The FGCU women’s basketball team has reigned supreme atop the Atlantic Sun Conference for years.
The Eagles have won 11 conference titles and have made 13 straight appearances in the ASUN title game. There’s no reason to think that those marks will increase to 12 titles and 14 straight appearances.
Karl Smesko’s group returns Emani Jefferson, the ASUN Triple Crown winner (Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Newcomer of the Year), along with a handful of others that very well could see this season eclipse 30 wins for the seventh time in the last 10 seasons.
Entering 2024-25 with high expectations: FGCU men’s and women’s basketball teams start practice
“We’re always trying to be the best team that we can be,” Smesko said. “We understand that every year, no matter what, there’s very high expectations for us. Our fans have very high expectations of what we should be able to accomplish. Our reputation nationally is that we’re expected to have a good program every year. There’s a pressure that goes along with that, but we try to put that aside every day and work to become as good as we can become. I definitely think we have the pieces to have a very good team this year.”
Jefferson returns after a stellar season, averaging 16.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and a field goal percentage of 52.8 percent as a guard. The Eagles were finally able to hit their stride after she missed the first nine games of the season.
Around Jefferson are multiple veterans, including Maddie Antenucci, Dolly Cairns, Casey Santoro, and Skyler Gill, who was a two-time ASUN Defensive Player of the Year with North Alabama in 2022 and 2023 before transferring to Kansas last season. She was named as the ASUN Preseason Defensive Player of the Year on Oct. 10.
“We have a lot of really good returners,” Smesko said. “They’re helping the newcomers along. We have a very talented team. We have some very good returners who are all-conference level players. We’ve added some really good players with this recruiting class. Now, they can learn each other’s strengths and how to play into those strengths so that we can get the most out of everybody’s abilities.”
With the Eagles’ style of play, rebounding has tended to be a struggle against bigger teams the Eagles have faced. After pulling down 1,234 rebounds a season ago, which ranks sixth-best in program history, Smesko sees room for improvement.
“We have a goal to be a better rebounding team,” Smesko said. “We’ve been an OK, good rebounding team, but we’d like to become more dominant crashing the boards. That’ll be something we look to emphasize in these 30 practices before our first game.”
“… We’re still going to play the same style,” Smesko said. “Our new players are really smart and they’re picking things up fast. That makes the process go much quicker.”
Previously: Former FGCU, Dunbar High star Keri Jewett-Giles joins Eagles women’s basketball coaching staff
Smesko is aiming to prepare his group for what’s a very competitive schedule early on, followed by a period in which the Eagles face New College and Ave Maria in back-to-back games in December. November’s slate includes Davidson, Columbia, NJIT, Georgetown, Cincinnati, Cal Baptist, and Chattanooga.
“I think one of the challenges is that some of our toughest games happen in the first few weeks of the season,” Smesko said. “I really think come December and January, we’re going to be really good. Being really good in November is how much we’re going to be able to get out of these practices.
“We’re playing a lot of teams that have just about everybody back. They’re going to be playing at a high level from the beginning. That’s going to be a challenge for us, is to try and be at that level from the very first game.”
Season schedule
Nov. 5 — at Davidson
Nov. 11 — at Columbia
Nov. 17 — vs. NJIT
Nov. 23 — vs. Georgetown (in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada)
Nov. 24 — vs. Cincinnati (in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada)
Nov. 29 — vs. Cal Baptist
Nov. 30 — vs. Chattanooga
Dec. 4 — vs. New College of Florida
Dec. 8 — vs. Ave Maria
Dec. 16 — vs. Montana State
Dec. 20 — vs. North Carolina A&T
Dec. 21 — vs. East Tennessee State
Jan. 2 — vs. Queens (N.C.)
Jan. 4 — vs. West Georgia
Jan. 9 — at North Florida
Jan. 11 — at Jacksonville
Jan. 16 — at Queens (N.C.)
Jan. 18 — at West Georgia
Jan. 23 — vs. Bellarmine
Jan. 25 — vs. Eastern Kentucky
Jan. 30 — vs. Lipscomb
Feb. 1 — vs. Austin Peay
Feb. 6 — at Bellarmine
Feb. 8 — at Eastern Kentucky
Feb. 12 — vs. North Florida
Feb. 15 — vs. Stetson
Feb. 20 — at Central Arkansas
Feb. 22 — at North Alabama
Feb. 27 — vs. Jacksonville
March 1 — at Stetson
Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: FGCU Eagles women’s basketball set to dominate ASUN Conference again in 2024-25
