Saturday, January 02, 2010

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Chelsea Lyles tied her career-high with 22 points as the FGCU women’s basketball team extended their winning streak to four games by defeating the Bruins of Belmont 81-48 at the Curb Event Center.

With the win, FGCU improves their record to 8-3 overall (3-0 A-Sun) while the Bruins fall to 6-5 overall (1-2 A-Sun). The win also marks the fifth consecutive game that the Eagles have had at least three players score in double figures.

Lyles (Colorado Springs, Col.) led all scorers with 22 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-8 from behind the arc. Senior Adrianne McNally (Howell, Mich.) registered 17 points on 5-of-6 shooting (7-of-10 from the charity stripe). McNally also tallied seven boards and four assists in 32 minutes of action. Senior Brittany Brown (Flint, Mich.) scored 12 points off the FGCU bench. As a team, the Blue and Green knocked down 11 3-pointers.

Haley Nelson led the Bruins with 14 points and six rebounds.

The Eagles opened the game on fire as they used a 24-6 run to get a quick jump on Belmont. FGCU shot 53.3-percent (8-of-15) from the field and 50-percent (4-of-8) from behind the arc during the run, which spanned the first 8:41 of the half. The Bruins countered with a quick 8-2 run of their own to cut the FGCU lead down to 12 points (26-14) with 6:31 remaining in the half.

The Eagles responded with a quick 12-0 run, capped by a pair of Shannon Murphy (Brighton, Mich.) free-throws, to push their lead to 24 points (38-14) with 2:56 left in the opening half, and outscored the Bruins 12-3 over the final 6:24 to take a 38-17 lead into the locker room at halftime.