Last Time Out:
The Eagles traveled on a brief road trip to Loretto, Pennsylvania (an hour and a half west of Pittsburgh) to face Saint Francis University Wednesday night, December 5 at the DeGol Arena. The Eagles defeated the Red Flashes 83-69.
Key Players:
Redshirt junior Keri Jewett-Giles and junior Nasrin Ulel lead the way on offense. Both are averaging 16 points per game. Jewett-Giles is also averaging 2.8 assists per game while Ulel is averaging 3.4 rebounds per game. Should Jewett-Giles and Ulel both finish above 14 PPG, it would represent just the third time since 2007-08 that the team has achieved that - joining the 2008-09 (Adrianne McNally - 14.6, Chelsea Lyles - 14.0) and 2014-15 (Whitney Knight - 14.8, Kaneisha Atwater - 14.2) teams.
In the game against Saint Francis, Jewett-Giles had 18 points and three assists while Ulel had 26 points and six rebounds.
Junior Tytionia Adderly is leading the Eagles with 7.5 rebounds per game while averaging 5.6 points per game. Adderly had 14 rebounds along with five points. Five of her rebounds were on the offensive side as she remains second all-time in offensive rebounds (257) behind Sarah Hansen (329, 2010-14) while for defense she has 362 (seventh overall) and is 20 shy of passing Taylor Grandijan (381, 2012-13, 2014-2018) for sixth all-time.
In overall rebounds, the Jupiter native has 619 in her career (fifth all-time) and is 22 away from passing Robyn Swain (640, 2002-04) for fifth all-time. She became the sixth Eagle in program history to achieve 600 career rebounds after the win against Houston.
Redshirt senior Lisa Zderadicka has also been key in the starting lineup. Although she was held to only three points, Zderadicka is still averaging 9.4 points and 3.3 assists per game which included six assists against Saint Francis.
Bench Sparks:
Off the bench, it's redshirt sophomore Chandler Ryan and redshirt senior Destiny Washington that lead the way for the Eagles.
Ryan is averaging 9.6 points and leads the team in 3-pointers made (23). In the game against Saint Francis, Ryan had 15 points with all of them behind the 3-point line. Ryan had a career-high five 3-pointers in the game.
After her second straight start, Washington is averaging 5.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. The double transfer from Ball State and Loyola Chicago had nine points, six rebounds and three blocks against Saint Francis.
Among The Nation's Best:
FGCU will enter Friday ranked among the top 50 teams in the nation in eight categories:
Fewest turnovers per game - 14th, 12.8
Fewest turnovers - 16th, 102
Assist/turnover ratio - 20th, 1.24
Scoring offense - 26th, 81.0
Turnover margin - 40th, 5.00
3-point field goals attempted - 4th, 292
3-point field goals made - 4th, 98
3-point field goals made per game - 2nd, 12.3
In addition, the Eagles who were ranked #8 last week, are ranked #7 in the CollegeInsider.com Top 25 Mid-Major Poll.
Scouting J&W:
The game will be listed as an exhibition for the Lions and as a season game for the Eagles, but it will not effect the Eagles RPI ranking.
The Lions are currently in last place in The Sun Conference and are on a four-game losing streak with four straight conference losses to #3 Southeastern (90-58), Ave Maria (61-52), Florida Memorial (106-77), and St. Thomas (78-66). FGCU played FMU in their home opener.
Offensively, sophomore Tianna Ayulo and senior JoNae Gonzales-Smith lead the Lions.
Ayulo is averaging 19.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Ayulo had 11 points, five rebounds and eight assists against #3 Southeastern, 23 points and seven rebounds against Ave Maria, 27 points, four rebounds and five assists against Florida Memorial and 14 points, seven rebounds and seven assists against St. Thomas.
Gonzales-Smith is averaging 16.8 points and 3.1 assists per game. Gonzales-Smith had 19 points and six assists against #3 Southeastern, 12 points and one assist against Ave Maria, 17 points, six rebounds and three assists against Florida Memorial and 15 points, five rebounds and three assists against St. Thomas.
Sophomore Alexis McClain has also been effective for the Lions as she averages 11.8 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. McClain had 16 points and seven rebounds against #3 Southeastern, nine points and five rebounds against Ave Maria, and a double against Florida Memorial (25 points and 11 rebounds) and St. Thomas (25 points and 11 rebounds).
Series History:
This will be the second time both teams meet. The first time both teams played was on February 24, 2006 where the Eagles won 66-31 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA DII National Independent Tournament.
Scouting Abilene Christian:
The Wildcats are coming off of a 90-43 win against NCAA DIII Schreiner University at home and a 80-68 loss to Power 5 Arkansas.
The Wildcats are led offensively by juniors Dominique Golightly and Breanna Wright.
Golightly is averaging 12.6 points and 6.1 rebounds per game. In the game against Schreiner, Golightly had 10 points and nine rebounds while against Arkansas she was held to eight points and six rebounds.
Wrght is averaging 12.7 points and 5.3 assists per game. Wright was held scoreless, but had five rebounds and four assists last game before recovering in the loss to Arkansas with 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists.
Senior Sara Williamson and junior Lexie Ducat are also big factors for the Wildcats. Williamson is averaging 11.2 points and four assists per game while Ducat is averaging 11.3 points and 7.3 rebounds per game.
Williamson had 18 points and five assists against Schreiner and 12 points and three assists against Arkansas while Ducat had 25 points and eight rebounds against Schreiner and 19 points and eight rebounds.
Series History:
This will be the second time both teams have met. Last season was the first time where the Eagles won 94-55 at Abilene Christian.
It was the same game that former player and rare sixth year senior Taylor Grandijan shot 18 points, all from the three point line for her 981st-999th career points before earning her 1,000th point at home against NAIA Southeastern University.
How to Keep Up:
Both games will have livestats available and will air on ESPN+. The commentary at FGCU will be led by play-by-play commentator Tom James and color commentator Pete Lonergan for the game against J&W and play-by-play commentator David Moulton and color commentator J. Webb Horton.
In addition, the game against Abilene Christian can also be heard on iHeart Radio.
Fans can also keep up on Twitter:
FGCU: @FGCU_WBB
Abilene Christian: @ACUWBB
Johnson and Wales: @JWUWBasketball
FGCU will air on the subscription-based digital platform ESPN+, the new home for all A-SUN sports. Subscribers can try the new app for free for 30 days, which follows to $4.99 a month fee afterwards.
Promotions:
1. Snow Ball and Basketball: fans are encouraged to dress up and dance on the court at halftime with FGCU cheerleaders and E'Gals (vs J&W)
2. Toy Drive for Golisano's Children's Hospital (vs Abilene Christian)
3. The Barron Collier High School Drum Line will also be in attendance (vs J&W)
Livestats Links:
vs J&W- http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=242052
vs Abilene Christian- http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=242053
Livestream Link:
vs J&W- http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/40bb4b24-8b7d-4d35-b8c4-e2733ff6f742/johnson--wales-vs-florida-gulf-coast
vs Abilene Christian: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/bc99a123-89af-4034-b079-cddcb7696b6f/abilene-christian-vs-florida-gulf-coast
Audio Link: https://www.iheart.com/live/981-the-ticket-5696/
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