The FGCU women’s basketball team defeated the former ASUN Conference foe the New Jersey Institute of Technology Highlanders, 73-53, in their home opener. Head coach Chelsea Lyles earned her first victory after Karl Smesko, former FGCU women’s basketball head coach, departed the Eagles for the WNBA’s Atlanta Dream on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
While NJIT started with the ball after winning the tipoff, the Eagles were able to put up the first points of the night with a layup by guard Lauryn Taylor beginning a dominant quarter the Eagles had shooting.
FGCU was still ‘Raining 3s’ in the absence of Smesko. They shot 11 of 18 (61.1%) and 3-of-7 at the three-point line (42.8%). They ended the first quarter with a 28-14 lead.
The pace picked up in the second quarter as NJIT quickly made a layup on the Eagles. Freshman Kaelyn Flowers made a 3-pointer on the following possession to allow the Eagles to maintain their advantage. This demonstrated the back-and-forth dynamic between both teams over the next ten minutes. Neither team gained ground on each other as they both scored 14 points going into the half.
In the second quarter, the Eagles shot 6-of-17 (35.3%) and were 3-of-9 (12.5%). The Eagles ended the half with a 42-28 lead, maintaining their double-digit lead.
With the absence of guard redshirt senior Maddie Antenucci, who racked up three fouls through the first quarter, Taylor stepped up accumulating 16 points, 10 rebounds, three assists and two rebounds, for her first double-double of the season.
“I’ve worked hard all preseason, I’ve worked hard with my team,” Taylor said. “The biggest thing that I worked on recently was allowing my teammates to trust me and for me to trust them that they’ll get me in the right position.”
To start the second half, fifth-year guard Emani Jefferson made the first two layups in the quarter, while redshirt junior Cerina Rolle made one of two free throws. This was followed by Antenucci making a 3-point shot of the quarter to widen the gap between the teams, with the score standing at 50-30.
Antenucci made a three-point jump shot off a turnover from NJIT, to end the third quarter at 60-41. The Eagles carried this momentum through the rest of the game, as they held a double-digit lead for the next ten minutes.
“I would say I’m just really proud of our response and our attitude,” Antenucci said. “We could have made an excuse starting off the season 0-2, and also having the news that we didn’t want to hear. We could have just sunk to the level that we don’t want to sink to, but instead, we rose to the occasion, and we just pulled together for the win.”
Throughout the game, the Eagles scored 38 points in the paint. They got 32 points off turnovers and were able to get 23 fast break points. This made up for their inconsistency in shooting as they were never able to replicate their first-quarter success as they made 27-of-68 (39.7%) including 8-of-31 3-pointers throughout the rest of the game.
“I mean, it’s, it’s nice. Everybody wants to win,” Lyles said. “But you know, the girls, they played really well. They came together. We’ve got a lot of things we have to improve before we go up to Canada and play two really good teams.”
At the end of the game, the score was 73-53, with the Eagles winning their season home opener game. The team is scheduled to take a trip to Canada to play their next two games in the Atlantic Slam tournament, facing the Georgetown University Hoyas on Saturday, Nov. 23, and the University of Cincinnati Bearcats on Sunday, Nov. 24.
