After the Eagles won back-to-back games in the Homewood Suites Classic, they returned to Alico Arena to play the 1-8 Webber International University Warriors of the NAIA on Dec. 28. In a dominating effort from start to finish, FGCU crushed Webber International, 106-42, to wrap up their nonconference schedule with a 10-4 record.
FGCU entered this game after coming off of a double digit win against the Southern Miss Lady Eagles. Their record improved to 9-4 as they looked for one last win before the year ended and ASUN play began.
Before the game started, the Eagles had a different starting rotation for this game. Senior Dolly Cairns, redshirt junior Maddie Antenucci and fifth-year Uju Ezeudu did not dress for this game with conference play ahead.
Webber International scored the first points of the game to give the Warriors an early lead. That lead did not last long as FGCU rallied back quickly to take the lead, 5-4. From that point, it was all Eagles the rest of the way. By the end of the first quarter, the Eagles lead was already up by a sizable 34-18 margin.
Webber International played aggressively on defense to try to steal some possessions. This worked against them, however, as it allowed FGCU to get to the foul line many times throughout the game.
FGCU’s dominance continued into the second quarter as they took over on defense, restricting the Warriors to just nine points. The Eagles scored 28 points in that span, which ended the first half with a 62-27 FGCU lead.
Junior Maca Retamales was the star of the first half as she shot 100% from the field. She made three shots from the 3-point line and one layup, adding up to 11 points in the half.
The second half was over before it started, as Webber International scored just 15 points throughout the next two quarters. The Warriors only shot 5/22 from the field in the second half and missed all five of their 3-point attempts. This helped the Eagles easily control the rest of the game en route to a 106-42 win.
Two Eagles achieved notable statistical highs in the game. Retamales earned a career high in points in a game at FGCU with 22. Graduate student Shekinah Guthrie earned her season high in points with 14 while earning her first double-double at FGCU with 14 rebounds.
As for FGCU, they achieved their third game of 100 or more points this season. The final score of 106-42 ties the most points the Eagles have scored against Webber International University in program history. The other game this occurred in was during the 2011-12 season in which the Eagles won, 106-27.
The Eagles will be on the road to start conference play this Thursday beginning at Jacksonville. It’s a three game road trip in which FGCU will also face off against North Florida and Stetson. The Eagles return home to Alico Arena on Jan. 18 to face conference rival Queens University in their first home game of 2024.
