By BILL LEVY
Though many fans of the Florida Gulf Coast University women’s basketball team are familiar with its offensive achievements, it was the defense that shined in the Eagles 69-43 win over Lipscomb in front of 1,762 fans at the Alico Arena on Saturday night. With the win, the Eagles are now 23-2 overall and 10-0 in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The win is their 18th in a row, which is fourth best in the nation. The Bisons are now 8-16, 3-7.
Though FGCU only shot 44.3% overall and 24% from beyond the 3-point line, it held Lipscomb to 31.9% (15-47) in field goal attempts.
“(Defense) was really big tonight,” Eagles coach Karl Smesko said. “Lipscomb is one of the better offensive teams in the conference. They are really explosive. When our offense is not working well, it was good that we were able to limit their scoring. That was really big.”
The first half saw the Bisons jump to an 11-5 lead to start the game. After FGCU answered with an 8-0 run to go up 13-11, Lipscomb outscored the Eagles 8-3 to take a 19-16 lead with approximately four minutes left in the first half. It was then that FGCU went on 15-1 run, which culminated with Kaneisha Atwater driving practically the length of the floor with 7.2 seconds remaining for two of her 15 total points for the night, to go into halftime leading 31-20.
“That (run) was a big part of the game,” Smesko said. “We had some quick hits. We drew up some things that worked. Kaneisha also made a good read and that was a big basket for us.”
The second half though started with Lipscomb outscoring FGCU 10-2 to cut the deficit to 33-30. FGCU though quickly countered with an 11-0 stretch that was highlighted by three layups from Stephanie Haas, to go up 44-30.
“I took what the defense gave me,” said Haas, who finished with 11 points on the night. “They were stretching out and we were seeing space and were able to attack and finish.”
That proved to be the knockout punch as the Eagles were finally able to take control of the game.
“Give Lipscomb credit,” Smesko said. “I thought they came ready to play. They played good defense against us. Give them credit as well for way they started the second half.”
Even with the Bisons’ second half start, FGCU guard Whitney Knight was also pleased how her team played in the second half.
“We got off to a slow start,” said Knight, who had a team high 17 points. 11 rebounds and four blocks. “We weren’t as focused and intense as we should have been. We did a better job of coming out and playing in the second half.”