FGCU headed to Texas A&M
Behind a career-high 24 points by sophomore Christian Terrell, FGCU never trailed en route to a 91-34 win Sunday night over Ave Maria at Alico Arena.
FGCU faces a much stronger test Wednesday when it heads to College Station to face the Texas A&M Aggies (6-1) at 8 p.m. to be broadcast on the SEC Network.
The 57-point margin of victory is the second-largest in school history behind a 79-point (109-30) bulge in the program’s initial 2002-03 season over Florida Christian College. Terrell, who recorded his 23rd and 24th points on his first collegiate dunk around the 10-minute mark of the second half, scored 16 of his game-high total in the opening half eclipsing his previous record of 22 set last December.
Terrell led a quintet of double-figure scorers for the Eagles (4-3) for the second time this season as Marc-Eddy Norelia tallied 14 points, Kevin Mickle posted a season high of 12 points, Demetris Morant set a season best with 11 and Antravious Simmons netted 10 points.
With the Eagles in front, 23-15, at the 12-minute mark, FGCU went a 20-0 run over the next seven minutes and eventually extended the lead to 55-20 at the half.
The Eagles’ advantage ballooned to 57 on three separate occasions in the second half.
“Christian got us off to a good start. He’s starting to really play with some confidence,” said Eagles coach Joe Dooley. “We had a lot of guys contribute and were able to keep most of their minutes low. We were also able to get the young guys some good action and had a pretty good flow with them. Overall, it was a good performance and we were able to get the taste of the loss at Florida on Friday out of our mouths.”
Ave Maria (0-6) was led offensively by Brandon Barnes with eight points. Martez Harris added seven points, and Eric Richardson tallied five.
The 34 points are the third-fewest the Eagles have allowed in program history.
FGCU Women: After trading the lead on six occasions, the Eagles suffered a 62-48 loss at the hands of Arkansas State University Saturday night at Alico Arena.
The Eagles travel to Washington, D.C., Thursday for a matchup against No. 23 George Washington before hosting Harvard on Saturday.
FGCU (3-3) took control in the first quarter and claimed a nine-point lead before the Red Wolves responded. The visitors chipped away at the deficit and outscored the Eagles 34-19 in the second half to take the advantage in the game’s final minutes. The Eagles shot just 13 percent from 3-point range and committed a season-high 21 turnovers that produced 21 points for A-State.
“I thought that Arkansas State was the more aggressive team tonight by far,” said Eagles coach Karl Smesko. “They played a really smart and really aggressive second half. They really hurt us on the boards, they forced turnovers that led the layups and we shot it horribly. We’re not going to win shooting 3-for-23. We’ll have to look at the film and figure out what we can fix and try to get to it.”
Kaneisha Atwater again led FGCU in the absence of conference player of the year Whitney Knight. Atwater produced 11 points in 25 minutes on the court before fouling out. Seniors added to Atwater’s production as Stephanie Haas contributed 10 points.