Lehigh beats Fort Myers, FGCU crushes NJIT

With nine players contributing to the final score, the FGCU women’s basketball team defeated NJIT 70-37 Monday night at Alico Arena. The Eagles move to 15-4 with a 3-0 record in Atlantic Sun Conference play, while the Highlanders fall to 3-15 with a 0-3 mark in league action.

The Green and Blue produced a pair of runs in the first quarter to take a double-figure lead in the first 10 minutes of action and consistently increased the advantage through the remaining three quarters. With a well-balanced attack, a season-high 14 3-pointers made and a strong presence on defense, the Eagles pushed the lead to a game-high 33 points in the fourth quarter and ultimately finished with the 70-37 win.

“NJIT came out and played a very active zone against us,” explained head coach Karl Smesko. “We were trying to work on our ball movement and create as many open shots as we could. I thought our defense was really good in the first half and I thought our offense was the best in the third quarter. Overall, I thought it was a really good effort. We took care of the ball and we made more defensive play so there’s things to be encouraged about tonight.”

Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce-Westwood High School/VCU) once again led the FGCU attack with 20 points on the night. The senior guard sank four 3-pointers, pulled down five rebounds and dished out four assists. Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) added 12 points for the Eagles with seven rebounds, four blocks and four steals. DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) facilitated the offense with eight assists and just one turnover, while Katie Meador (Salem, Ill/Salem Community High School) contributed a season-best 10 points with a 5-for-5 shooting performance in just 15 minutes of action. In total, nine Eagles added to the point total with seven different players adding a shot from beyond-the-arc.

As a unit, the Eagles sank 14 3-pointers at a rate of 26.4 percent and shot 37.1 percent overall. The Green and Blue held NJIT to a 29.4 percent clip and limited the Highlanders to just single digits in the first and fourth quarters. FGCU outrebounded NJIT 48-35 with 16 offensive boards and forced 17 Highlander turnovers. The Eagles recorded season lows with six fouls and seven turnovers committed in the strong overall effort.

The Eagles showed high offensive intensity to start and took a quick three-point lead on a long-range shot from Knight. NJIT scored right away as well but the home team took a 6-2 lead on another 3-pointer from Atwater a minute later. FGCU was held scoreless over the next few minutes but continued to create long-range shot opportunities with strong ball movement and stifled the NJIT offense to hold the lead.

The Highlanders sank their first 3-pointer of the game after hailing for a timeout and cut the FGCU lead to just one point at 6-5. The Eagles responded quickly as Atwater drove to the rim on the team’s next possession to spark a nine-point run for the Green and Blue. The streak pushed the score to 15-5 at the end of the first quarter on points from Haley Laughter (Asheville, N.C./Carolina Country Day School), Meador and Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School).

NJIT added four quick points on a pair of free throws and a mid-range jump shot in the opening minutes of the second quarter but FGCU’s signature 3-point shot helped the team forge ahead against the Highlanders. The Eagles sank back-to-back-to-back long-range shots with makes from Atwater, Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) and Laughter to extend the lead to 24-9 and force NJIT into another timeout with six minutes left to play in the half.

The Highlanders cut the deficit to 10 points after the timeout with five-straight points but FGCU mounted another run with a seven-point spurt over the next three minutes to push the lead to 17 points.

With a balanced attack that included eight different scorers and seven made 3-pointers, the Eagles went into the break with a 33-18 advantage.

The Eagles continued the perimeter-based offense in the second half and went 5-for-11 from long range in the third quarter to increase the lead. Despite allowing the Highlanders to an increased shooting percentage, the team outscored NJIT 23-12 over the 10-minute span and entered the final stanza of play with a 56-30 lead.

FGCU opened the fourth quarter with consecutive long-range makes from Knight and freshman Tayler Goodall (Columbus, Ind./Columbus North High School) to move the score to 62-30 in favor of the Eagles. NJIT continued to push back with layups but three successful layups in the final three minutes from Meador brought the score to 70-37 at the final buzzer.

After a six-game homestand, the Eagles will travel to Tennessee and Georgia in the coming week. The team will take on Lipscomb in Nashville on Saturday, Jan. 23 in an afternoon contest and will travel to Kennesaw State Monday, Jan. 25 for a 7 p.m. tilt.

Game Notes: The 53 3-point attempts stands as the second-most in program history, behind 55 attempts against Mercer in Jan. 2011…with four blocks on the night, Whitney Knight moves to second all-time in the Atlantic Sun Conference record books at 265 career blocks…DyTiesha Dunson ranks second all-time in the FGCU record books with 356 career assists (complete records available here)…the Eagles now hold a 65-game win streak in Atlantic Sun Conference games played at Alico Arena and are 74-1 all time in league games at home.