FT. MYERS, Fla. – Florida Gulf Coast began to steer the contest in the closing minutes of the first half and never loosened its grips as the Eagles downed the Jacksonville University women's basketball team, 78-47, in the final game of the regular season.

Despite the setback, in back-to-back seasons, Jacksonville has clinched the No. 4 seed in the conference and will be hosting a quarterfinal contest in the upcoming A-Sun Championships. Kennesaw State will join JU at the historic Swisher Gymnasium on Friday, March 6 at 7 p.m.

Forward Briona Brown finished the night with a team-high 16 points with eight rebounds while guards Loliya Briggs and Brandi Buie notched 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Nearing the midpoint of the opening half, Brown was the only Dolphin contributing to the team's scoring effort. The early stretch captured six minutes of a scoring drought between the time marks of 16:32 and 10:41 where FGCU connected on one shot from the floor.

Buie capped the lull with a three-pointer and after forcing an Eagle turnover on the next possession, the Dolphins earned what would be their sole lead of the game at 10-9 on the hands of a layup by Briggs. With 3:45 remaining, FGCU held its first double-digit advantage, 29-19, before closing the half on a 10-2 run.

Florida Gulf Coast's 78 points tied for the third most the Dolphins have allowed this season and was the most allowed in A-Sun play.

Brown accounted for almost half of JU's made field goals as she went 7-for-18 from the floor; the Dolphins shot 16-for-45 as a team.

In its defeat, Jacksonville moves to 11-16 on the season and 6-8 in conference play as No. 21/22 FGCU continued its winning streak to improve to 27-2 and 14-0, respectively.