FGCU WBB: Cancun Challenge Preview

The FGCU women's basketball team (5-1) will face tough competition this week in the Cancun Challenge at the Hard Rock Riviera Maya Hotel.

The Eagles are slated for a Thanksgiving Day meeting with defending national runner-up Notre Dame (4-2) before facing No. 20 USF (5-1) on Friday and defending Sweet 16 participant South Dakota State (3-2) on Saturday with all three games at 1:30 p.m. ET. FGCU's game against Florida Memorial on Dec. 9 in Alico Arena will also be considered part of the event.

Cancun Challenge:
The 15th edition of the Cancun Challenge features 10 teams in two groups:

Mayan - FGCU, Notre Dame, South Dakota State and South Florida
Riviera - Creighton, Missouri, New Mexico, North Carolina, Temple and West Virginia

The games will take place in the modified ballroom of the all-inclusive Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya in a setting where teams and fans can walk from their rooms to the restaurants to the games.

The full schedule is as follows, with all game times being in the Eastern time zone and the home teams being listed second.

Thursday, Nov. 28
Mayan Tournament
South Dakota State vs. South Florida, 11 a.m.
FGCU vs. Notre Dame, 1:30 p.m.

Riviera Tournament
Missouri vs. New Mexico, 4 p.m.
West Virginia vs. Creighton, 6 :30 p.m.
Temple vs. North Carolina, 9 p.m.

Friday, Nov. 29
Mayan Tournament
Notre Dame vs. South Dakota State, 11 a.m.
South Florida vs. FGCU, 1:30 p.m.

Riviera Tournament
New Mexico vs. West Virginia, 4 p.m.
North Carolina vs. Missouri, 6:30 p.m.
Creighton vs. Temple, 9 p.m.

Saturday, Nov. 30
Mayan Tournament
South Florida vs. Notre Dame, 11 a.m.
South Dakota State vs. FGCU, 1:30 p.m.

Monday, Dec. 9
Florida Memorial vs FGCU, 7 p.m.

In-Depth:
The Notre Dame matchup is an intriguing one for several reasons. It will be the first time Karl Smesko and Notre Dame head coach Muffet McGraw have faced each other. McGraw (2nd, .853) and Smesko (3rd, .815) both rank among the top three winningest women's basketball coaches in Division I history. The duo has combined for 1,109 career victories. Furthermore, each of them has led their programs to nine-straight 25-win seasons, two of only four teams to do that along with UConn and Baylor.

FGCU, meanwhile, owns a 2-2 record all-time against USF with the home team winning each game, although the teams haven't faced each other since the Eagles produced a 60-55 win in Alico Arena on Dec. 4, 2013. Current WNBA star Courtney Williams of the Connecticut Sun scored seven points in that game for USF. This will be the first neutral site matchup in the history of the series. The Eagles are 3-14 all-time against ranked teams at the Division I level - although they're 3-4 in the last seven of those.

South Dakota State, meanwhile, knocked off FGCU 80-62 in Brookings, S.D. last year in the season opener for the Eagles, who own a 2-1 record all-time against the Jackrabbits. Interestingly, the Green and Blue has defeated South Dakota State in Mexico once already - 84-59 on Nov. 29, 2013 in Puerto Vallarta.

FGCU vs. Power-5:
The Notre Dame game will be the first of at least three Power-5 matchups for the Green and Blue in 2019-20, including two in Alico Arena - LSU on Dec. 19 and Duke on Dec. 29. The Eagles are 16-27 all-time in 43 games against such schools.

Power 5 history by location
10-3 in Alico Arena
5-11 in neutral site matchups
1-13 in true road matchups

Power 5 history by conference
5-7 vs SEC
5-10 vs ACC
4-5 vs B1G
1-2 vs Big 12
1-3 vs Pac 12

