FGCU WBB vs Kennesaw State Recap

Redshirt senior Keri Jewett-Giles produced her second-straight 20-point effort to lead the FGCU women's basketball team (19-2, 6-0 A-SUN) to an 80-63 win over Kennesaw State (8-8, 2-3 A-SUN) inside Alico Arena on Monday.

With the win, the Eagles became the first team nationally to reach 19 wins, stretched its overall winning streak to eight and have won 34 consecutive games against A-SUN competition. They are now 26-2 all-time against Kennesaw State with wins in 20 straight. FGCU will be back in action Saturday at home against NJIT.

"We got off to a good start," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "When we were moving the ball and sharing it, we were getting really good shots and everyone was contributing on the offensive end. I thought our defense in the first quarter and a half was really good. We were helping one another and playing with a lot of intensity. The second half, I give Kennesaw credit. They kept fighting, and I didn't feel like we responded quite as well, but it was a good win, and I was happy to see Ashli get her 1,000th point."

On the same night her teammate senior Tytionia Adderly was honored prior to the game for becoming the first player in program history to reach 1,000 career rebounds, redshirt senior Ashli O'Neal became the 18th player to reach 1,000 points while wearing the Green and Blue with a left-handed layup just minutes into the second quarter. She finished with eight points and four assists as the Eagles are now the only team in the nation with four 1,000-point guards. FGCU also joined Oregon as one of only two teams nationally with four at any position.

Jewett-Giles, meanwhile, recorded a team-high 20 points, a game-high seven assists, a team-high three steals and three rebounds while producing her third 20-point effort over six conference games this year. Redshirt senior Davion Wingate added 14 points, four assists and two rebounds on 6-for-8 shooting over 22 minutes, while senior Nasrin Ulel chipped in 11 points and two steals on 3-for-6 shooting from long distance.

Two others also tallied nine points apiece as Adderly registered nine points, nine rebounds and three assists, while redshirt junior Kerstie Phills had nine points, seven rebounds and two steals. For Adderly, it was the fifth time this year she fell just short of double-digits with nine rebounds.

After shooting just 13-for-46 from long distance as a team over the past two games combined, nine different Eagles registered a make as the team finished 13-for-29 for a season-best .448 percentage from 3-point range. It was FGCU's 13th game this year with at least 10 makes.

The Eagles scored the game's first nine points via four different players and jumped out to a 20-4 lead through seven minutes following back-to-back baskets from Wingate. A layup from Jewett-Giles stretched the margin to 20 with 7:56 left in the half, and a 3-pointer from Wingate gave the Green and Blue its largest lead of the half, 24, with 1:33 left.

Kennesaw State closed the game by scoring 23 of the final 32 points after O'Neal's 3-pointer with 8:02 left gave FGCU its largest lead, 71-40.

Notes:
Earlier in the day, FGCU was once again seeded eighth in the latest version of Bracketology by Charlie Crème, projected to open the NCAA Tournament against No. 9 Oklahoma with a potential second round matchup against No. 1 Louisville.

Jewett-Giles surpassed China Dow (749, 2016-18) for the third-most points by a two-year transfer in program history. She has 755, trailing only Rosemarie Julien (862, 2016-18) and Chelsea Lyles (839, 2008-10). Meanwhile, Wingate moved up to fifth on the same list, pushing her total to 593.

The 20-point effort from Jewett-Giles was her seventh such performance of the season, including the 14th of her career. It was also her 60th career double-digit scoring game, joining Wingate in the exclusive club. Ulel is also one shy of joining them after tallying her 59th on Monday.

FGCU is now 275-20 all-time in Alico Arena, including 102-2 in A-SUN regular season games.

Adderly tied Courtney Chihil (111, 2008-12) for the third-most starts in program history, and she also surpassed Chihil for sole possession of 10th place on the program's games played list with 121.

Ulel, who made three 3-point field goals against Kennesaw State, became the fifth player in the program's Division I era with 200 made 3-point field goals, joining Kelsey Jacobson (330), Taylor Gradinjan (299), Whitney Knight (294) and Shannon Murphy (219). She now has 202 over 600 attempts, while also surpassing Gradinjan (424, 2012-18) on the era's career field goals made list, pushing that total to 425. On top of all that, she jumped Adrianne McNally (1,181, 2007-10) and Shannon Murphy (1,185, 2007-11) for the sixth-most career points in the Green and Blue.

Kennesaw's senior Carlotta Gianolla reached 1,000 career points.