The No. 25 FGCU women's basketball team seeks to stay undefeated as it takes on San Diego on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET in the final game of the 2022 Bank of Hawaii Classic. The ESPN+ broadcast will originate from the Stan Sheriff Center on the Hawaii campus.
The Eagles and Toreros are meeting for the first time Sunday. The Toreros edged Lipscomb 49-45 in the early game of the 2022 Bank of Hawaii Classic on Friday. Guard Myah Pace helped lead San Diego (3-1) with nine points, five rebounds, and five assists. Guard Kiera Oakry added nine points, while guard Jess Finney added eight points on 2-of-3 from distance. Pace leads the Toreros in scoring at 11.0 points per game.
San Diego is the top team in the West Coast Conference, and ranked 32nd nationally in scoring defense, allowing its opponents only 49.2 points per game. The Toreros own a WCC-best 14.5 rebound margin and average 17.2 offensive rebounds per game, figures that both rank in the top 30.
FGCU's offense is fueled by efforts from junior guard Alyza Winston (Muskegon, Mich./Muskegon HS/Mississippi State), the reigning ASUN Newcomer of the week, at 20.5 points per game. Graduate guard Tishara Morehouse (Milwaukee, Wis./Rufus King HS/Nebraska CC) is scoring at 15.7-points-per-game clip and fifth-year guard Sha Carter (Southfield, Mich./Wylie E. Groves HS/Walsh) averages 9.3 per game.
The Eagles led by as many as 30 points against host Hawai'i on Friday night en route to a 65-45 victory. Morehouse led the Green & Blue with 17 points and had three of the Eagles' 12 treys. Fifth-year guard Kaela Webb (Pontiac, Mich./Detroit Country Day HS/Detroit Mercy/Providence) added 12 points with four triples, and fifth-year guard Sophia Stiles (Malta, Mont./Malta HS/Montana) grabbed a team-high nine rebounds to go with nine points.
FGCU continues to thrive on its Raining 3s reputation. The Eagles drained 12 3-pointers against the Rainbow Wahine and are averaging a dozen per game, best per-game average in the nation. FGCU leads the ASUN with 79.3 points per game and the league's best field goal percentage at 44.6 percent.
FGCU head women's basketball coach Karl Smesko has led his teams to national rankings for the fourth straight year and six years overall (2014-15, 2017-18, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23). The Eagles are also now atop the Collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll.
FGCU will spend Thanksgiving week in Hawai'I with a schedule that includes practices and some sight-seeing prior to the start of the Rainbow Wahine Showdown vs. No. 2 Stanford on Friday, Nov. 25, at 5 p.m. ET. The Eagles play three games in their next tournament, vs. the Cardinal, Hawai'i (Nov. 26), and Grambling State (Nov. 27).
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