Coming off of a strong 74-56 victory over Kennesaw State in the Atlantic Sun quarterfinal, the Stetson Hatters will travel to Fort Myers to take on top-seeded Florida Gulf Coast in the conference semifinals Wednesday night at Alico Arena.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. with live coverage on ESPN3 and WSBB.
The winner will advance to Sunday's 2 p.m. championship against the winner or league's other semifinal - USC Upstate vs. Jacksonville.
The fourth-seeded Hatters (19-10) have won seven of their past nine games, but one of the losses came against the Eagles (27-4) on Feb. 27 in DeLand, 60-47.
What will it take for Stetson to break through against FGCU?
"I just think we need to play a complete game," Stetson head coach Lynn Bria said. "When you play someone like (FGCU), you can't just pick one thing. You have to play team defense. You have to play team offense. You have to rebound. You can't turn the ball over a bunch of times. You have to play a complete game, and you have to play it for 40 minutes."
In the most recent meeting, Stetson led 9-0 early in the game and 25-22 at the break. However, FGCU's defense held Stetson to just seven points in the third quarter and 22 points for the second half.
"You have to play hard and you have to keep your composure, especially when you are down (in Fort Myers)," Bria said. "We don't have to play perfect, either. I don't want (our players) to feel like we have to play perfect to have a chance to win the game."
Stetson will be looking for their 20th win this season and a chance to play for the A-Sun Championship for the fifth time in the past six years. The Hatters won the league title in 2011 and 2013.
Ticket information for the game can be found on the FGCU Athletics website.
In addition to the live broadcasts, fans can get in-game updates via live stats, the Stetson women's basketball twitter feed, and the HatCheck text messaging system presented by Orlando Sanford International Airport.
A-Sun Tournament History
Stetson is 27-25 all-time in A-Sun postseason play. The Hatters have won the conference championship four times - in 1989, 2005, 2011, and 2013. In the past six seasons, Stetson is 12-3 in postseason play. The Hatters have advanced to the A-Sun Finals in four of the past five years, winning it all in 2011 and 2013. Stetson will be playing in its sixth straight A-Sun semifinal game.
The All-Time Series vs. FGCU - 22nd Meeting
FGCU leads the all-time series 18-3 over Stetson, including a 10-0 mark in Fort Myers. The teams have met three times in the postseason, each time for the A-Sun title, with Stetson winning once in 2013.
Single-Season Scoring
With 534 points this season, Brianti Saunders is just the fifth Hatter all-time to record 500 points in a season, and the first since Victoria McGowan in 2012-13. The school record for single-season points is 581 by Nefertiti Walker in 2005-06. Saunders is currently fourth on the single-season list, and needs 29 points to tie for third. She in currently the only A-Sun player over 500 points on the season.
