Florida Gulf Coast Eagles
2023–24 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles women's basketball team
UniversityFlorida Gulf Coast University
First season2002–03
Head coachKarl Smesko (21st season)
ConferenceAtlantic Sun
LocationFort Myers, Florida
ArenaAlico Arena
(Capacity: 4,500)
NicknameEagles
ColorsCobalt blue and emerald green[1]
   
Uniforms
Home jersey
Team colours
Home
Away jersey
Team colours
Away


NCAA tournament runner-up
2007*
NCAA tournament Final Four
2007*
NCAA tournament Elite Eight
2007*
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
2006*, 2007*
NCAA tournament round of 32
2006*, 2007*, 2015, 2018, 2022, 2023
NCAA tournament appearances
2006*, 2007*, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023
*at Division II level
Conference tournament champions
2012, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020†, 2021, 2022, 2023
Conference regular season champions
2009**, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
Conference division season champions
2022


** Not eligible for conference or NCAA Tournament due to transition to Division I


† Co-champions with Liberty University after Tournament cancelled[2]

The Florida Gulf Coast Eagles women's basketball team is the women's basketball team that represents Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Atlantic Sun Conference.[3]

In 2002, Florida Gulf Coast became an independent member of NCAA Division II.[4] Florida Gulf Coast also started its men's basketball team, with Dave Balza as head coach from the inaugural 2002–03 to the 2010–11 season. In 2006, Florida Gulf Coast applied for NCAA Division I status and became a transitory Division I effective in the 2007–08 season.[5][6] Florida Gulf Coast became a full Division I member on August 11, 2011.[7]

History

The university charter was signed 1991, but students did not begin attending classes until 1997. The athletic programs began as members of the NAIA. The school hired Karl Smesko while the school was still in the NAIA, but his first year coincided with the transfer to NCAA Division II in 2002. In his first year, the basketball facilities were not yet completed at the beginning of the season, so players began individual workouts on outdoor courts. His first office was in a trailer.[8] Despite having no experience as a team, the Eagles opened their season against Ohio Dominican and won.[9] Then they won their next game, and the next, and continued winning until they faced St. Francis of Indiana, who beat the Eagles to give them their first loss. That would be the last loss of the season, as they went on to a thirty win season, with a 30–1 record.

The team continued to pile up winning records, and went on to post a 29–2 record in and earn an invitation to the DII post-season tournament in 2006. The team would advance as far as the Regional semi-final. After reaching a national DII ranking of eleven, the team faced ninth ranked Rollins, and won 48–46.[10] The team then faced seventh ranked Delta State who ended the Eagles season with a 57–48 win.

FGCU then joined the Atlantic Sun Conference, although they would be provisional members until 2011. The finished in second place in the conference in both 2008, and 2010. The 2009 team did finish first in the conference during the regular season but due to the transition to Division I and the Atlantic Sun Conference, was not eligible for conference or NCAA Tournament play. The team earned invitations to the post-season WNIT tournament, advancing to the second round in 2008 and 2009. In 2011, the team would go 28–4 overall, with a 17–3 record in conference. That record was the best in conference, resulting in the first regular season conference title for the Eagles. The team would not become a full member of the conference until August of that year, so was not part of the conference post-season tournament. They did participate in the 2011 WNIT, beating Drexel in the first round before losing to Florida in the second round.

In 2012, their first year of eligibility for the Atlantic Sun post-season tournament, they went undefeated in conference play, with an 18–0 as part of an overall 29–3 record. They won the conference tournament, earning a bid to the NCAA tournament. They took on St. Bonaventure in their first NCAA game and took the Bonnies to overtime, before succumbing 72–65.[11]

The following year, the team also went undefeated in regular season conference play, but ended up with a loss to Stetson in the conference championship game. Although the team had lost eight players from the year before, they had won all their conference games by double digits. They held a double-digit lead in the conference final, but then went on a long scoreless streak, allowing the Hatters to get back into the game and win, 70–64. The Eagles earned an invitation to the WNIT but lost in the first round.[12]

2012 Paradise Jam

FGCU participated at the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas. The four teams invited to the Reef Division of tournament were:

  • DePaul University
  • Florida Gulf Coast University
  • Hampton University
  • University of South Carolina

