FGCU WBB extends streak with 69-43 win over Lipscomb

FORT MYERS, Fla. (FGCU Athletics) – In its 25th game of the year, the FGCU women’s basketball team won its 18th-straight with a 69-43 victory over Lipscomb Saturday at Alico Arena. With the win, the Eagles move to 23-2 on the season and keep their unblemished mark in Atlantic Sun action at 10-0. The Bisons fall to 8-16 with a 3-7 conference mark.

As the victors in 10 conference games, the Eagles now stand just one win away from their fifth-consecutive A-Sun Regular Season Championship.

FGCU allowed Lipscomb to take a six-point lead early on, but after five first-half lead changes, the Eagles used an 11-0 run to end the half with a 31-20 advantage. The Green and Blue used a series of streaks to extend the lead in the second half and increased it to a game-high 26 points late in the game. With double figures from three different players, the Eagles maintained their offensive consistency and again held their opponent to fewer than 50 points to maintain the nation’s fourth-longest win streak.

“Lipscomb came here ready to play and they played really good defense against us, especially in the first half” said head coach Karl Smesko. “The last two minutes of the first half was really big for us but they came out and pressured us and they cut into the lead. We didn’t play great offense but fortunately we were pretty good defensively.”

Individually, Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) led the Eagles with 17 points and 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Knight converted seven shots from the field, while contributing four blocks, three assists and two steals. Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Westwood High School/VCU) and Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) also added double figures for the home team with 15 and 11 points, respectively.

Even though the team started 0-for-7 from the field, the Eagles finished the contest with field goal percentage of 44.3 with six shots from long range and held the Bisons to a 31.9 percent clip with four 3-pointers. The Eagles also outrebounded Lipscomb 43-27 for their largest rebound margin of the season and forced 14 turnovers, while recording single digit turnovers for the ninth time this season.

The visiting team took the initial lead with its first eight points in the paint and held the game close for the majority of the half. A single free throw from Katie Meador (Salem, Ill./Salem Community High School) cut the Lipscomb run but the Bisons added a 3-point shot at the 13-minute mark to take their largest lead of the game at 11-5.

The bucket would be the Bisons’ last for a span of longer than six minutes as the Eagles increased their defensive intensity and forced Lipscomb into seven empty possessions. During the Bisons’ drought, the Eagles produced a 7-0 run with points from Haas, Knight and Atwater to reclaim the lead at 13-11 with eight minutes to play.

The Bison got back on the scoreboard and tied the game at 13 with 6:30 on the clock and took back the advantage with a pair of free throws and a layup near the six-minute mark. With four minutes to go, Knight sank a long-awaited 3-pointer from the top of the arc and sparked the crowd for the Green and Blue.

Following another pair of free throws from Lipscomb, the home team produced a run that would end with the Eagles taking an 11-point lead into the break.

Knight and Jenna Cobb (New Holland, Ohio/Miami Trace High School/Butler) converted consecutive layups with similar passes from the top of the arc before Haas and Meador added drives of their own, pushing the score to 24-20 with two minutes left. In the next minute, Atwater added two free-throws and a 3-pointer from the left corner to give FGCU a nine-point advantage in the final 40 seconds.

The Eagles continued their defensive prowess through the end of the half and stopped the Bisons’ scoring attempt on their final possession. The home team got the ball back with 7.2 seconds on the clock to end the half and perfectly executed a 1-2-2 press break that allowed Atwater to drive to the rim and push the score to 31-20 in favor of the Eagles.

Lipscomb used a 6-0 streak to open the half continued to attack to cut the Eagle lead to just three points at 33-30 with 16 minutes left to play. Just 20 seconds after bringing the score within three, the Bisons allowed Haas to drive to the rim and saw as Knight repeated the action another 20 seconds later.

The back-to-back layups sparked an 11-point run for FGCU, with all points scored by Knight and Haas. The duo extended the lead to 44-30 with 13 minutes left and helped facilitate the Eagle offense over the next few minutes.

Knight and DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) combined for five points near the eight-minute mark to push the advantage to 16 points and the Eagles never let go from there. FGCU outscored the Bisons 15-4 in the final five minutes to moved the lead to a game-high 26 points and ultimately earned their 11th 20-point win of the year.

With a three-game lead over Stetson in the Atlantic Sun standings, the Eagles now need just one more win to clinch their fifth-straight Regular Season Championship. The team is back in action on the road next week with games at Kennesaw State and USC Upstate. If the team continues its winning ways, Saturday will mark Smesko’s 400th career victory.