FGCU WBB @ Princeton Recap

Outside of a two-minute stretch late in the first quarter, the FGCU women's basketball team (3-1) struggled to get things going offensively in a 67-53 loss to Princeton (4-0) on the road in Jadwin Gymnasium on Sunday afternoon.

"It was a tough game for us today," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "Princeton played great and made things difficult. We need to move the ball more and be more active on defense."

Down 14-6, the Eagles went on an 11-2 run to close the opening quarter. Nasrin Ulel hit a running floater in the lane at the buzzer to give FGCU a 17-16 lead. During that stretch, the Green and Blue went 5-for-6 from the field with two steals, led by seven straight points from Keri Jewett-Giles.

Things went downhill from there, though. With her team still holding that one-point lead and 8:29 left in the next quarter, Ulel picked up her third foul and had to sit the rest of the half. Along with that, FGCU opened the quarter 0-for-11 from the field and failed to connect until Davion Wingate banked in a 3-pointer with 2:44 left in the half.

Those things helped Princeton open up a 35-25 lead at the half, and despite a layup from Ulel on the first possession of the third quarter, Princeton pushed its lead to 19 with 6:19 left in the third following a 11-0 run.

Jewett-Giles and Alyssa Blair nailed back-to-back 3-pointers with just over two minutes left in the quarter to pull the Eagles within 11, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the game. 

Outside of that 5-for-6 stretch to close the opening quarter, FGCU shot 16-for-59, or 27 percent, from the field.

Jewett-Giles finished with a team-high 16 points, while Ulel had 13 and Wingate had 12. The trio combined for 41 of the team's 53 points.

Tytionia Adderly, who had a game-high 10 rebounds along with three points, four steals and an assist, is now four rebounds shy of breaking FGCU's career rebounding record, which is currently held by Sarah Hansen (887, 2010-14). Adderly  also moved up two spots to 18th on the A-SUN's all-time career list, surpassing Haley Nelson (Belmont, 2008-12, 880) and Jessica Bobbitt (Belmont, 2005-09, 878). Next up is Chelsea McMillan (USC Upstate, 2008-11, 886).

Notes:
Both teams entered the game ranked within the top 10 of the CollegeInsider.com and espnW mid-major polls. The Eagles are fifth and seventh, while the Tigers are ninth and sixth, respectively.

FGCU is now 4-1 all-time against the Ivy League.

Several players inched closer to 1,000 points in their NCAA careers, including Ulel (971), Jewett-Giles (966), Wingate (956). Ashli O'Neal also has 872.

Sunday's loss also snapped FGCU's 19-game regular season winning streak, which was tied for the fourth-longest in the program's Division I era.