The teams played in a round-robin format over the Thanksgiving weekend. In their game against DePaul, the Eagles fell behind early, down as much as 12 points in the first half. They came back to cut the deficit to a single point at halftime. After taking a brief, one-point lead early in the second half, the Blue Demons took back the lead, and extended it to nine points with under eight minutes to go. The lead was still eight points with just over two minutes left, when Taylor Gradinjan was fouled on a three-point attempt, and hit all three free throws. Katie Meador hit a basket with 23 seconds remaining, and Sarah Hansen scored with eight seconds left, but DePaul held on for a two-point victory.[13]

2013 Academic award

In the 2012–13 season, the team achieved a GPA of 3.621, which was high enough to be in fourth place among Division I teams, and earned a position on the WBCA Academic honor roll.[14]

Coaching staff

The head coach, Karl Smesko, became the head coach at FGCU after previous coaching experience at Walsh University, Maryland, and IPFW. He was the first head coach of the women's basketball program at FGCU. He has many awards, including the Kay Yow Award in 2012. Smesko is a 1993 graduate of Kent State, with a 1998 Master's degree from Walsh University.

Abby Scharlow has been an assistant coach since 2010. She played at Wisconsin–Green Bay during her college years, and professionally with Team Catz in Finland and the San Diego Siege of the National Women's Basketball League. She began her coaching career as an assistant at Valparaiso University.[15] Chelsea Dermyer is an assistant coach who has been with the program since 2005. She played for two seasons, helping the team win a WNIT bid. She has both a bachelors and a master's degree from FGCU.[16]

Chelsea Lyles is also an assistant coach with playing experience with the Eagles. A two-sport athlete, she played basketball only as a freshman at Western Nebraska Community College, but played volleyball as a sophomore, earning first-team all-region honors. She was spotted by an FGCU assistant coach while playing at the JUCO nationals, who helped recruit her to FGCU. She played basketball for FGCU, then played volleyball as a fifth year senior. Lyles accepted an assistant coaching position at FGCU in 2011.[17]

Mel Thomas served as the Director of Basketball Operations, between 2010 and 2014. Thomas had a four-year playing career for the Connecticut Huskies. Thomas was one of the best three-point shooters in UConn history.[18] During her senior year, she suffered a career ending ACL injury. While recuperating from her injury, she kept an extensive journal, and turned it into a book Heart Of A Husky (ISBN 1578604419)[18]

Season results

Source [19][20]

Statistics overview
Season Team Overall Conference Standing Postseason
Karl Smesko (Independent, A-Sun) (2003–2014)
2002–03 Karl Smesko 30–1
2003–04 Karl Smesko 18–8
2004–05 Karl Smesko 21–9
2005–06 Karl Smesko 29–2NCAA DII Regional semifinal
2006–07 Karl Smesko 34–1NCAA DII Runnerup
Atlantic Sun Conference
2007–08 Karl Smesko 22–912–32ndWNIT second round
2008–09 Karl Smesko 26–517–32ndWNIT second round
2009–10 Karl Smesko 24–717–32ndWNIT first round
2010–11 Karl Smesko 28–417–31stWNIT second round
2011–12 Karl Smesko 29–318–01stNCAA first round
2012–13 Karl Smesko 27–718–01stWNIT first round
2013–14 Karl Smesko 26–817–11stNCAA First round
2014–15 Karl Smesko 31–314–01stNCAA Second round
2015–16 Karl Smesko 33–614–01stWNIT Runnerup
2016–17 Karl Smesko 26–912–22ndNCAA first round
2017–18 Karl Smesko 30–413–12ndNCAA second round
2018–19 Karl Smesko 28–516–01stNCAA first round
2019–20 Karl Smesko 30–315–11stCanceled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2020–21 Karl Smesko 26–316–01stNCAA first round
2021–22 Karl Smesko 30–315–11stNCAA second round
2022–23 Karl Smesko 33–417–11stNCAA second round
Karl Smesko: 466–90 (.838)183–17 (.915)
Total:466–89 (.840)

      National champion         Postseason invitational champion  
      Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion
      Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion
      Conference tournament champion

Postseason

NCAA Division II tournament results

The Eagles made two appearances in the NCAA Division II women's basketball tournament. They had a combined record of 6–2.

