PHILADELPHIA – In a contest that saw six lead changes, with neither team leading by more than seven points before the end, the FGCU women's basketball team outlasted Cal State University – Northridge Sunday afternoon with a huge end-game performance from junior Whitney Knight. The Eagles defeated the Matadors 73-64 at Saint Joseph's Hagan Arena as part of the 2014 Hawk Classic to move to 11-2 on the season, while CSUN falls to 9-3.
 
With the win, the Eagles will take on Quinnipiac in the tournament championship game Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. The Bobcats defeated host Saint Joe's 69-67 in Sunday's first game to earn the trip to the championship bout. Monday's matchup will be one of the strongest tests for the Eagles, who currently rank 30 in the RPI, this season as the MAAC team sits at 27 in Sunday's official RPI.
 
FGCU and CSUN battled for the lead throughout the contest, matching scores on five occasions and changing the lead six times. The Eagles took a five-point lead into the break but it was quickly cut by their opponents in the second half. After allowing CSUN to create a six-point deficit midway through the second half, Knight (Winston-Salem, N.C./R.J. Reynolds High School) powered the Eagles to a comeback and pushed FGCU ahead with 17 points in the last nine minutes. The Green and Blue went on to outscore the Matadors 17-9 in the final four minutes of action and earned a 73-64 win over the reigning Big West Champions.
 
Knight finished the contest with 27 points, just one shy of her career high. She also added a team-best eight rebounds, six blocks, three assists and three steals in 30 minutes on the floor. Junior Stephanie Haas (Avon Lake, Ohio/Magnificat High School) added 16 in the team's sixth-straight win, while senior Jenna Cobb (New Holland, Ohio/Miami Trace High School/Butler) put up 10 points.
 
As a unit, the Eagles shot 40 percent from the field with a 35.7 percent success rate from 3-point range. The team shot nearly 47 percent in the first half but struggled to begin the second stanza. The Matadors finished with a clip of 36.4 percent with seven made 3-point shots compared to the Eagles' 10. CSUN outscored FGCU from the charity stripe with 17-of-23 made. The Green and Blue sank 11-of-18 attempts from the line overall but went 9-for-10 in the second half with six made on six attempts in the last 54 seconds.
The Eagles scored 25 points on 20 CSUN miscues, while turning the ball over just seven times in the full 40 minutes.
 
"We were expecting a really good team and we saw a really good team today," said head coach Karl Smesko. "They're really well coached, they have some really good guards that cause problems for their opponents and they caused problems for us today. I'm happy with how we played down the stretch. Whitney was huge at the end of the game; she blocked some big shots and made a couple of clutch threes and it really helped us win today."
 
Haas and Knight opened the back-and-forth contest with consecutive layups to give the Eagles a 4-0 lead but the advantage was short lived as the Matadors quickly compiled an 8-0 run over a span of just two minutes.  After the first media timeout, Gradinjan cut the CSUN streak with a 3-pointer from the left side to bring the score within one before Knight reclaimed the lead for FGCU with a quick layup near the 14-minute mark.
 
The Eagles used buckets from Anthi Chatzigiakoumi (Athens, Greece/General Senior High School of Kallithea) and another from Knight, while battling on the boards, to take a 13-8 lead but again saw as CSUN took the advantage with back-to-back long-range shots to go ahead 14-13.
 
The teams traded the lead four times in the first half with neither team holding more than a five-point advantage through the first 13 minutes.  CSUN cut an Eagle lead to one point with nine minutes to play before Knight and Haas combined for five quick points to give FGCU a 23-17 lead with 7:47 to go.
 
FGCU maintained the slight advantage for several minutes with sharp shooting but allowed the Matadors to knot the game at 29 with an 8-2 run surrounding the six-minute mark. After seeing the tie score, redshirt freshman Taylor Gradinjan (Cudahy, Wisc./Cudahy High School) sparked the Eagles with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc with three minutes to play. Cobb followed with a layup a minute later to increase the lead to five points and helped the Eagles hold their opposition scoreless in the final minutes.
 
With aid from 12 points on CSUN turnovers and nine points each from Haas and Knight, the Green and Blue went into the break with a 34-29 advantage.
 
The Matadors opened the second half with four-quick points to cut the deficit to just one point but Haas and Knight again responded for the Eagles. A 3-pointer from Haas pushed FGCU in front 40-33 in the first three minutes but after a long-range shot from CSUN, both teams were held scoreless for the next three minutes.
 
With a 42-36 lead, the Eagles allowed their opponent to drive to the rim on three-straight possessions, tying the game at 42 with 12:30 left to go. The Matadors reclaimed the lead on a free throw 45 seconds later and produced a six-point run to go ahead 48-42 at the midpoint of the second half.
 
While facing the largest deficit of the game, Cobb sparked the Eagles with a 3-pointer from the top of the arc. Knight followed with a long-range shot over the defender to even the contest at 48 with 8:38 on the clock. The teams traded baskets near the seven-minute mark and entered the final five minutes of action with FGCU ahead 56-55.
 
Five-straight points from Knight increased that lead to six points before another string of consecutive 3-pointers from Cobb and Knight gave the Green and Blue its largest lead of the game, 67-59 with two minutes left to play.
 
CSUN added three free throws and forced an FGCU turnover at the one-minute mark but quickly gave the ball away and was forced into fouling. The Eagles sank six free throws on six attempts in the final minute to seal the victory at 73-64.
 
The Eagles will conclude play at the Saint Joseph's Hawk Classic Monday, Dec. 29. As the winners from the first round, FGCU will take on Quinnipiac at 4 p.m. at Hagan Arena. The Bobcats defeated the host, 69-67 Sunday afternoon. Saint Joe's and CSUN will battle in the consolation matchup at 2 p.m. The Eagles will wrap up nonconference action Friday, Jan. 2 at Harvard before heading back to Alico Arena to take on Stetson Jan. 10.
 
Single-game tickets for all FGCU women's basketball games are on sale online at FGCUAthletics.com, over the phone at 239-590-7145 or in person at the Alico Arena Box Office.
 
Group sales for women's basketball games are available for parties of 20 or more at a discounted rate.  Beginning this season, groups will receive the opportunity for to upgrade their package to include chairback seats, a PA announcement and a special FGCU group T-Shirt at a cost of $10.
 
For up-to-the minute information on the FGCU women's basketball team, stay tuned to FGCUAthletics.com and follow the official Twitter of FGCU women's basketball at @FGCU_WBB.
 
Head coach Karl Smesko earned his fourth-consecutive Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year award after a successful 2013-14 campaign. Under his direction, the team completed the season with a record of 26-8, including a 17-1 mark in conference action and won the program's 300th win in January. Smesko guided the Eagles to their fourth-consecutive regular season championship and went undefeated in the A-Sun Conference tournament to win their second Tournament Championship in three seasons.  The 2013-14 season marked the 10th-consecutive season in which a Smesko coached team won at least 20 games.  He has recorded 325 wins at FGCU with 117 Atlantic Sun victories.  The five-time Atlantic Sun Coach of the Year ranks among an elite list of just four active Division I coaches with a career win percentage of .800 or higher.  Smesko joins Connecticut's Geno Auriemma, Baylor's Kim Mulkey and Stanford's Tara VanDerveer in the esteemed group.
 
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