Florida Gulf Coast Eagles
Atlantic Sun (29-2, 18-0)
It couldn’t get much better for Florida Gulf Coast when it came to play in the Atlantic Sun Conference. The Eagles just captured the tournament championship with a 67-39 win over Stetson, completing a perfect run through the league. In a league where Stetson was the only other team above .500, however, what does that say for the Eagles’ chances to make it far into the NCAA tournament? Most of the victories Florida Gulf Coast earned came against the weaker Atlantic Sun teams, and that could be a problem for the team come tournament time.
Big Wins: 11/19 Michigan State (59-58), 11/25 Richmond (81-67), 1/21 at Stetson (59-55)
Bad Losses: 11/11 at Seton Hall (57-51), 12/28 NC State (69-64)
Coach: Karl Smesko (10 seasons at Florida Gulf Coast)
Why They Can Surprise:
Despite the fact the team doesn’t have many players above six feet tall and has no dominant scorer, Florida Gulf Coast was one of the top offensive teams in the country at 75 points per game. The Atlantic Sun is definitely regarded as a mid-major conference, so for the Eagles to knock off teams from the Big Ten (Michigan State) and Atlantic-10 (Richmond) is big. Although Sarah Hansen is the team’s leading scorer and rebounder, seven players have led the team in scoring during individual games. If Hansen has a bad day or even an average day by her standards and someone else steps up to score, opposing teams could be in a lot of trouble. Don’t leave them open from the perimeter, either. The team has nearly 11 successful 3-point attempts, the best record in the country. Because Florida Gulf Coast doesn’t get a lot of publicity outside its own conference, not many people realize the Eagles have won 21 games in a row since the December 28 loss to North Carolina State.
Why They Can Disappoint:
While Kelsey Jacobson and Eglah Griffin are the team’s prominent 3-point shooters and have done a good job this season from the perimeter, only two scorers – Hansen and Nicoya Jackson – are in double digits, and Jackson is exactly at 10 points per game. How can a team that averaged 75 points per game and was in the top 20 in the nation not have too many dominant scorers? Players like Courtney Chihil and Brittany Kennedy excel at taking good care of the ball, with high assist-to-turnover ratios above 1.5, but four players are below the 1.0 mark, meaning they have more turnovers than assists. Florida Gulf Coast also fattened its win total with victories against Atlantic Sun teams that had rotten seasons. In fact, four of the 10 conference schools had 10 wins or less the whole season. The Eagles haven’t beaten a single team from College Sports Madness’ top 25; in fact, they have not faced a team in the top 25.
Probable Starters:
Courtney Chihil, Senior, Guard, 9.8 ppg, 3.2 apg
Kelsey Jacobson, Senior, Guard, 9.9 ppg, 1.7 apg
Brittany Kennedy, Junior, Guard, 6.5 ppg, 3.5 apg, 4.7 rpg, 2.5 spg
Eglah Griffin, Senior, Guard, 9.0 ppg, 3.1 rpg
Sarah Hansen, Sophomore, Forward, 14.3 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 2.0 spg
Key Roleplayers:
Nicoya Jackson, Senior, Guard, 10.0 ppg, 2.5 apg
Whitney Knight, Freshman, Forward, 8.0 ppg, 3.8 rpg
Sarah Whitfield, Senior, Forward, 3.0 ppg, 2.1 rpg
Amber Rechis, Freshman, Guard, 5.0 ppg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 75.0 (15th in nation, 1st in conference)
Scoring Defense: 53.1 (23, 1)
Field-Goal Percentage: 43.7 (22, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 37.3 (95, 2)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 10.8 (1, 1)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 36.8 (12, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 75.0 (27, 3)
Rebound Margin: -0.1 (174, 4)
Assists Per Game: 16.8 (13, 1)
Turnovers Per Game: 13.6 (12, 1)
Last Five Postseason Appearances:
Florida Gulf Coast 2011 NIT Round of 64 win over Drexel
Florida Gulf Coast 2011 NIT Round of 32 loss to Florida
Florida Gulf Coast 2010 NIT Round of 64 loss to Miami
Florida Gulf Coast 2009 NIT First Round win over George Washington
Florida Gulf Coast 2009 NIT Second Round loss to South Florida
Florida Gulf Coast 2008 NIT First Round win over South Florida
Florida Gulf Coast 2008 NIT Second Round loss to Florida
*all team stats through 3/1
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