FGCU women, shooting for Sweet 16, will need to slow down Villanova star Maddy Siegrist

Technically, FGCU’s 74-63 win over Washington State in Saturday’s first round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament will go in the books as an upset. That’s typically how observers categorize it when a 12 seed knocks off a No. 5, especially one like the Cougars which was entering fresh off a Pac-12 tournament championship.

But the Eagles, who have now won three consecutive first-round games as a No. 12 seed, are anything but typical.

“It’d be interesting to see how many programs have as many wins as a 12 seed as we do,” Smesko said following the win over WSU.

The answer is, well, no one. FGCU became the first women's program to reach this somewhat dubious distinction Saturday by blowing past the Cougars in the second half Saturday.

Saturday's recap:FGCU uses third-quarter surge to power past Washington State in NCAA Tournament

Smesko, whose teams are now 4-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament despite never earning a seed higher than No. 7, said the NCAA selection committee has been able to justify the Eagles’ low seeds because they don’t play typically a lot of Quadrant 1 opponents – teams who are ranked in the top 75 in the RPI. During the regular season, FGCU faced just two nonconference Quad 1 foes – Stanford and Duke.

“Some things are out of our control,” Smesko said. “We can’t control who will play us. We can ask everybody but they’re entitled to say no.

“A lot of times we have to win our conference tournament just to get an opportunity to be in this tournament. We just have to make the most of it. Whoever they put us against we feel like we have a good opportunity to win.”

FGCU’s penchant for being dismissed by the committee also negatively impacts a team like Washington State, which drew a first-round foe that entered the tournament ranked No. 22 in the Coaches poll and No. 21 in the RPI index.

“I know there was a collective, ‘Ohhh, poor Washington State’ when that came up because of the respect that people have for Karl and what he does,” Cougars coach Kamie Ethridge said.

The benefit of being a 12-seed for FGCU is that the lowest seed the Eagles could meet in the second round is a No. 4. That’s exactly who FGCU will take on Monday at 7 p.m. when it faces Villanova (29-6) in what amounts to a road game at Finneran Pavilion.

The Wildcats, ranked No. 10 in the nation in both the AP and Coaches polls, are led by the nation’s leading scorer in senior forward Maddy Siegrist, who’s averaging 29.1 points per game. In Saturday’s 76-59 win over No. 13 seed Cleveland State, the 6-foot-2 Siegrist poured in 35 points and became the fifth women’s player in NCAA history to score 1,000 points in a season.

Following Saturday's win, Villanova coach Denise Dillon said it'll take a team effort for the Wildcats to get past FGCU, which showcased its offensive versatility in the win over WSU.

“You see what Florida Gulf Coast is capable of doing; they flipped it," she said. "In the first half it was more drives; second half it was more of the 3s. It’s going to be a lot of that one-on-one coverage, being in position.

"We have to know who we are and what we’re capable of and work it out together."

Villanova hasn’t advanced past the second round of the NCAAs since 2003 when the Wildcats reached the Elite Eight.

FGCU is 0-3 all-time in the second round, losing by an average of nearly 21 points. To earn their first-ever trip to the Sweet 16, the Eagles will have to figure out a way to limit Siegrist, similar to how they clamped down on Washington State star Charlisse Leger-Walker. FGCU held the All-Pac-12 first-teamer to just 5 points, 13 below her season scoring average, in Saturday's win.

The Eagles will also need another effective offensive performance against a Wildcats' defense that's allowed just 58.4 points per game this season, second in the Big East. That may be tougher to come by considering FGCU will be facing a much more partisan crowd than it did against WSU.

The Eagles, who have won 15 games in a row, went 13-1 on the road this season. If they can get to 14-1, they'll become the first No. 12 seed to reach the Sweet 16 since Quinnipiac in 2017.

No. 12 FGCU (33-3) vs. No. 4 Villanova (29-6)

When: Monday, 7 p.m.

Where: Finneran Pavilion, Villanova, Pa.

Series: First meeting

Rankings: FGCU – No. 22 in USAT/Coaches Poll, No. 30 in AP, No. 36 in NET. Villanova – No. 10 in USAT/Coaches Poll, No. 10 in AP, No. 12 in NET.

How they got here: FGCU – Beat No. 5 seed Washington State 74-63. Villanova – Beat No. 13 seed Cleveland State 76-59.

Individual leaders: FGCU – Tishara Morehouse (15.9 points, 4.5 assists, 2 steals), Sha Carter (14.1 points, 6.2 rebounds), Alyza Winston (12.3 points, 2.6 rebounds). Villanova – Maddy Siegrist (29.1 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.2 blocks), Lucy Olsen (12.2 points, 4.4 assists, 1.4 steals), Christina Dalce (7.1 points, 8 rebounds, 2.2 blocks).

FGCU's history in the NCAA Tournament

This article originally appeared on Naples Daily News: FGCU vs. Villanova: Eagles looking for first Sweet 16 appearance