"I really liked how we got out to a fast start," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "We had a 10-point lead pretty early. I like when we show up ready to go and have the type of intensity to be a really good team. We got contributions from a lot of players today, a lot of contributions off the bench from Alyssa (Blair) and Kerstie."
Junior Nasrin Ulel and redshirt junior Keri Jewett-Giles led the Eagles with 17 points each. Ulel added two rebounds and three assists while Jewett-Giles added five rebounds and a season-high six assists. Ulel scored 15 of her points in the first half on 5-for-9 shooting from long distance.
Redshirt sophomore Kerstie Phills (13) and redshirt senior Destiny Washington (10) joined the fun with Ulel and Jewett-Giles in scoring.
Redshirt senior Lisa Zderadicka (7) and Jewett-Giles (6) combined for 13 assists, and Washington led the team in rebounds with seven and a block. Sophomre Alyssa Blair also had nine points on 4-for-4 shooting off the bench.
Junior Tytionia Adderly became just the third player in program history to reach 700 career rebounds. Her second rebound in the game's opening minutes allowed her to join Sarah Hansen (887) and Whitney Knight (735). She finished with six over 17 minutes and is on pace to become the program's first to reach 1,000. Smesko ranks her as the best rebounder in program history. Adderly added two points and is three shy of reaching 500 career points.
"You call it a rebounding radius, where some kids will only get balls that come directly to them, but she'll get a ball she has no business getting," Smesko said. "It will be eight or nine feet away from her, and she'll just go get it. My first year, we had Robyn Swain. She was an excellent rebounder. She was 6-4 and was around the basket. She got more rebounds than Ty in a particular season, but we've never had anyone who's gone after the ball as well as Ty."
FGCU opened the game with seven straight points and led 14-2 following a steal and fast break layup from Zderadicka 4:20 into the game. Phills then scored four of the team's six points in the final two minutes as the Eagles opened up a 23-9 lead. The Green and Blue closed the first half with a 9-2 run and pushed the margin to 40 on a layup from Phills with one minute left in the third. They led by as many as 46 after back-to-back layups from Blair in the opening minute of the fourth. The Eagles held the Lady bison to single digits in the first three quarters.
The team's 26 assists is tied for the fifth-most against an A-SUN team in program history.
The Eagles are now 175-16 all-time against A-SUN teams in the regular season, including 113-4 since 2011-12. At home, they've won 85 of the past 86 against conference teams since Jan. 22, 2009 and are a dominant 92-2 in Alico Arena overall.
Zderadicka (958) and Washington (922) continue to approach 1,000 points in their NCAA careers.
The Lady Bison were led in scoring by sophomore Taylor Clark and freshman Jane Deason as they finished with 11 points each while redshirt junior Anna Hammaker led the team with seven rebounds.
Up Next:
The Eagles remain at home as they welcome UNF (7-10, 2-4 A-SUN) to the Alico Arena on Sunday, January 26 at 2 pm.
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