Wednesday, December 22, 2010

FORT MYERS, Fla. - Four Eagles scored in double figures and Courtney Chihil nearly recorded a triple-double as the FGCU women’s basketball team drained 15 three-pointers en route to a 73-69 win over Big Ten foe Indiana at Alico Arena on Tuesday night in front of 2,621 fans.

With the win the Blue and Green move to 9-0 and extend their best Division I start in program history, while IU falls to 6-6. The win also extends FGCU’s home winning streak to 28-games, the third longest in the nation behind UConn and Stanford.

Juniors Kelsey Jacobson (Barnesville, Minn./Moorhead HS) and Courtney Chihil (Tipp City, Ohio/ Alter HS) both finished with a team-high 16 points. Chihil added 11 assists and nine rebounds in the win. Junior Eglah Griffin (Fort Myers, Fla./Dunbar HS/Seminole CC) registered a season-high 16 points and five boards in 32 minutes. Freshman Sarah Hansen (Edinboro, Pa./General McLane HS) pitched in with 11 points and four rebounds.

Whitney Lindsey led the Hoosiers with 16 points. Lindsey also dropped six assists and three steals.

FGCU knocked down 44 percent (15-of-34) of its three-point attempts on the night. The Eagles have drained double digit three-pointers seven times on the season and now have 100 long range makes as a team. Five different players made at least one trey for the Blue and Green, led by Griffin’s 4-of-7 night.

Chihil’s 11 assists were the most in a single-game since the program joined Division I in 2007-08 and helped the Eagles finish with a positive assist/turnover ratio (18-16) for the sixth time this season. FGCU also won the battle of the boards by a slim 33-30 margin, highlighted by 12 offensive rebounds that led to a 14-3 edge in second chance points.

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