Senior Steph Haas joined eight other Eagles, along with teammates Whitney Knight and Kaniesha Atwater, in the 1,000-point club after her 13 points in Saturday afternoon’s game against conference newcomer New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark.
Haas, who entered the game just two points shy of the career milestone, reached the 1,000-point mark with a drive toward to the net to put FGCU at a 25-14 lead with five minutes left in the first half. The senior’s 13 points led the floor, tied with Atwater.
Haas finished the game shooting 62.5 percent from field goal range and 60 percent from the three with three rebounds. Atwater reached the 1,000-point mark this season after scoring 18 points against FIU in November. In New Jersey on Saturday, Atwater shot 1-1 from the 3-point range while shooting 66 percent from the field.
Knight — who ranks third in all-time points with 1,333, reaching the 1,000-point milestone last season — finished the game with 12 points and a team-high six rebounds.
After FGCU narrowly led NJIT, 14-12, at the end of the first quarter, a 10-3 run in the first five minutes of the second quarter gave the Eagles a 10-point advantage going into the locker rooms at 28-18. At the end of the half, FGCU’s six scorers were led by Knight and Atwater, who led the floor with eight points apiece.
FGCU had another big run in the third quarter, solidifying its win with a 21-12 run in 10 minutes. With a 53-32 win, FGCU outshot NJIT from the field with 34.5 percent, but were outshot from the three with NJIT’s 36.4 percent to FGCU’s 21.2 percent.
After escaping with a four-point overtime win against instate conference foe Jacksonville on Wednesday, Feb. 10, FGCU holds on to its two-year unbeaten conference streak with a win over NJIT. FGCU hasn’t lost a conference game in the regular season since Feb. 1, 2014 with a 63-43 loss to former conference foe Northern Kentucky.
Up next, FGCU will travel to Spartanburg, South Carolina on Monday, Feb. 15 to face USC Upstate in the team’s last out-of-state conference game. FGCU will return home to host Kennesaw State on Saturday Feb. 20 and Lipscomb on Monday, Feb. 22.