FGCU WBB @ UNF Recap

Senior Nasrin Ulel led four players in double-figures with 16 points as the No. 25 FGCU women's basketball team (17-2, 4-0 A-SUN) defeated North Florida (9-8, 2-2 A-SUN) on Monday in UNF Arena for the team's sixth-straight win. With the victory, the Eagles become the first team to reach 17 wins nationally and pushed the program's A-SUN winning streak to 32 in a row, which is the third-longest in the nation. They also improve to 13-2 as a ranked Division I team and 25-3 in the all-time series with the Ospreys.

"That was an important win," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "We had a very good first quarter, which allowed us to set the tone, and we did a good job taking care of the ball."

Ulel, who scored seven of her 10 first quarter points in the final three minutes as the Eagles closed the frame on an 11-0 run, finished 6-for-12 from the field for her game-high scoring total. She added six rebounds, a game-high four assists and a steal.

With her two 3-pointers, the Golden State native is now two shy of becoming just the fifth player in the program's Division I era to produce 200 in a career, and she surpassed Stephanie Haas (414, 2012-16) for the fifth-most overall field goals made in a career on Monday, pushing her total to 417.

Before Ulel's offensive output, redshirt senior Ashli O'Neal provided a spark off the bench for FGCU in the opening quarter. She drew a charge shortly after entering before finishing with seven points, two assists, two rebounds and two steals during a 21-4 run to close the quarter. O'Neal is now 11 points shy of reaching 1,000 career points.

After starting 0-for-3 from the field, redshirt senior Davion Wingate produced a steal with 1:36 left in the first half, which sparked her offensively as the senior scored seven points in the final 90 seconds to give FGCU an 18-point lead at the break after North Florida had trimmed its deficit to single digits with 2:34 left.

Wingate wound up finishing second on the team in scoring with 14, while adding four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block. She made 6-of-11 from the field, including 2-of-4 from long distance.

FGCU held a 20-0 advantage in points off turnovers and scored 26 of the game's 28 points in the paint over the first 20 minutes. The Eagles also held UNF's second-leading scorer, Jazz Bond, scoreless with an 0-for-4 start from the field and just four rebounds in 17 minutes of action during the half. Meanwhile, the Green and Blue produced points from seven different players.

The Ospreys opened the second half on a 7-3 run and trimmed the deficit to 14 over the first 3:30 while FGCU went 1-for-5 from the field and tallied the first of only five turnovers for the whole game during that stretch.

Ulel would help her team come out of the funk in a big way, though, as the senior guard connected on a pair of free throws to start a 21-0 run. Sophomore Tanner Bryant followed with a driving layup on the left side, redshirt junior Kerstie Phills converted back-to-back 3-pointers and Wingate scored five straight.

redshirt senior Keri Jewett-Giles, who finished with 11 points, then made a jumper with 24 seconds left in the quarter to complete the run and give the Eagles a 65-30 lead as FGCU emptied the bench and cruised to the win. Phills chipped in 10 points overall while shooting 4-for-6 from the field and making two of her three attempts from long distance.

Jewett-Giles added eight rebounds (two shy of her career-high), two assists and one steal. It was her fifth-straight game with at least five boards, and she's averaging eight over the past three outings. Furthermore, she eclipsed 700 points in her FGCU career on Monday and now has 710.

Senior Tytionia Adderly, who was limited to just 15 minutes due to foul trouble and the scoring margin, registered five points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists. She is just six rebounds shy of passing Kayla Gordon (Jacksonville, 1,031, 2014-18) for 10th place on the A-SUN's all-time rebounding list.

Up Next:
With the win, FGCU is now set up for a first-place showdown with North Alabama (13-3, 4-0) on the road Saturday in Florence, Ala. at 2 p.m. ET. The Eagles will then return home for a pair of games.