The Florida Gulf Coast University women’s basketball team has owned the ASUN Conference over the past decade, representing it in The Big Dance eight times since 2012. But FGCU has advanced to the second round only three times (and no further) during that span.
Will the Florida Gulf Coast women’s basketball team celebrate the school’s tenth anniversary of the program’s deepest run to the Sweet 16 with one of their own? Granted, it was the men who made the run, but It would be a great way to put the finishing touch to an excellent season for the Eagles and a great way for First-Team All Atlantic Sun Conference point guard Tishara Morehouse (16.3 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 2.0 SPG) to finish a stellar career.
The Eagles, 29-3 overall and 17-1 conference, earned a 12-seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. The question is, how far can they go?
Morehouse has plenty of talent surrounding her. Graduate transfer Sha Carter (13.7 ppg, 5.9 rebounds) has amassed her share of success, including more than forty 20-point games and three NCAA Tournament appearances, including a berth in the Sweet 16 with her former school, Division II Walsh University. Senior guard Alyza Winston (13 ppg, 2.5 rebs) is a solid contributor, especially when opposing defenses focus on Morehouse and Carter. Another graduate Sophia Stiles (7.6 PPG, 4.3 RPG, 78% FT), is reliable and durable, having played in over thirty games a year during her career.
Karl Smesko, the third-winningest active Division I head coach (.827 winning percentage), deftly manages a deep rotation of seasoned talent that (in addition to Morehouse, Carter, Winston, and Stiles), includes senior Kaela Webb, sophomore Seneca Hackley, and juniors Uju Ezeudu and Brylee Bartram.
Next up for the Eagles is 5-seed Washington State. The contest will be played in Greensville at 2:30p Saturday. You can view the action on ESPNU.