Power 5 history game-by-game
*11/09/07 - L 93-53 vs No. 19/19 Florida State (Fort Myers, Fla.)
12/04/07 - L 78-52 @ Florida (Gainesville, Fla.)
#03/24/08 - L 60-55 @ Florida (Gainesville, Fla.)
11/14/08 - W 88-86 vs Florida (Fort Myers, Fla.)
11/16/08 - L 81-62 @ No. 21/24 Florida State (Tallahassee, Fla.)
11/21/09 - L 58-48 @ Georgia Tech (Atlanta, Ga.)
12/13/09 - L 94-71 @ No. 21/24 Michigan State (East Lansing, Mich.)
#03/18/10 - L 70-57 @ Miami (Coral Gables, Fla.)
11/25/10 - W 73-65 vs Virginia Tech (Riviera Maya, Mexico)
12/21/10 - W 73-69 vs Indiana (Fort Myers, Fla.)
#03/21/11 - L 74-69 vs Florida (Fort Myers, Fla.)
11/19/11 - W 59-58 vs Michigan State (Fort Myers, Fla.)
12/21/11 - W 69-41 vs Virginia Tech (Fort Myers, Fla.)
12/28/11 - L 69-64 vs NC State (Honolulu, Hawaii)
11/23/12 - L 65-46 vs South Carolina (U.S. Virgin Islands)
12/16/12 - W 63-56 @ Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, Va.)
12/28/12 - W 76-70 vs LSU (Fort Myers, Fla.)
11/26/13 - L 68-47 vs TCU (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)
11/27/13 - L 83-59 vs No. 6/5 Stanford (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)
12/17/13 - L 69-46 @ No. 12/12 LSU (Baton Rouge, La.)
12/21/13 - L 85-56 vs Virginia (Fort Myers, Fla.)
^03/22/14 - L 61-60 (OT) vs Oklahoma State (West Lafayette, Ind.)
11/20/14 - L 72-69 @ Auburn (Auburn, Ala.)
11/28/14 - W 86-61 vs Clemson (U.S. Virgin Islands)
11/29/14 - L 90-83 (2 OT) vs Ohio State (U.S. Virgin Islands)
^03/21/15 - W 75-67 vs Oklahoma State (Tallahassee, Fla.)
^03/23/15 - L 65-47 @ Florida State (Tallahassee, Fla.)
12/19/15 - L 65-60 vs No. 9/9 Mississippi State (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
12/20/15 - W 57-55 vs Arizona (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
12/30/15 - W 52-45 vs Auburn (Fort Myers, Fla.)
#03/21/16 - W 67-48 vs Wake Forest (Fort Myers, Fla.)
#03/31/16 - W 71-62 vs Michigan (Fort Myers, Fla.)
11/25/16 - L 79-66 vs No. 8/8 Ohio State (Estero, Fla.)
12/17/16 - L 82-73 @ Illinois (Champaign, Ill.)
^03/18/17 - L 62-60 @ Miami (Coral Gables, Fla.)
11/12/17 - W 85-61 vs Illinois (Fort Myers, Fla.)
11/24/17 - L 104-62 vs No. 9/8 Ohio State (Las Vegas, Nev.)
12/08/17 - W 70-64 vs No. 20/23 Kentucky (Fort Myers, Fla.)
^03/17/18 - W 80-70 vs No. 17/15 Missouri (Stanford, Calif.)
^03/19/18 - L 90-70 @ No. 15/19 Stanford (Stanford, Calif.)
11/23/18 - L 88-65 vs No. 8/7 Stanford (Honolulu, Hawaii)
12/30/18 - L 57-41 @ Duke (Durham, N.C.)
^03/22/19 - L 69-62 @ Miami (Coral Gables, Fla.)
*FGCU's Division-I debut
^ NCAA Tournament
#WNIT

Road Trippin' with the Green and Blue:
Over the past 10 seasons, FGCU has hit the road to face big-name opponents and tough competition nine times - in addition to hosting the Gulf Coast Showcase in November 2016. This is the team's third trip to Mexico, including the Hardwood Tournament of Hope in Puerto Vallarta in 2013-14 and the Caribbean Challenge in Riviera Maya in 2010-11.

2010-11 - Caribbean Challenge (Riviera Maya, Mexico)
2011-12 - Rainbow Wahine Invitational (Honolulu, Hawaii)
2012-13 - U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam (U.S. Virgin Islands)
2013-14 - Hardwood Tournament of Hope (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico)
2014-15 - U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam (U.S. Virgin Islands)
2015-16 - Puerto Rico Classic (San Juan, Puerto Rico)
2016-17 - Gulf Coast Showcase (Estero, Fla.)
2017-18 - Play4Kay Shootout (Las Vegas, Nevada)
2018-19 - Rainbow Wahine Showdown (Honolulu, Hawaii)
2019-20 - Cancun Challenge (Riviera Maya, Mexico)

Rebounding Legend:
Senior forward Tytionia Adderly pulled down 21 rebounds over two games last week to break Sarah Hansen's (887, 2010-14) career record among players to wear the Green and Blue. She pushed her total to 905 and is now attempting to become the first player in program history with 1,000 rebounds, which would also make her only the 12th in ASUN history to achieve that milestone. She currently ranks 17th in conference history and is 27 away from surpassing Tamika Coley (UCF, 1993-96, 931) for 16th.

Jewett-Giles reaches 1,000, others looking to join her:
With a 3-pointer late in the second half against Saint Francis, Keri Jewett-Giles eclipsed 1,000 points in her NCAA career, which includes 499 in the Green and Blue. Meanwhile, three others are looking to join her this season, including Davion Wingate (996), Nasrin Ulel (981) and Ashli O'Neal (901).

Should all four reach the milestone, it would give FGCU four players on the roster that scored at least 1,000 points in their NCAA career for the first time since the 2015-16 season - Whitney Knight (1,574), Kaneisha Atwater (1,498), Taylor Gradinjan (1,234) and Stephanie Haas (1,138). However, it would be the first season in program history in which four players reached 1,000 points in the same year.

O'Neal wins ASUN newcomer of the week award:
On Tuesday, graduate transfer guard Ashli O'Neal was named the ASUN's newcomer of the week following her season-best 20-point performance off the bench in the team's win over Saint Francis. She tied her career-high with five 3-point field goals in 10 attempts. In doing so, she became the first Eagle this year to win a weekly award from the conference.

Livestats Links: http://cancuntournament.sidearmsports.com/sidearmstats/wbball/summary

Livestream Link: https://www.flohoops.com/signup?redirect=%2Flive%2F12024-2019-women-s-cancun-challenge&utm_campaign=43193womenscancun&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=participatingschools&utm_content=participatingschools&rtid=43193&coverage_id=6356495

Audio Links:
vs Notre Dame: https://und.com/wbb-live-radio-broadcast/
vs USF: https://www.iheart.com/live/usf-bulls-unlimited-7424/
vs South Dakota State: https://gojacks.com/watch/?Live=2775&type=Live