Kerstie Phills Named to ASUN All-Academic Team

FORT MYERS, Fla. – After a banner year both on the court and in the classroom, FGCU senior Kerstie Phills (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Christian/Wagner) has been named to the ASUN All-Academic Team as announced by the league office today.
 
“Kerstie excels on the court and in the classroom. It is good to see her receive this recognition,” said head coach Karl Smesko. “This has been Kerstie’s best season as an Eagle. She played at an All-Conference level in ASUN play.”
 
Phills currently holds a 3.75 grade-point-average as a graduate student in health science. She finished her undergraduate work with a 3.79 GPA and has been a FGCU Dean’s List member as well as an ASUN Honor Roll and FGCU AD Honor Roll selection. This past January, she was selected as one of the Suncoast Credit Union FGCU Athletics Scholar-Athletes of the Month.
 
This season Phills has been the fourth leading scorer (9.0 points per game) for the Eagles and the second leading rebounder (5.1 rebounds per game). She increased her productivity to 11.8 points and a team-best 7.2 rebounds per game during a nine-game stretch without All-American candidate Kierstan Bell in the lineup due to injury. In a win at Stetson, she was one shy of her career high with 23 points. She had her first double-double of the season with 19 points and 10 rebounds against Bellarmine. She also scored 19 points against Jacksonville and had 17 points at Jacksonville State. Following her performances at Stetson and Jacksonville State, she was named the ASUN Player of the Week (1/24).
 
For her career, Phills has played in 117 games overall between her true freshman year at Wagner and three seasons at FGCU. She reached the 1,000-point plateau this season and enters the postseason with 1,020 career points overall. She also has 560 career rebounds and 114 steals through four seasons.
 
2021-22 ASUN Conference Women’s Basketball All-Academic Team
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Mya Berkman, Liberty
 
2021-22 ASUN Conference All-Academic Team

 
^ – Denotes a three-time selection to the All-Academic Team
# – Denotes a two-time selection to the All-Academic Team
 
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IT TAKES A TEAM to achieve our newest goal – a $10 million campaign to address student-athlete needs in continued academic success, life skills, mental health, nutrition, and strength and conditioning as well as departmental needs in facility expansion and improvement as well as mentoring and leadership training for coaches and staff. The name embodies our mission and the purpose of the E.A.G.L.E. Campaign – Eagle Athletics Generating Lifetime Excellence. Join Our Team and pledge your gift today to help the Eagles of tomorrow!

 

SUPPORT THE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL PROGRAM

Do you enjoy watching or following the FGCU women’s basketball program? Would you like to play a role in the growth of the program and help take it to heights never before experienced? If so, you can reach out to Director of Advancement, Matt Ring, about opportunities to make an impact on the experiences of our student-athletes. He can be reached by email at [email protected] or by office phone at 239-745-4434.

COACH SMESKO

FGCU head coach Karl Smesko maintains a record of 606-127 (.826) overall in his career, which is the third-highest winning percentage among active Division I coaches behind only UConn’s Geno Auriemma and LSU’s Kim Mulkey. He has also led the Eagles to a 232-18 (.929) mark in ASUN regular season play and a 27-2 (.931) record in ASUN tournament play. Over the previous 10 seasons, he has guided FGCU to a 153-5 (.968) record in conference play with six undefeated seasons. The 11-time ASUN Coach of the Year has led the program to 12-straight 25-win seasons and 18-consecutive 20-win campaigns, including 30-plus wins in four of the past seven years. On top of all that, the Eagles are 545-100 (.845) all-time since Smesko started the program in the 2002-03 season, and the Green and Blue’s .845 all-time winning percentage is the best in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history.

 

#FEEDFGCU

FGCU Athletics sponsors events in November and April to benefit the FGCU Campus Food Pantry (www.fgcu.edu/foodpantry) and the Harry Chapin Food Bank (www.harrychapinfoodbank.org), FGCU Athletics’ charities of choice. For more information, including how to make a contribution, please visit www.fgcu.edu/adminservices/foodpantry and utilize the hashtag #FeedFGCU to help raise awareness.

 

ABOUT FGCU

FGCU teams have combined to win an incredible 89 conference regular season and tournament titles in just 14+ seasons at the Division I level. Additionally, in just 10 seasons of D-I postseason eligibility, the Eagles have had a combined 43 teams or individuals compete in NCAA championships. Eight FGCU programs have earned a top-25 national ranking in their respective sport – including women’s basketball (No. 20, 2021-22), beach volleyball (No. 20, 2022) and both men’s soccer (2018, 2019) and women’s soccer (2018) as three of the most recent. In 2016-17, the Green and Blue posted a department-best sixth-place finish in the DI-AAA Learfield Directors’ Cup and top-100 showing nationally, ahead of several Power-5 and FBS institutions. In 2018-19, the Eagles had an ASUN and state of Florida best seven teams earn the NCAA’s Public Recognition Award for their Academic Progress Rate in their sport. FGCU also collectively earned a record 3.50 GPA in the classroom in the fall 2020 semester and has outperformed the general University undergraduate population for 25 consecutive semesters. The past five semesters (Fall 2019 – Fall 2021) each saw another milestone reached as all 15 programs achieved a 3.0-or-higher team GPA in each. The Eagles also served an all-time high 7,200 volunteer hours in 2017 – being recognized as one of two runners-up for the inaugural NACDA Community Service Award presented by the Fiesta Bowl.

 

—FGCUATHLETICS.COM—