For the second straight season, it has happened again. Raining 3s has punched their ticket to the 2019 NCAA National Tournament. With that being said let us begin the story all the way to the start of the season.
The FGCU women's basketball team (28-4) began the season on the road in South Dakota to face South Dakota State losing 80-62.
Did that hurt them? Of course, but would one loss effect their outcome to start? Hard to say really.
Returning home, the Eagles were able to do light work in victory as they pulled away with wins over NAIA Florida Memorial (99-68) and FIU (100-58) before traveling to Hawaii for the Wahine Showdown finishing 2-1, beginning with a loss to then #8 Stanford (88-65) before earning victories over host Hawaii (73-67) and American (90-71).
After returning home for a brief home game in close victory over Houston (76-71) and a brief road game against Saint Francis (Pa.) (83-69), the Eagles pulled away with three wins over NAIA Johnson and Wales (109-64), Abilene Christian (81-65) and Coppin State (93-61) before losing to UAB (62-60) to close their final non-conference home game and falling to Duke (57-41) in their final non-conference road game before conference, where they played in success winning all 16 games in the A-SUN.
Now let's fast forward to today where FGCU was set to play Liberty (16-16) in the finals where it took place inside the Alico Arena. What's at stake? The winner of the A-SUN tournament will punch their ticket to the 2019 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament and represent the A-SUN.
What would happen if they FGCU lost? What would happen for them? Well here's the scenario:
Should FGCU lose, they would still be in tournament contention, not necessarily for the national tournament. Raining 3s did win the A-SUN Regular Season Championship, so they would be automatically eligible to compete in the 2019 WNIT for the first time since 2016.
Now to the result:
For the sixth time in the past eight seasons, the 30th-ranked and top-seeded FGCU women's basketball team is headed to the Big Dance after a dominating 72-49 win over 3rd-seeded Liberty in the A-SUN championship game inside Alico Arena on Sunday. With the win, the Eagles became the first team to defeat the Lady Flames three times in a season since UNCG in 1995-96.
"I thought we got off to a great start today," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "Keri scored a bunch early for us and really helped us get a lead. I think everybody started to get energy at that point. It was just nice that it was a game where everybody played well and we could count on everybody to make positive contributions. We're really proud of this accomplishment and look forward to the NCAA Tournament."
"I'm proud of the team," Liberty head coach Carey Green said. "They have continued to develop a culture as a team, and they fought all the way to the end. The damage was done in the first quarter. We got ourselves in such a big hole early on. I'd like to congratulate FGCU. They're an outstanding team."
After senior Keri Jewett-Giles scored 11 of the game's first 13 points, FGCU took its first 10-point lead when redshirt sophomore Chandler Ryan grabbed a steal and converted a 3-pointer in transition with just under four minutes left.
The Eagles then closed the opening frame on a 10-0 run to take a 26-8 lead. The spurt included four points from Junior Nasrin Ulel and was highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from redshirt senior Destiny Washington and Ryan.
Junior Tytionia Adderly sank two free throws to push the lead to as many as 26 with 2:26 left in the half. Liberty scored eight of the next 12 points following that, but FGCU led 44-24 at the break.
Ulel (3-pointer) and Washington (layup) combined for five points to open the second half, and Jewett-Giles added a fast break layup midway through the quarter for a 27-point margin. The lead grew to as many as 31 in the second half following a free throw from Jewett-Giles with 4:34 left in the fourth before Smesko emptied the bench for an Eagles
Jewett-Giles scored a game-high 21 points on 7-for-15 shooting. She scored the game's first seven points in the opening minute and added six rebounds and six assists. Redshirt junior Davion Wingate added 14 points on 6-for-7 shooting, while Washington chipped in 12 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Adderly produced a game-high 12 rebounds along with six assists and four rebounds.
For Liberty, Emily Lytle (team-high 14 points and two rebounds) and Ria Gulley (12 points and four rebounds) led the way offensively while Kierra Johnson-Graham chipped in with nine points and 11 rebounds.
At the end of the game and before the cutting of the net, the A-SUN All-Tournament team was announced:
Lytle and Johnson-Graham represented Liberty while Adderly, Ulel and Jewett-Giles represented FGCU. Jewett-Giles was also named A-SUN All-Tournament Team MVP.
Ty Purifoy from UNF and Kamiyah Street from Kennesaw State were also named on the A-SUN All-Tournament Team, but were not in attendance due to being eliminated from the tournament.
Ruined Aftermath:
Monday, the selection was scheduled to be announced on who FGCU plays and where they are located to play, however ESPN accidentally released the full bracket, which obviously spoiled the moments for all the team, including the at-large bids. I mean how upsetting and unfair is it that ESPN ruined the surprise for fans that want to watch and be surprised by the result.
It's too late now. In the end, the Eagles' opponent was going to be Miami (24-8) in the Miami Regional, which is part of the Portland Regional and were talking the "U", not Miami in Ohio that no one really talks about with the exception of Ben Roethlisberger from the Pittsburgh Steelers. For the game, FGCU was listed as the #13 seed while Miami was listed as the #4 seed.
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