Junior Nasrin Ulel poured in a game-high 26 points to lead the FGCU women's basketball team (17-4, 8-0 A-SUN) to an 82-58 win over Jacksonville (11-11, 4-5) in Alico Arena on Saturday. It was the team's eighth-straight win, which is a new season-high, and the Eagles stretched the program's regular season conference winning streak to 15. With the win, the Eagles are now 24-3 against the Dolphins.
"This was a very tough game, a very physical game," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "I thought Jacksonville played very well. They really crashed the offensive boards and challenged us really well, and I thought we responded well. Nas had an outstanding game. Our guards played very well - Keri and Lisa. And then, Des with the double-double. She came up big for us on both ends of the court."
Ulel's 26 points was two shy of matching her season and career-high. She finished 11-for-18 from the field in 38 minutes while adding two rebounds and two steals. Her point total is tied for seventh-most against an A-SUN opponent in program history, and her field goal total is tied for third-most against a conference team - just two shy of Kaneisha Atwater's 13 against Kennesaw State on Jan. 24, 2015.
Furthermore, Ulel surpassed China Dow (749, 2016-18) on the program's career scoring list and is just 36 points from becoming the 13th player to reach 800 career points in the Green and Blue's Division-I era.
Outside of Ulel, a trio of others scored in double figures including redshirt junior Keri Jewett-Giles (16 points, five steals, three assists), and redshirt seniors Lisa Zderadicka (13 points, six assists, five rebounds) and Destiny Washington (10 points, 10 rebounds, two blocks). Zderadicka six assists put her at 334 in her career while Washington's two blocks put her at 122 in her career which include the combined 95 blocks she had with Loyola Chicago and Ball State.
Junior Tytionia Adderly added eight points, eight rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal. Those five players have now started every conference game and are producing 72.9 percent of the Eagles' points in A-SUN play.
The Eagles scored 15 of the game's first 18 points, but Jacksonville's Jasmyn Brown drained a trio of 3-point field goals over the first quarter's final 2:31, including one on a five-point possession with just over a minute left, to pull her team within three.
Zderadicka responded by scoring four points in a 10-2 run that pushed FGCU's lead to 11 with 6:04 left in the half. A few minutes later, redshirt sophomore Chandler Ryan's 3-pointer pushed the margin to 15, although Brown's jumper in the final minute trimmed her team's deficit to just eight at the break.
Ulel scored eight of her 26 points in the third quarter as the Eagles went 8-for-14 from the field to take a 60-46 lead. Jewett-Giles and Zderadicka also combined for 11 in the frame as FGCU pushed its lead to as many as 17 in the final minute.
Then, with Jacksonville down 14 after a Mariah Batz jumper with 5:53 left in the game, Ulel dashed any hopes of a comeback by scoring six straight points to spur a 10-0 run over the next four minutes.
As a team, FGCU finished 31-for-53 (58.5 percent), which was the team's highest shooting percentage against a Division-I team this year. They also shot 13-for-15 from the foul line, which was their second-best percentage (.867) of the year. On the other end, Jacksonville produced 19 offensive rebounds - a season-high for an opponent against the Eagles - which led to a 12-4 advantage in second-chance points. Conversely, the Green and Blue held advantages in points down low (44-28), points off turnovers (21-12) and fast break points (17-2).
Jacksonville's Trudy Walker, who entered the game averaging 10.4 points and a conference-best 10.1 rebounds, was held in check by the FGCU defense. The senior forward recorded just four points and one rebound in 13 minutes.
Ulel's 26-point effort on Saturday gives her 123 in A-SUN play this year, which is three more than she had all of last year over 14 games. Her 15.4 PPG in conference play is on pace to be the second-best single-season in program history behind Sarah Hansen's 2012-13 campaign, where she averaged 16.4 points over 18 conference games.
Adderly's eight rebounds pushes her career total in A-SUN play to 306, which is fourth-best in program history. Next up on the list is Whitney Knight (355, 2011-16).
Furthermore, Adderly's eight defensive rebounds and has 428 in her career The Jupiter native's next milestone is Hansen (558) for second all-time.
In her overall career, Adderly's eight rebounds put her at 728 and is six shy of passing Knight (735) for second all-time.
Zderadicka (984), Washington (936), Jewett-Giles (766) and redshirt junior Davion Wingate (768) inch closer to reaching the 1,000 point milestone.
Up Next:
The Eagles will now clash with second-place North Alabama (16-2, 7-1) on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Alico Arena.
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