When: Monday Nov. 12 at 7 p.m.
Rankings: FGCU is No. 8 in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll
Where: Fort Myers, Fla. | Alico Arena
Tickets: Here
Watch: ESPN3 | David Moulton (PBP) | J. Webb Horton (Color)
Live Stats (StatBroadcast) here
Series: FGCU leads 10-0 (FGCU won 82-43 on Dec. 30 last year)
Coaches: Karl Smesko (17th season at FGCU - 435-88; 20th season overall - 496-115 | Gregory Stanback (5th season at Florida Memorial - 50-69; same overall)
FORT MYERS, Florida -- The FGCU women's basketball team (0-1), which is ranked eighth in the first CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major poll of the season, will look for its first win of the season in a home-opening matchup against Florida Memorial (3-3) on Monday at 7 p.m. in Alico Arena.
Prior to the game, FGCU will drop the banner to honor last year's team that made its fifth NCAA tournament trip in seven seasons and broke the NCAA's single season record for most 3-point field goals. At halftime, the men's basketball team will receive their watches for winning last year's ASUN regular season championship.
Throughout the night, the FGCU athletic department will honor veterans, who can receive a free Priority 4 or 5 general admission ticket with a valid U.S. Military ID and receive half off tickets for all family members. Rally towels will also be presented to the first 100 fans and students.
Home Openers
Since becoming a Division-I program, FGCU has compiled a 9-2 record in home openers, including some notable wins over Power-5 schools such as an 85-61 win over Illinois last year, a 59-58 win over Michigan State on Nov. 19, 2011 and an 88-86 win over Florida on Nov. 14, 2008.
Approaching History
FGCU head coach Karl Smesko entered this season with a 496-114 (.813) career head coaching record, which ranked him as the third winningest active Division-I head coach behind UConn's Geno Auriemma (1,027-136, .883) and Baylor's Kim Mulkey (539-98, .846). Thus, Smesko is just four wins shy of a major coaching milestone, his 500th win. He earned his 400th victory in just 493 games, which was two faster than UConn's Geno Auriemma.
Last Time Out
FGCU opened the season with an 80-62 loss at South Dakota State on Friday. They were hurt by a 21-2 run that started late in the first half and included a 14-0 run to open the third quarter. Chandler Ryan (Groveland, Ill./Morton HS) matched her career-high with 12 points, while draining a new career-high four 3-point field goals. Lisa Zderadicka added 10 points, and Destiny Washington-Mabon (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North HS) blocked a game-high five shots.
Inside Look at Florida Memorial
Florida Memorial, led by fifth-year head coach Gregory Stanback, finished 16-10 overall in 2017-18. This year, his team features a trio of sisters - Brianna, Tyesha and Kanesha Battle. Brianna and Kanesha are Division-I transfers from Bethune-Cookman. The team competes as an NAIA member of The Sun Conference.
Series History
FGCU is 10-0 all-time against Florida Memorial, although the first nine meetings predated the Green and Blue's Division-I era. Last year's 82-43 win over the visiting Lions witnessed Jessica Cattani (23) and Erica Nelson (16) combine for 39 points. Among returning players, Tytionia Adderly (8), Nasrin Ulel (7) and Zderadicka (Vienna, Austria/HAK Korneuburg) (5) combined for 20 points, while Adderly (Jupiter, Fla./Cardinal Newman HS) led the way with 12 rebounds.
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