Fort Myers, Fla. – Fourth-seeded Stetson hung with top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast for three and a half quarters in the Atlantic Sun semifinals Wednesday night, but the Eagles pulled away in the final minutes to post a 61-46 victory at Alico Arena.

FGCU (28-4) advances to host Jacksonville in Sunday's A-Sun title game.

Stetson (19-11) rallied from a 34-24 third quarter deficit to take a 41-40 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Hatters were still within five at 49-44 with 4:32 to play, but Stetson managed just two points the rest of the way and fell short of the upset bid.

“I thought for 35 minutes we played pretty well,” Stetson head coach Lynn Bria said. “You have to play through their runs, and I thought we played through their run and put ourselves in a really good position. I thought (Kaneisha) Atwater really stepped up in the last five minutes for them. That was where the game was decided.”

Sarah Sagerer led the Hatters with a season-high 19 points, 12 of which came during the Hatters' third quarter run. She was 7-for-8 from the floor and hit Stetson's lone 3-pointer of the night.

Myka Johnson-Matthews added 10 points while playing a full 40 minutes. Aisha Turner dished out six assists.

Atwater finished with a game high 25 points.

“This group won 19 games,” Bria said. “If you had told me the last time we were here (Jan. 9) that we would win 19 games I would have said you were crazy. I am proud that we have won 19 games. We had a long road and had to put a lot of stuff together, so I am proud of them.”

The Hatters will await a potential berth in the WBI postseason tournament. An announcement would come early next week.

Notes: Stetson hit just one 3-pointer, but it wasa enough to extend the team's 3-point streak to 200 consecutive games ... Stetson is hoping to still have a chance at its sixth straight 20-win season.