Davion Wingate registered 14 of her game-high 15 points in the second half to lead the FGCU women's basketball team (25-4, 16-0 A-SUN) to a 61-42 win over Stetson (16-14, 11-5 A-SUN) in Alico Arena on Tuesday. With the win, the Eagles are now 25-4 all-time against Stetson, which includes five straight wins.
"I was really proud of Davion," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "The second half, when we were kind of out of sync and our mind was elsewhere, I thought she was the one who made a lot of big plays. She hit open threes, which was huge, but she also found the shooter in conversion, drew an offensive foul and was doing other things to help us. Her second half was really the difference that helped us keep enough of a lead to where we weren't in a panic situation."
"As far as the body of work, I am proud of this group," Stetson head coach Lynn Bria said. "With all the adversity we've had, we've been through a lot, we have put ourselves in a good position, and I am proud of them for that."
The victory allowed FGCU to clinch its fifth undefeated conference regular season since 2011-12 and produce its ninth-consecutive season with at least 25 victories. They have won 23 straight and 29 of the past 30 A-SUN regular season games dating back to last year. Additionally, the team's current 16-game overall winning streak is the fourth-longest in the nation, moving ahead of North Carolina A&T's 15-game streak.
Wingate finished 5-for-8 from the field, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range, in the second half alone and totaled 15 points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal in 22 minutes overall. Four others also reached double-figures in points including redshirt senior Destiny Washington (13), junior Nasrin Ulel (11) and senior Keri Jewett-Giles (10).
Neither team shot the ball well in the opening quarter as Stetson led 10-9 with 1:12 left. Washington, though, converted a pair of layups to highlight an 8-0 run that spilled into the second quarter.
Moments later, Jewett-Giles and redshirt sophomore Chandler Ryan hit back-to-back 3-pointers to give FGCU a 23-11 lead. Down the stretch, junior Tytionia Adderly and Ulel each added 3-pointers as the Green and Blue took an 18-point lead into the break.
Just over three minutes into the second half, Washington put the Eagles on the board with a layup, but Stetson opened the frame on a 7-2 run over the first 7:11 to pull within 13. That's when Wingate buried back-to-back 3-pointers to help FGCU take a 51-30 lead into the final quarter. She then added eight more points over the first five minutes of the fourth to put the game away.
Notes:
Adderly's six rebounds moves her within two of becoming just the second player in program history along with Sarah Hansen to compile at least 800 in a career. She also chipped in four assists and a game-high four steals against the Hatters. With half of her rebounds on the offensive side, Adderly now has 320 career offensive rebounds and is 10 away from passing Hansen (329) as the all-time leader in offensive boards.
Jewett-Giles, meanwhile, had a solid all-around game by producing six rebounds, a game-high six assists and two steals to go along with her 10 points. It was her third consecutive double-digit scoring effort, and she's averaging 16.3 PPG over that stretch.
Ryan nearly reached double figures before finishing with nine points on 3-for-5 shooting from long distance in 13 minutes off the bench.
FGCU's 16-game regular season winning streak, which will carry into next year's season-opener, is just one shy of matching the 17-game streak achieved Jan. 10, 2009 to Nov. 13, 2009 for the sixth-longest in program history.
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