Year Round Opponent Result
2006 First round
Second Round		 Rollins
Delta State		 W, 48–46 (OT)
L, 48–57
2007 First round
Second Round
Third round
Elite Eight
Final Four
National Championship		 Benedict
Valdosta State
Delta State
North Dakota
Clayton State
Southern Connecticut		 W, 78–49
W, 57–44
W, 57–44
W, 83–64
W, 61–57
L, 45–61

NCAA Division I Tournament results

Year Seed Round Opponent Result
2012 (12)First Round(5) St. BonaventureL 65–72 (OT)
2014 (12)First Round(5) Oklahoma StateL 60–61 (OT)
2015 (7)First Round
Second Round		(10) Oklahoma State
(2) Florida State		W 75–67
L 47–65
2017 (13)First Round(4) Miami (FL)L 60–62
2018 (12)First Round
Second Round		(5) Missouri
(4) Stanford		W 80–70
L 70–90
2019 (13)First Round(4) Miami (FL)L 62–69
2021 (11)First Round(6) MichiganL 66–87
2022 (12)First Round
Second Round		(5) Virginia Tech
(4) Maryland		W 84–81
L 65–89
2023 (12)First Round
Second Round		(5) Washington State
(4) Villanova		W 74–63
L 57-76

Awards and honors

  • 2013—4th place NCAA Division I academic honor roll[14]

References

  1. ↑ 2017-18 Florida Gulf Coast University Visual Identity & Brand Guidelines (PDF). Retrieved March 22, 2022.
  2. ↑ "No. 24 Eagles Named ASUN Tourney Co-Champs, O'Neal and Wingate Earn All-Tourney Recognition".
  3. ↑ "Florida Gulf Coast Eagles". ESPN.com. Retrieved November 14, 2012.
  4. ↑ "FGCU Terminates Membership in NAIA". Florida Gulf Coast University. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  5. ↑ "Introduction" (PDF). Florida Gulf Coast University Football Feasibility Study: Considerations for NCAA Division I and Football Championship Subdivision Football. Florida Gulf Coast University. pp. I-1.
  6. ↑ "FGCU Athletics to Join Division I Atlantic Sun Conference". Florida Gulf Coast University. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 17 Aug 2013.
  7. ↑ Caldwell, Dana (August 12, 2011). "FGCU officially becomes member of NCAA Division I". Naples Daily News. Retrieved March 22, 2013.
  8. ↑ Hays, Graham (February 22, 2012). "FGCU eyes first NCAA tournament". ESPN. Retrieved 17 Aug 2013.
  9. ↑ "OHIO DOMINICAN COLLEGE vs FLORIDA GULF COAST (11/22/02 at ALICO ARENA)". FGCU. Archived from the original on 17 August 2013. Retrieved 17 Aug 2013.
  10. ↑ "Eagles Women's Basketball Upsets Rollins in NCAA first round". FGCU. March 10, 2006. Archived from the original on 30 March 2014. Retrieved 17 Aug 2013.
  11. ↑ "St. Bonaventure rallies to deny FGCU in OT". ESPN. August 17, 2013. Retrieved March 18, 2012.
  12. ↑ FISHER, ADAM (March 9, 2013). "Women's basketball: FGCU shocked by Stetson in A-Sun final". Naplesnews.com. Retrieved 17 Aug 2013.
  13. ↑ "Complete Play-By-Play". ESPN. Retrieved 18 Aug 2013.
  14. 1 2 "WBCA Announces 2013 Academic Top 25 Team Honor Rolls". Women's Basketball Coaches Association. July 18, 2013. Archived from the original on 15 July 2014. Retrieved 3 Jul 2014.
  15. ↑ "Abby Scharlow". FGCU. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 18 Aug 2013.
  16. ↑ "Chelsea Dermyer". FGCU. Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 18 Aug 2013.
  17. ↑ CALDWELL, DANA (August 25, 2010). "PHOTOS: College volleyball: Ex-hoop stars Chelsea Lyles, Adrianne McNally making difference for FGCU". Naplesnews.com. Retrieved 18 Aug 2013.
  18. 1 2 Altavilla, John (2013-03-26). "Mel Thomas Is Really Loving Life At Florida Gulf Coast Now". Hartford Courant. Tribune Company. Archived from the original on 18 August 2013. Retrieved 18 Aug 2013.
  19. ↑ "Media Guide". Florida Gulf Coast University. Retrieved 17 Aug 2013.
  20. ↑ "History/Records" (PDF). Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved 17 Aug 2013.
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