Raining 3s vs Lipscomb Preview

The FGCU women's basketball team (13-4, 4-0 A-SUN) will host Lipscomb (2-15, 0-4 A-SUN) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in a battle between the only undefeated team and the lone winless team in conference play. The Eagles will be looking to extend its A-SUN regular season winning streak to 12 games.

Last Time Out:
The Eagles are coming off of a three-game road trip where they defeated A-SUN newcomer North Alabama (68-52), UNF (105-66) and Kennesaw (69-46).

Offensively, junior Nasrin Ulel and redshirt junior Keri Jewett-Giles lead the way.

Although being held to three points and two rebounds against Kennesaw, Ulel is averaging 14.2 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. Ulel has 692 points in her career and has sits 17th all-time after passing DyTiesha Dunson (673, 2012-16), Robyn Swain (675, 2002-04) and Delia De La Torre (683, 2006-08). Ulel will have two more upcoming milestones in sight: becoming the 17th player to reach 700 career points and surpass Andrea Clarke (726, 2003-05) for 16th all-time.

Jewett-Giles is averaging 12.6 points and 2.6 assists per game. Jewett-Giles was held to five points and two assists.

The Empress of Assists:
Now earning the title of "Empress of Assists" is redshirt senior Lisa Zderadicka. Zderadicka is averaging 9.7 points and 3.7 assists per game. Against UNA, Zderadicka had 14 points and five assists, against UNF, she earned something that she never had, even at Houston Baptist: her first collegiate double-double of 15 points and 10 assists and against Kennesaw she had 15 points and three assists. Zderadicka's 10 assists against UNF was a career-high for her and currently has 314 career assists, including the 152 assists with Houston Baptist. Zderadicka became the fourth player to record double-digit assists against an A-SUN opponent as her 10 assists tied with Brittany Kennedy (12), associate head coach Chelsea Banbury (10) and Shannon Murphy (10 twice) for the fifth most in a single game.

The Rebound Queens:
As far as rebounding, leading the way for the Eagles in the category are junior Tytionia Adderly and redshirt senior Destiny Washington.

Adderly is averaging 5.8 points and 8.2 rebounds per game. Adderly had eight points, six rebounds, three assists and a steal against UNA, five points and 11 rebounds (two offensive, nine defensive) against UNF and nine points and 13 rebounds (nine offensive, four defensive) against Kennesaw. Adderly has 289 career offensive rebounds and is 41 shy of passing Sarah Hansen (329, 2010-14) as the all-time leader while for defensive rebounds, she has 409 in her career as she passed Robyn Swain (404, 2002-14) for fifth all-time. In overall rebounds, Adderly has 698 (3rd all-time) and trails only Whitney Knight (735, 2nd all-time) and Sarah Hansen (887, all-time leader). In addition, Adderly is five points shy of reaching 500 career points.

Meanwhile, Washington is averaging 7.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. The Loyola Chicago/Ball State transfer had two straight double-doubles against UNA (20 points and 11 rebounds) and UNF (10 points and 10 rebounds) before . As a result, Washington was named A-SUN Newcomer of the Week for the second straight time.

"Des has just been playing better and better," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "She is starting to see her opportunities to make plays, and she is making the most of them."

She Got Smarts:
Redshirt sophomore Chandler Ryan continues to "make it rain" inside the classroom (no pun intended). Ryan, who is averaging 8.3 points per game, was named FGCU's Scholar-Athlete of the Month for the month of December. Ryan carries a 3.81 GPA and will graduate this semester with Magna Cum Laude honors after just three years.

"Chandler is an excellent student who takes her academics very seriously," said Smesko. "She's also performed well on the court this season."

Milestones:
The trio of Zderadicka, Washington and Wingate continue to trend toward 1,000 points in their NCAA careers (Zderadicka, 95; Washington, 912; Wingate, 752).

Another milestone for Washington is in rebounds. Washington currently has 593 career rebounds and is seven shy of reaching 600.

Scouting Lipscomb:
The Lady Bison enter Tuesday's matchup on a 14-game losing streak that dates back to Nov. 17. Their last win came against Alabama A&M (62-58) on Nov. 15. They actually started the season 2-1, but have struggled to replace reigning A-SUN player of the Year, Loren Cagle, who graduated after last season. The Lady Bison are coming off of a 80-67 loss to NJIT.

Sophomore Taylor Clark leads the team in points per game (11.1) while also averaging 4.6 rebounds per game. In the game against NJIT, Clark had 19 points and seven rebounds.

Not too far behind Clark offensively are junior Lauren Rau and freshman Jane Deason (7.4) (4.8).

Rau is averaging 8.9 points, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals per game. Against NJIT, she had 27 points, four assists and three steals.

Deason is averaging 7.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Against NJIT, Deason had five points and nine rebounds.

Series History:
FGCU is 23-0 all-time against Lipscomb, including a pair of 100-point outings. The Eagles have never won by fewer than 11 points, which came on Jan. 29, 2011 in a 62-51 road win. Last series between both teams, the Eagles swept the Lady Bison at home (88-52) and on the road (68-54) before defeating Lipscomb in the A-SUN Conference Tournament Semifinals at FGCU (105-55).

How to Keep Up:
Livestats will be available for the game and will air on ESPN+. Commentary will be done by play-by-play commentator David Moulton and color commentator J. Webb Horton.

Fans can also keep updated on the teams' Twitter accounts:
FGCU: @FGCU_WBB

Lipscomb: @LipscombWBB

ESPN+:
The A-SUN will air on the new, subscription-based digital platform ESPN+, which will be the new home for select FGCU and A-SUN games and event broadcasts. Subscribers can try the new app for free for 30 days, which follows to $4.99 a month or $39.99 per-year fee afterwards based on the viewers subscription choice.

Livestats Link: http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=244118

Livstream Link: http://www.espn.com/watch/_/id/7762c669-f863-4b90-9d45-a14173637e2c/lipscomb-vs-florida-gulf-coast

No comments:

Featured Post

Rodrigues Set for National Tournament Appearance

Augusta, Ga - Former SCF court volleyball player Giulia Rodrigues (2020-22) will be the next Manatee to make a national tournament appearanc...