PHILADELPHIA – The College of Charleston women's basketball team (7-23) pulled off the upset win over No. 7 Hofstra (11-19) in Wednesday's first round skirmish, submitting their highest scoring first half and highest scoring game of the season with a 88-72 victory.
 
• Hofstra led the game only very briefly, their largest advantage a five-point lead midway through the first quarter. CofC responded to adversity well, and trailing 14-11 with 2:32 left in the quarter, peeled off a 10-2 run to correct course. The Cougars never again trailed after taking the lead with 1:22 to go in the first.
 
• CofC followed up a great first quarter with an absolutely dominant second, outscoring the Pride 25-11 and heading into the locker room up 46-29. It was the Cougars' highest scoring first half of the season, and the third time they reached 46 in any half this season, having done so in the second half of their home opener against Lipscomb as well as on the road in the second half against Towson.
 
• Darien Huff was truly automatic for the Cougars, not missing a single shot until the fourth quarter. The junior guard finished with a career-high 22 points (8 of 9 FG), matched a career high with six assists, and her 4 of 4 three point shooting night broke the CofC CAA Tournament records for both three-pointers made and three-point percentage.
 
• Tanisha Brown had a phenomenal night of her own with a 19-15-5 (9 of 18 shooting), adding four steals and a block for her 11^th double-double of the season. Her 15 rebounds set a new CofC CAA Tournament record to surpass Breanna Bolden's 14 set last year. She also became just the sixth player in the CofC Division I Era to reach 100 offensive rebounds in a single season.
 
• Deja Ford completed the trifecta of transcendent individual games for the College. The sophomore guard established a new rebounding career high by halftime, and finished the game with 17 points, a career-best ten rebounds, a career-best six assists, and matched a career-high three steals. It was the first double-double of her collegiate career.
 
• The College led by as many as 25 points in the game thanks in large to excellent shooting nights from all over the field (52.2% FG, 50% 3FG), but really capitalized on the Pride from the charity stripe, going 10 of 11 compared to Hofstra's 4 of 14. CofC also set the tone on the glass early, holding Hofstra without an offensive board for the entire first half.
 
• It was the College's first-ever win in the Daskalakis Athletic Center. They are now 2-2 in CAA First Round competition.
 
• Hofstra made it a close game late, outscoring the Cougars by six in the fourth and closing the gap to 11 before the College sealed the game. E'Lexus Davis had the most well-rounded night for the Pride with a 15-5-6, and was one of five Hofstra players to reach double-digits. Olivia Askin (15 points, 5 of 7 3FG) finished her season going 16 of 18 from three point land against CofC this year.
 
• With the win, the Cougars advance to play No. 2 seed James Madison (20-9), who were idle in the first round. The Cougars and Dukes met two years ago in the CAA Quarterfinals in an instant classic. CofC led for the vast majority of the game thanks to huge nights from Jackie Luna-Castro (14 Pts, 7 Reb) and Kelsey Booth (22 Pts, 8 of 16 shooting), but JMU surged late to seize the lead in the final minute to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.
 
The Cougars' showdown with James Madison is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. on Thursday.