FGCU women rout Lipscomb 73-55 for 14th straight victory
Feb 4, 2022, 11:42 PM | Updated: Feb 5, 2022, 1:43 pm
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kerstie Phills finished with 15 points and eight rebounds to power No. 22 Florida Gulf Coast to its 14th straight victory with a 73-55 romp over Lipscomb on Saturday.
Phills sank 5 of 7 shots from the floor with two 3-pointers for the Eagles (21-1, 10-0 Atlantic Sun Conference), who earned their 28 straight win on the road — tops in the nation. Florida Gulf Coast has won 32 conference games in a row and its only blemish this season is a 58-55 loss to Princeton on Dec. 1.
Tishara Morehouse added 11 points for FGCU. Morehouse, the reigning ASUN player of the week, had been averaging 25 points over a four-game span since the Eagles lost leading scorer Kierstan Bell (23.4 points per game) to injury. Seneca Hackley had 10 points and Tyra Cox scored nine with 12 rebounds.
Cox scored all of her points in the first half and Hackley added eight in 9 minutes of play off the bench to guide FGCU to a 41-26 lead at halftime. The Eagles shot 52% overall and made half of their 12 3-point attempts. Lipscomb shot 33% in the first half but sank 5 of 10 from beyond the arc.
Phills scored nine in the third quarter and FGCU upped its lead to 58-38.
Reserves Sydney Shelton and Maddie Cook topped the Bisons (8-14, 3-6) with 10 points apiece
FGCU coach Karl Smesko picked up his 600th career win on Thursday night in the Eagles’ 71-44 win over Central Arkansas. Smesko, who is 601-126 in his 23rd season, made it to the mark in fewer games than Hall of Fame coaching legends Pat Summitt (734), Tara VanDerveer (767) and C. Vivian Stringer (785)
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