"We're excited to get a big win over a good team," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "I thought their length and athleticism had us a little out of sorts early. We did a better job of moving the ball and attacking once the second quarter came. I thought the biggest part of the game was the beginning of the third quarter when we came out and made a bunch of plays. Davion went off, hit a bunch of threes, and we did a good job finding her when she was open. It was a great team effort."
In addition to Wingate and Ulel, Ashli O'Neal added 12 points along with a season and game-high four steals as the trio combined for 69 of FGCU's 78 points. Tytionia Adderly had a career-high 10 assists to go along with nine rebounds. O'Neal, who missed the team's win over Temple, returned to register her fourth double-figure scoring output of the season. Her previous season-high in steals was three against Johnson and Wales.
Wingate became the first player in program history to record back-to-back games with at least 30 points. She made 10 field goals for the second consecutive game and increased her 3-point field goal percentage on the season to .507 (37-for-73), which ranks among the top five in the nation.
Meanwhile, Ulel continued a hot stretch that has seen her produce two 20-plus point performances over the past four games. She finished 9-for-14 overall from the field, including 4-for-7 from 3-point range, and is now averaging 17.8 points since Dec. 17.
Duke's Haley Gorecki (19) and Kyra Lambert (10), who combined for 29 points, each made a 3-pointer as the Blue Devils jumped out to 8-3 and 10-6 leads to open the game. Following that hot start, though, FGCU's defense held them to a 1-for-15 finish from 3-point range over the game's final 37 minutes.
Meanwhile, after opening 3-for-15 from the field as a team over the first 10 minutes, FGCU went 18-for-30 combined over the next two quarters as the duo of Ulel and Wingate took over.
Ulel shot 5-for-5 from the field, including 3-for-3 from 3-point range, while scoring 17 of her 20 first-half points in the second quarter alone. O'Neal also scored seven of her 12 points in the frame. Wingate then scored 16 points on 6-for-9 shooting (4-for-7 from 3-point range) in the third quarter to help FGCU stretch a seven-point halftime lead to 17 entering the fourth.
Notes:
FGCU is now 7-10 all-time against the ACC, which signifies their most wins against any Power 5 conference.
Following her nine rebounds, Adderly is now nine shy of becoming the first player in program history, including just the third active NCAA Division I player, to record 1,000 in her career.
Wingate now has 56 career double-digit scoring games, which the most among any player on the roster, and she also tallied her 15th career-game with 20 or more points, which is also a team-best. Impressively, it was also her fifth such performance of the season, including her third with 25 or more.
As a team, the Eagles made 11 3-pointers, which increased their nation-best total to 190. It was the team's 10th game this year with double-digits.
Up Next:
The Eagles, who are currently tied with Florida State (13-0) for the most victories in the nation, will open A-SUN play next Saturday at 4 p.m. against Lipscomb in Alico Arena. It was the team's second win over an ACC opponent this year (Notre Dame), and FGCU improved to 2-1 against Power 5 teams on the season.
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