Fort Myers, Fla. -- It was only the Atlantic Sun opener, but the intensity level had the feel of a conference championship game.
Stetson led throughout much of the contest before a late Eagle run lifted host FGCU to a 57-55 victory over the Hatters Saturday evening in front of a full house at Alico Arena.
It was a heartbreaking finish as Stetson led by 15 points by under 13 minutes to play. The loss snapped the Hatters four-game win streak and dropped to Stetson to 11-4, 0-1 on the season.
"I thought it was a hard fought game," Stetson head coach Lynn Bria said. "I thought my kids pretty much executed the gameplan overall. We knew it was going to be a dog fight, and it was a dog fight. I am just disappointed for my team."
A great start to the second half put Stetson ahead, 45-30, with 12:58 to play. FGCU responded with a 12-0 run to cut the lead to three. Stetson pushed the lead back to nine with 5:45 to play behind a 3-pointer and a driving lay-up by Jama Sharp. FGCU fought back again and tied the game on Jenna Cobb's 3-pointer with 1:51 to play.
Cobb later gave FGCU the lead on an old-fashioned three-point play, but Sharp sliced it to one point on a pair of free throws with 49 seconds left.
On the Eagles next possession, C.J. Coddington drew a charge to give Stetson the ball with a chance to win, but a charging call against the Hatters offense on their next possession sealed the victory for FGCU.
"I am not going to comment on that," Bria said after the game when asked about the final offensive foul. "There are so many chances here that it is not about the officiating. We have to look at what we can control. We had a lot of chances."
Amber Porter led Stetson with 17 points and 11 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. She hit a clutch 3-pointer at the end of the first half to help give Stetson a 34-25 lead at halftime.
Myeisha Hall scored 14 points and added seven rebounds and four assists.
Stetson started the game 6-for-6 from the floor to jump out to a early 13-8 lead. FGCU led 20-15 before Hall scored eight straight points to put Stetson back on top. The Hatters went into the break on an 11-0 run.
FGCU took 49 3-point attempts for the game, connecting on just 11.
Stetson committed 23 turnovers and shot just under 40 percent for the floor. The Hatters outrebounded the Eagles 48-36.
"We had a lot of chances but we just didn't capitalize on the scoring," Bria said. "We just didn't put the ball in the basket. We had good looks, but you have to stick the ball in the basket. Defensively, we gave ourselves a chance to win."
The Hatters were in the same position last year, having lost to FGCU in the conference opener before winning the next 16 A-Sun games in a row.
"You have to keep it in perspective," Bria said. "You can't let your team get too down or too up for anything. It's the first conference game, it can't be the end-all, be-all for us. It is like I told our players in the locker room, we have to get on to the next game. There is no time to dwell on one game."
Stetson will play its conference home opener against Jacksonville at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
