FGCU women earn A-Sun awards
After winning the Atlantic Sun regular season championship for the second time in four years, the FGCU women’s basketball team earned a few more honors Tuesday as the conference announced postseason honors and awards.
FGCU earned four awards, including its fourth first-team selection in program history in senior Shannon Murphy, who was second-team last season by averaging a team-best 4.3 assists and 2.1 steals and ranking second on the Eagles in scoring (12.3). Murphy also ranked in the top-15 in the A-Sun in three-point percentage (.335) and assist-to-turnover ratio (.1.50). The senior captain scored in double figures 20 times this season, leading the Eagles in scoring in eight contests.
Redshirt freshman Sarah Hansen, a three-time A-Sun Newcomer of the Week and MVP of the 2010 Caribbean Challenge, earned second-team All-Atlantic Sun and All-Freshmen honors, helping the Eagles secure their eighth 21-plus win season in the nine year program history. Hansen, who led the A-Sun and ranked 38th in the nation in field goal percentage (.520), is the first freshman in FGCU history to lead the team in scoring (13.1) and rebounding (6.1). The chemistry major scored in double figures 19 times this season, led the Eagles in rebounding on 14 occasions and in scoring in nine contests.
Coach Karl Smesko claimed a regular season conference crown for the second time in the program’s existence as the Eagles amassed a 17-3 conference mark to earn him Coach of the Year. The Eagles, who own the nation’s third-longest home winning streak (38 games) behind UConn and Stanford, earned their fourth automatic WNIT bid in as many years of eligibility.