FORT MYERS, Fla. – The Stetson women's basketball team had its school-record 11-game winning streak halted by Florida Gulf Coast 74-55 Saturday night at Alico Arena.
Victoria McGowan and Shanasa Sanders each scored 16 points as the Hatters (15-5, 8-1 A-Sun) suffered just their first conference loss of the year.
Stetson's 11-game win streak had ranked as the third-longest active streak in the NCAA, trailing only Baylor's 16-game streak and Notre Dame's 13 consecutive wins.
In a match-up between two undefeated teams in A-Sun play, the Eagles (16-5, 9-0 A-Sun) owned a significant advantage on the boards, outrebounding Stetson 43-29. FGCU converted 16 offensive rebounds into 15 second chance points.
“I thought the game would come down to rebounding and it did,” Stetson head coach Lynn Bria said. “I thought they got some critical rebounds when we needed stops. They are not a team that you can keep giving possessions, and if you do you are in trouble. It is something we can learn from.”
The Eagles hit seven three-pointers in the first half and jumped out to a 37-24 halftime lead.
Stetson bit into the lead in the second half as Sasha Sims drained a three-pointer with 12 minutes left to cut the lead to eight. Jama Sharp and Sanders later converted a two-on-one fastbreak at the 7:38 mark to pull Stetson within six, 53-47, but the Hatters would get no closer.
“I thought our second half was much more aggressive,” Bria said. “I thought we were much more aggressive defensively and our offense was better. Overall I thought our game plan was good, our effort was pretty good, but the rebounding hurt us.”
Sims scored nine points and collected two blocks in the game and became just the third player in school history to record 100 career blocks. McGowan also surpassed the 200 career steals mark and now ranks seventh in school history in that category.
Stetson will continue its three-game road trip next Saturday at North Florida. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. with coverage on ASun.TV, HatterVision, and WSBB.
Notes: Janelle Mills played in her 117th career game, tied for third-most in school history. She recorded two blocks … McGowan moved up to seventh all-time in school history in points scored (1348) … Jama Sharp has 21 steals in her last five games (three on Saturday) … Sanders scored the final 10 points for Stetson and added a team-high eight rebounds.
