The FGCU women's basketball team (16-4, 7-0 A-SUN) once again pulled away with the win as they defeated NJIT (5-15, 2-5 A-SUN) 67-35 at the Wellness and Events Center in Newark, New Jersey. With the win, the Eagles are now 10-0 against the Highlanders.
"We made a lot of defensive plays and it came from a lot of different people," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "We forced some turnovers in the first half that led to some runout layups and some easy baskets."
Junior Nasrin Ulel led the way for the Eagles. Ulel finished with 16 points while going 4 of 6 at the 3-point line and adding three rebounds, four steals and a block. With her 16 points, Ulel now has 738 in her career and is 12 shy of passing China Dow (749, 2016-18) for 13th all-time.
Not too far behind Ulel is redshirt junior Keri Jewett-Giles. The hometown hero of Ft. Myers had 12 point and three assists. Jewett-Giles' 12 points put her at 762 in her career.
Redshirt senior Destiny Washington finished with nine points. Washington added three rebounds, a block and two steals.With her nine points, Washington now has 933 in her career and her three rebounds put her at 615.
Redshirt senior Lisa Zderadicka finished with five points, which gives her 971 in her NCAA career as she continues to approach the milestone 1,000 plateau. Zderadicka also added four assists and three steals. With her four assists, Zderadicka now has 328 in her career.
In the opening quarter, the Eagles shot 7-for-14 from 3-point range, which included a 4-for-4 performance from Ulel. At the half, the Eagles held an 8-2 advantage in offensive rebounds, which led to five second-chance points, and they assisted on 10 of 17 field goals. In fact, the Eagles had one more made field goal than NJIT had attempts in the first 20 minutes.
FGCU then forced NJIT into a 2-for-11 shooting performance in the third quarter, which led to a seven-point frame for the Highlanders.
Overall, the Eagles outscored the home team 30-0 in points off turnovers and 17-0 in fast break points. The bench held a 22-4 scoring advantage, led by nine points from redshirt junior Davion Wingate and eight from redshirt sophomore Chandler Ryan. Wingate added three rebounds and a season-high four steals. With her nine points, Wingate now has 773 points in her career.
FGCU finished 11-for-35 from 3-point range to produce the 250th game in program history with at least 10 made from long distance, which includes 13 times this year over 20 games. This season is the 11th straight with at least 15 such games, too.
The Eagles finished undefeated in the month of January and have now won seven consecutive games, which ties a season-best streak, and they've won 14 straight in A-SUN regular season play dating back to last year. Overall, they are 177-16 all-time against A-SUN teams, including a 115-4 record since 2011-12, and they will now return home for two straight where they own a dominant 93-2 record against A-SUN teams, including wins in 86 of the past 87 conference matchups dating back to Jan. 22, 2009.
Junior Tytiona Adderly finished with three points and eight rebounds, and is now just three offensive rebounds shy of joining Sarah Hansen (329, 2010-14) as one of only two players in program history with at least 300. She also needs 17 more total rebounds to surpass Whitney Knight (735, 2011-16) for second-most in program history. As for her four defensive rebounds, Adderly has passed Adrianne McNally (418, 2002-04) for fourth all-time and Courtney Chihil (420, 2008-12) for third all-time. The Jupiter, Florida native's next milestone is Hansen (558) for second all-time.
Up Next:
FGCU now returns home to battle Jacksonville on Saturday and North Alabama next Tuesday. Fans are encouraged to wear blue on Saturday and pink on Tuesday.
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