FGCU Women's Basketball Travels to North Carolina A&T For 2015-16 Opener

The Rundown: FGCU (0-0) at North Carolina A&T (0-0)
The Matchup: Karl Smesko (Kent State, '93) 14th season at FGCU v. Tarrell Robinson (NC A&T, '01) fourth season at NC A&T
When: Friday, Nov. 13  |  5:30 p.m.
Where: Elliot F. Corbett Sports Center |  Greensboro, N.C.
Live Stats: via NCATAggies.com
Hashtags: #WingsUp | #WeAreFGCU | #RainingThrees
Series History: First Meeting
Game Notes: FGCU | NC A&T
 
GREENSBORO, North Carolina  –  As the defending champions of both the Atlantic Sun Regular Season and the A-Sun Tournament Championship, the FGCU women's basketball team will begin a new season Friday evening with a road contest against North Carolina A&T. Tipoff at the Ellis F. Corbett Sports Center is slated for 5:30 p.m.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Live stats will be available through North Carolina A&T's website and can be found at FGCUAthletics.com or by clicking here prior to tipoff. Fans can also find live, in-game updates on Twitter by following @FGCU_WBB.
 
QUICK HITS
• The Eagles will travel 17,290 miles this season, starting with the 787 mile trek north to face the Aggies WingsUp WheelsUp
• FGCU produced a historic 2014-15 season with a record of 31-3, a 26-game win streak and a top-25 ranking #EaglesRising
• Senior Whitney Knight - the reigning #ASunWBB Player of the Year - hails from Winston-Salem, just 32 miles from NC A&T
• The Green and Blue boast nine seniors on the roster this year. That crew has combined for 791 career games in their first three years
• FGCU ranked third in the nation last season with an average of 9.6 3-pointers per game RainingThrees WeAreFGCU
 
TOP RETURNERS 
Backed by six-time Coach of the Year Karl Smesko, the Eagles return two double-figure scorers in seniors Whitney Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) and Kaneisha Atwater (Fort Pierce, Fla./Fort Pierce Westwood High School/VCU). Knight was named the Atlantic Sun Player of the Year after averaging 14.8 points per game last season, while Atwater contributed 14.2 in 34 games. The duo each earned First Team All-Conference accolades last season and took home Preseason All-Conference honors last month.
 
Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) added 9.2 points per contest last season and joins Knight and Atwater as part of the team's large senior class. The squad boasts nine players in their final season with a combined 791 games of collegiate experience under their belt.
 
In addition to the high scorers, the Eagles return the team's assist leader in this year's captain DyTiesha Dunson (Albany, Ga./Westover High School) and sharp-shooter Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School). Dunson led the program with 114 assists last year and produced a nationally-ranked assist to turnover ratio of 2.43. Dunson's helper mark put her among the nation's top-15 and led the league last season, while Gradinjan sank 47 3-pointers at a rate above 40 percent.
The Eagles will look to use their experience to their advantage, while seeing key contributions from newcomers as well with transfers Kady Schrann (York, Pa./York Catholic/Vanderbilt) and Sierra Harley (Columbus, Ohio/Africentric High School/Owens Community College) and redshirt-freshman Tayler Goodall(Columbus, Ind./Columbus North High School) eligible for competition to begin the year.
 
SCOUTING THE HOME TEAM
• Despite losing its top scorer to graduation, North Carolina A&T was voted as the Preseason favorite in the MEAC Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Aggies went 20-11 a season ago with a 12-4 record in league play and won 11 of 13 games at the Ellis F. Corbett Sports Center.
• 2014-15 marked the third-straight 20-win season for NCA&T under head coach Tarrell Robinson, who enters his fourth season. The team won 11-straight MEAC contests and never lost more than three in a row.
• Robinson's Aggies lost 35.9 percent of last year's scoring but return a balanced attack with four players who started at least 15 games back this season. Aprill McRae, a Preseason All-MEAC selection, is the team's top returner with 10.0 points per game last season. The graduate student maintained a field goal percentage of .470 with 5.0 rebounds per game and 17 total blocks. Christina Carter dished out a team-high 87 assists last year with an added 6.9 points per game and 61 steals. Carter joins McRae and Adriana Nazario on the Preseason All-MEAC Team. Nazario helped the Aggies to another 20-win season with 7.0 points per game and 85 assists. She started 20 games and averaged 22.9 minutes per game.

COURTESY FLORIDA GULF COAST UNIVERSITY MEDIA RELATIONS