FGCU WBB @ Kennesaw Recap

The duo of Keri Jewett-Giles and Davion Wingate registered a pair of 25-point performances to help lead the No. 22 FGCU women's basketball team (26-2, 13-0 A-SUN) to an 89-64 win over Kennesaw State (12-12, 5-7 A-SUN) on the road Monday. In doing so, the Eagles clinched the program's 10th ASUN regular season championship in outright fashion, which breaks a tie with FIU for the most in conference history, and the No. 1 seed in the A-SUN tournament.

"I thought we got off to a great start," FGCU head coach Karl Smesko said. "We really moved the ball well and shot it exceptionally, which helped us get off to a good lead in the first quarter. Keri was exceptional, and Davion was very explosive offensively. Overall, it was a very good offensive performance."

"Give FGCU credit tonight. They shot the ball really well and came into the game prepared. They did not shoot well against Stetson in their last game and a good team is not going to shoot that poorly two games in a row," said Head Coach Agnus Berenato. "Gillian (Piccolino) played well again and I believe that she is a strong candidate for freshman of the week in the conference. I thought that she had some spots of brilliance tonight."

FGCU, which is now 19-2 all-time as a ranked Division I program (including 10-0 this year), became the first team nationally to reach 26 victories while stretching its overall win streak to 15, which is the seventh streak of at least that length in the program's Division I era. They have also won 41 straight against conference opponents, improved to 27-2 all-time against Kennesaw State and are now 135-4 against conference competition in the regular season since becoming a full-fledged Division I program in 2011-12.

In terms of championships, it is the program's third straight regular season title and 10th overall dating back to the first in 2009. Having also already clinched the program's 10th-consecutive season with at least 25 wins, the Green and Blue will host an A-SUN quarterfinal inside Alico Arena on March 7.

After scoring just 17 points combined in the previous two first quarters against Lipscomb and Stetson, the Eagles produced 3-pointers from Wingate and Nasrin Ulel on their first two possessions on Monday en route to opening up a 23-3 lead over the host Owls in the game's first six-and-a-half minutes. From there, FGCU cruised.

Playing in front of a hometown crowd, Wingate scored nine points in that opening quarter as FGCU shot 7-for-10 from 3-point range as a team over the first 10 minutes. She finished with 17 of her 25 in the first half alone, while moving past Kelsey Jacobson (1,263, 2008-12) for the eighth-most NCAA points scored by a player to wear the Green and Blue. In fact, she needs just 12 more to become the third player on this year's roster with 1,300 in a career.

Jewett-Giles recorded 16 of her points in the first half on 8-for-9 shooting. In fact, the Eagles went 21-for-31 (.677) from the field in the game's first 20 minutes and, with her first point of the game, Jewett-Giles surpassed Rosemarie Julien (862, 2016-18) for the most points by a two-year transfer in program history. She now has 887 in just under two seasons in Fort Myers, and she pushed her tally of 20-point performances in conference play up to seven this year.

In addition to their big offensive performances, Jewett-Giles and Wingate each added six rebounds while combining to shoot 21-for-32 from the field. Ulel chipped in 15 points on an efficient 5-for-9 finish from the field, while Kerstie Phills added 10 points.

Ulel moved into 11th and 12th-place, respectively, in conference history in 3-point field goals made and attempted on Monday. She is now tied with Kaneisha Atwater (1,312, 2013-16) for the third-most career points by an FGCU player in the Division I era.

Outside of those four, Tytionia Adderly tied her career-high with 10 assists while adding eight rebounds, six points and a game-high four steals. In doing so, she not only moved into third place on the program's career steals list, but she is now fourth in conference history in career rebounds with 1,122, and she became the first women's basketball player all-time in the A-SUN with 800 points, 1,000 rebounds, 300 assists and 200 steals in a career.

"Ty is just a really special player," Smesko said. "She's a good ball handler. She's a good passer, and she's one of the best rebounders in the country. She's just having an exceptional season."

Adderly needs six more rebounds to elevate into third place all-time in the A-SUN.

Notes:
With North Alabama's loss on Monday, FGCU sits five games ahead of everyone else in the conference, while there will be a highly-contested battle for the 2-7 seeds in the conference tournament.