Amidst the hottest offensive start in program history, the FGCU women's basketball team (2-0) will host UCF (1-1) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. inside Alico Arena in a matchup of reigning NCAA Tournament teams.
Big Time Matchup:
FGCU and UCF each competed in the NCAA Tournament in Miami last year and received votes in the initial USA Today Coaches Poll this season. The Knights, who went 26-7 last year, knocked off Power 5 school, Pittsburgh, in their season opener and their lone loss came to mid-major power Belmont on the road.
It will be the first meeting between the two in seven years and the first time they've met this early in the season. The Green and Blue hold a 3-1 record all-time in the series, although UCF pulled out a 60-53 win on Dec. 22, 2012 the last time the two teams met in Alico Arena.
Torrid Start:
The Eagles have scored 199 points through two games this year, which is 14 more than any other team in the program's Division I era (185, 2014-15) and six more than any team overall in program history (193, 2005-06). They're attempting to produce just the fourth 3-0 start to a Division I season, an accomplishment only achieved by the 2010-11 (14-0), 2017-18 (6-0) and 2013-14 (3-0) teams.
Individually, redshirt senior Davion Wingate has started her senior campaign with 37 points combined in the team's victories over Florida International and Webber International. In doing so, she tied Rosemarie Julien (2017-18), Sarah Hansen (2012-13) and Nicoya Jackson (2011-12) for the third-most points through two games in the program's Division I era. The only two better were senior Nasrin Ulel (45, 2017-18) and Whitney Knight (39, 2013-14).
Additionally, Wingate and redshirt junior Anja Marinkovic had 23 and 20 points, respectively, last Thursday to become the first duo in 14 years - and the first in the Division I era - to both score 20 or more in a home opener. Kate Schrader (22) and Ebonie Halliburton (20) last did it in the 2005-06 season, while Trish Fleming (31) and Jennifer Santana (17) did it in 2002-03 - although that performance came in what is now Hertz Arena as Alico Arena wasn't finished yet.
Marinkovic's 20-point performance not only came over just 12 minutes of play, but she joined Wingate and Ulel as one of three players with six made 3-pointers so far this year. In fact, both her (28 points in 21 minutes) and Wingate (37 points in 35 minutes) have each scored more than a point per minute so far.
All of that may be secondary to the NCAA record-shattering performance by the Eagles to open the season. In a 100-54 win over Florida International on the road, FGCU became the first Division I women's basketball team in NCAA history to outscore an opponent by 39 points in a quarter. In fact, the 41-2 second quarter represented the fifth-most points scored by a team since the NCAA switched to quarters, and the first half featured a 47-0 run by the Green and Blue. Defensively, the two points allowed over that 10-minute stretch is tied for the second-fewest the team has allowed in any quarter all-time.
Notes:
The Eagles have several players nearing 1,000 points in their NCAA career: Ulel (950), redshirt senior Keri Jewett-Giles (937), Wingate (915) and grad student Ashli O'Neal (872).
Senior Tytionia Adderly continues her push to become the program's all-time rebounds leader. The senior has 15 this year and 861 for her career, which is 27 shy of surpassing Sarah Hansen (887, 2010-14) for the record. She is also attempting to become the first player in program history with 1,000 rebounds, which would also make her only the 12th in A-SUN history to achieve that milestone. She currently ranks 21st in conference history, 15 shy of passing Lamilia Ford (Stetson, 1993-96, 873) for a spot in the top 20.
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