No. 23 FGCU women shoot past Stetson in A-Sun semis 82-67

Wed, Mar 9, 2022
NCAAB News (AP)

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) - Kierstan Bell had a double-double and Kendall Spray and Kerstie Phills combined for all 21 of their points in the second half as No. 23 Florida Gulf Coast pulled away from Stetson in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament semifinals on Wednesday night.

The top-seeded Eagles (28-2) were down 34-28 at the half but hit 11 of 17 3-pointers in the second half, four by Spray and two by Phils. Bell had 19 points and 11 rebounds, Emma List added 14 points with four 3-pointers and Karlie Seay had 13 points.

FGCU is in the championship game for the 11th straight year and plays host to Jacksonville State in the finale on Saturday night.

Alyssa Hargrove scored 18 points for the Hatters (20-12), who won at FGCS 58-55 last month after losing 78-41 at home. Jamiya Turner added 17 points, Tatiana Streun had 12 points with seven rebounds and Ayanna Dublin scored 10.

Hargrove had the first basket of the game, added two free throws to cap a 7-0 run and scored the Hatters' last seven points of the first quarter to help put Stetson on top 21-13. She had 11 at the quarter and 13 in the half.

Andrea Cecil, Spray and List had 3-pointers in a 14-2 run that put the Eagles on top. It was 53-49 going into the fourth quarter when FGCU hit 11 of 13 shots, including six 3-pointers by five different players to pull away.

The Eagles shot 69% in the second half.

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More AP women's college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25