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FORT MYERS, FL- Florida Gulf Coast won its eighth straight game, topping visiting NJIT, 70-37, behind three double-figure scorers paced by Kaneisha Atwater's game-high 20 pointsMonday in Atlantic Sun Conference women's basketball action at Alico Arena.
Atwater, asenior guard, scored 12 of her game-high 20 points for the Eagles (15-4, 3-0 A-Sun) in the first half, finishing 8-for-16 from the field, including a game-high four three-pointers. Atwater added five rebounds, four assists and two steals in 29 minutes.
Redshirt senior Whitney Knight, the A-Sun Preseason Player of the Year, chipped in 12 points, seven rebounds, four steals, a game-high four blocked shots and two assists for the Eagles.
Senior forward Katie Meador came off the bench and scored 10 points in 15 minutes - all coming in the second half on 5-of-5 shooting from the floor. Guard DyTiesha Dunson dished out a game-best eight assists as the Eagles combined for 21 assists. Redshirt sophomore Taylor Gradinjan scored nine points on 3-of-7 from behind the arc and pulled down seven rebounds.
FGCU, ranked 10th in the nation in three-point field goals made and three-pointers made per game, sank a season-high 14 treys and attempted 53 three-pointers, two more than NJIT's 51 total field goal attempts. Florida Gulf Coast's53 three-point attempts Monday night ranks third in the nation behind Sacramento State's 80 attempts vs. California (12/6/15) and 60 attempts vs. Cal Poly (12/29/15).
NJIT (3-15, 0-3 A-Sun) was led by junior guard Camerin Spahn, who was the only Highlander to reach double-figures, just missing, her first career double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds. The nine rebounds match Spahn's personal-best mark of 9 vs. Division III St. Joseph Brooklyn on November 24, 2015.
Sophomore Bianca Picard came off the bench and scored six points in seven minutes on 2-of-3 shooting from three-point range while three different Highlanders - Ronni Grandison, Olivia Dudley and Kelly Guarino each scored five points.
Grandison set a new season-best mark grabbing six rebounds while Olivia Dudley filled up the stat shee,t matching her career-high with five rebounds and five assists (both done in the previous game at Stetson two days earlier).
FGCU jumped out of the gate early, 15-5, holding the Highlanders to just five points in the first quarter.
NJIT's Spahn scored the first four points of the second quarte,r slimming the Eagle lead to 15-9at the 7:37 mark, but the Eagles scored three consecutive three-pointers to go up by 15, 24-9, with six minutes left.
The Highlanders scored the next five straight points, but FGCU finished the quarter on a 9-4 spurt,extending the Eagle lead to 33-18.
Atwater was the game-leader with 12 points at the half while Spahn led the Highlanders with eight points.
FGCU, which never trailed and outscored NJIT in every quarter, led 56-30 after three quarters and its 33-point lead at game's end matched the biggest gap of the night for the victorious Eagles, who are 74-1 all-time in Atlantic Sun Conference women's basketball regular season home games. They have won their last 65 A-Sun games in Alico Arena.
NJIT will play the next two games at home, first hosting, North Florida on Saturday at 1pm. North Florida picked up its first A-Sun win of the season in a hard fought 78-70 victory over Lipscomb at UNF Arena Monday.
