lead. Houston responded with another pair of free throws, but Ryan found Ulel for a 3-pointer and a four-point lead with 37 seconds left.
On the ensuing possession, Houston was called for an illegal screen, which spurred a technical foul on head coach Ronald Hughey. Ryan then buried four straight free throws, including the two technical shots, to push the lead to eight and essentially seal the game.
Houston was led offensively by junior guard Angela Harris who finished with a season-high 16 points.
Senior Serithia Hawkins finished the game with 13 points, while pulling down 11 rebounds for her second double-double of the season and the 20th of her career. For Hawkins, she played her 100th game for the Cougars
Senior Myyah West also reached double figures with a season-high 12 points.
Houston forced FGCU to turn the ball over 19 times in the game, making eight-straight games of at least 19 turnovers forced.
Up Next:
FGCU will be back in action next Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Saint Francis (Pa.). They will return home Dec. 14 at 7 p.m. against Johnson and Wales (Fla.).
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